Monday, August 15, 2022

The State of Healthcare—and What We Can Do to Fix It

Fixing healthcare in Ontario will not be quick, simple, or easy. It will take a strong commitment from all of us to collective action

By Trish Douma, Regional Director, Chatham Member Centre

Whether you work in a retirement home, nursing home, homecare, or a hospital, the healthcare situation in Ontario is problematic everywhere. You know how few workers are available. You know that you work every day without the adequate resources to provide the care that your client, resident, or patient deserves.

Most of you probably still do COVID antigen screening every workday and have been wearing masks for over two years.

The worker shortage existed prepandemic but has been exacerbated by early retirements, fewer graduates, and people leaving the field altogether to work in jobs that provide more money and better work-life balance.

Most of you are not in a right-to-strike environment, so when your collective agreement is up for renewal and management doesn’t even offer inflationary increases, you are forced to go to arbitration where, with few exceptions, everyone receives the same inadequate increase.

That’s the bad news. What’s the good news, and what can you do?

First, you are unionized with CLAC. We prioritize representative involvement and support for your stewards. But they cannot do this alone.

Second, get involved in the union. We are stronger when everyone is working together. The state that healthcare is in right now didn’t happen overnight. It has been trending in this direction for decades. The fix isn’t easy or fast and requires a different perspective that isn’t always shared by the government of the day. We will keep fighting until your conditions improve.

Third, keep trying. Be diligent about reporting health and safety violations and raising issues with management. File grievances for contract violations that are not resolved.

Fourth, tell your union what is happening. Speak to your steward who will raise the issues with your union representative. Attend meetings and site visits by your representative. Make sure the union knows the details of the issue so that they can work toward a resolution. You alone cannot fix this problem, but with everyone working together, we will force change.

Fifth, be persistent. When you raise an issue with management, do not let them drag out their response. When management doesn’t respond quickly enough, inform your stewards. Some managers take the delay-and-deny approach, hoping that you will go away. If the issue isn’t resolved, don’t let them deter you from pursuing it. Be persistent.

Sixth, never give up. The union movement has a long and rich history. But the improvements that unions make can’t always be seen instantly. It takes persistence, patience, and working together until we get there.

The State of Healthcare—and What We Can Do to Fix It

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