SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

-BY-LAW AMENDMENTS-

Monday May 10th 2021 @ 5PM – 7PM

Zoom details will be available via email and our website as the date gets closer.

Discussions will be strictly on the CUPE 5441 by-law amendments.

Dear sisters and brothers and friends,

Please find attached a link to the latest updated information on vaccination, including for health care workers, provided by the Ministry of Health.

In solidarity,

Michael, Louis, and Sharon

 

Special Communication on MOH Guidance Update: COVID-19 Vaccine Tools and Resources

Please note the vaccine tools and resources have been updated and are posted to the Ministry’s website. Highlights of changes are captured within documents, and new documents include information for AstraZeneca and COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccine. Descriptions of each document are also now indicated on the website.

Zoom sign in opens at 4:45pm

Please sign in with your first name and either SMH or PHC or STJHC for recognition purposes
Topic: CUPE 5441 – March 2021 General Membership Meeting
Time: Mar 17, 2021 05:00 PM America/Toronto

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Meeting 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Please note that we have taken the steps to have our General Membership Meetings streamed virtually in light of the circumstances within our Province. To connect to the meeting virtually, you will be emailed a link to Zoom.

Agenda:
1. Acknowledgment of Indigenous territory
2. Roll call of officers
3. Reading of the Equality Statement
4. Voting on new members and initiation
5. Reading of the minutes
6. Matters arising from the minutes
7. Secretary-Treasurer’s Report
8. Communications and bills
9. Executive Board Report
10. Reports of committees and delegates
11. Nominations, elections, or installations
Nominations for Bargaining Committees: Clerical and Service for September 29, 2021
12. Unfinished business
13. New business
14. Good of the Union
15. Adjournment

If you have any anxiety or have any other concerns
during this pandemic, please call:
Employee Assistance Program: 866-606-6367

Thank you to all the nominees for the executive positions that opened up during our by-elections. Two positions were vacated: Spiritual Care Practitioners Vice President and PHC Lead Steward Clerical.
This vote was done electronically by a third party company called SimplyVoting. Both elections ran from Thursday March 3rd through Saturday March 6th, 2021.

Congratulations to the two new executive board members of CUPE 5441:

Spiritual Care Practitioners Vice President: Jamie Villeneuve

PHC Lead Steward Clerical: Jennifer Wilson

 

HEALTHCARE WORKERS LAUNCH INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ACTIONS WITH MESSAGE TO PREMIER FORD: “Respect Us. Protect Us. Pay Us.”

 

Unions representing 175,000 workers serving on the frontlines of this pandemic demand the Ford government support this female majority workforce

 

TORONTO, ON – Today, SEIU Healthcare, Unifor, and CUPE, unions representing 175,000 healthcare workers across Ontario, held a virtual media conference to announce the launch of International Women’s Day actions with a clear message to Premier Ford: “Respect Us. Protect Us. Pay Us.”

After shouldering the crushing burdens of the pandemic for the past year, workers in the healthcare sector—a majority female workforce—are calling on Premier Ford’s government to stand with working women, not on the side of a broken system that profits from their labour.

The following are their demands for respect, protection, and better pay for women in healthcare:

• Reverse the staff exodus in health care by turning exploitative part-time work into full-time jobs with benefits
• Provide paid-sick leave for Covid-19 related illnesses and providing pay while staff await Covid-19 test results or are in isolation
• Provide the PPE that health care workers need to work safely
• Make the initial $4 per hour “pandemic pay” available to all healthcare workers and made permanent going forward

Healthcare workers will demonstrate their demands at hospitals and nursing homes across Ontario on Monday, March 8, 2021 (International Women’s Day), by wearing stickers and holding signs that read: “Respect Us. Protect Us. Pay Us.”

Media and the public can follow demonstrations by working women in healthcare on social media with the hashtag: #RespectProtectPay

QUOTES:

“This International Women’s Day, women in healthcare want more than hollow words from Premier Ford’s government. After the devastating financial and emotional toll from serving on the frontline of the pandemic, healthcare workers want those words backed up by bold action to fully recognize their contribution to the care economy. That must include paying them a living wage, and for low-wage workers like PSWs, that means raising the base wage to at least $25 per hour. Premier Ford could support working women in healthcare by doing that right away.” – Sharleen Stewart, President, SEIU Healthcare

“The lack of respect for care work has become painfully evident during COVID-19 but it stems from a longstanding failure to recognize the value of this work simply because women are performing it. This is evidenced by workers in health and long-term care who are often precariously employed and not paid a living wage. Full-time work with benefits is rarely available and they are forced to work at multiple jobs to simply survive.” – Katha Fortier, Assistant to the National President, Unifor

“Nearly 20,000 health care workers have contracted COVID-19 at work and 20 have died. Although health care staff were entitled to an N95 mask they couldn’t get one from their employers. They were told that this wasn’t necessary. The masks are under lock and key. This must change. This valuable female workforce deserves respect, protection and better pay. Mandating the N95 mask, as Quebec has done and $4.00 an hour in the form of pandemic pay would be strong gestures of appreciation by the Ontario provincial government.” – Sharon Richer, Secretary-Treasurer, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE)

Corey Johnson
SEIU Healthcare Communications
c.johnson@seiuhealthcare.ca
416-529-8909

Stella Yeadon
CUPE Communications
syeadon@cupe.ca
416-559-9300

Kathleen O’Keefe
Unifor Communications
kathleen.okeefe@unifor.org
416-896-3303

Staff are invited to attend a virtual Memorial Service for Pamela Lucas on March 3 at 2:30 p.m.  Pamela was a Spiritual Care Practitioner at St. Michael’s who passed away on Feb. 1, 2021.

The service will be held via Zoom and all are welcome to attend. Please see below for details on how to attend. You can learn more about Pamela’s life in the post In memoriam: Pamela Lucas.

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We are writing to provide an update about expectations regarding the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for workers in hospitals, long-term care homes and retirement homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of our shared commitment to the safety of the health care workforce.

The Ontario government is continuously monitoring data related to COVID-19, including the variants of concern. On January 29, 2021, the Ontario government released Ontario’s six point variant action plan, which enhances the existing coordinated and ongoing efforts of the province to prevent, detect, track, trace and contain the spread of COVID-19. Public Health Ontario also released updated IPAC Recommendations for Use of Personal Protective Equipment for Care of Individuals with Suspect or Confirmed COVID-19, which includes a
reference to the primacy of Directive 5.

The Ministry of Health confirms that Directive 5, updated on October 8, 2020, is the framework in place for the use of PPE in hospitals and long-term care homes. In addition, in accordance with O. Reg 68/20 made under the Retirement Homes Act, retirement homes must take all reasonable steps to follow the required precautions in the Directive. Directive 5 states that where it conflicts with another Directive, Directive 5 takes precedence. Directive 5 is the provincial baseline standard for provision of personal protective equipment for hospitals, long term care homes and retirement homes.

In recognition of our shared commitment to occupational health and safety, the ministries are writing to support the continued implementation of Directive 5.

• The ministries request that employers review all guidance, policies, procedures and practices for management and staff to ensure alignment with Directive 5. This includes clarity that N-95 respirators or equivalent protection can be accessed by workers based on a point-of-care risk assessment (PCRA) or workers determination, depending on the circumstance.

1. Directive 5 clarifies the role of the PCRA for accessing N-95 respirators for both regulated and unregulated health care workers, even if not performing Aerosol Generating Medical Procedures (AGMPs). It also outlines how an unregulated worker in a setting in outbreak can determine whether an N-95 respirator or equivalent is needed.
2. Employers are reminded that they are not to deny a worker access to an N-95 respirator when the process outlined in Directive 5 has been followed.
3. An updated Directive 5 FAQ, dated February 19, is attached.

• As employers continue in their stewardship role of ensuring an adequate supply of PPE, if they are having difficulty in securing adequate supplies of N-95 respirators, they are encouraged to access provincial stockpiles following the steps described in Appendix A, below. Employers should regularly review inventory to ensure they have adequate supplies and not resort to using expired products. In extraordinary circumstances, where efforts to secure timely PPE have not been successful, and where PPE has expired, the ministries expect employers to be guided by Ontario Health’s Optimizing the Supply of Personal Protective Equipment During the COVID19 Pandemic.
• Fit testing may be required on an ongoing basis to support new workers or to respond to the availability of different sizes of respirators. For access to fit testing resources for long-term care homes and retirement homes, please refer to Appendix B, below.
• The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development has put in place a mechanism to provide an urgent inspector response to complaints in the health care and retirement home sectors. This includes where workers have conducted a PCRA, have determined a certain level of PPE Is required and are not being provided with that level of PPE. This service is available at the Occupational Health and Safety Contact Centre during regular business hours at 1-877-202-0008 and at the Spills Action Centre after hours at 416-325-3000.

The government continues to monitor the supply of PPE and is taking steps to ensure adequate supply through the spring and summer.

The provision and correct use of PPE is one part of successful occupational health and infection prevention and control (IPAC) practices. The ministries recognize that there may be new workers on site at any given time, requiring a process of continued training and onsite information resources and guidance about PPE access and IPAC practices. For access to IPAC expertise, employers can engage their local IPAC hub or contact EOCoperations.moh@ontario.ca.

The ministries recognize that employers and unions have local processes in place to address issues related to compliance with Directive 5 and other guidance and directives related to IPAC.

Health care workers are the most important resource Ontario has in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you for your continued commitment to their safety.
Sincerely,

Helen Angus, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health
Richard Steele, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Long-Term Care
Denise Cole, Deputy Minister, Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility
Greg Meredith, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development

“Directive 5” is the government’s rules about COVID-19 and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health-care staff that hospitals and long-term care homes must follow. Unions have recently sued the government to force it to increase the protections for workers. To resolve this court action, the government agreed to make changes to Directive 5. These changes mean that hospitals and long-term care homes will have to give workers clearer access to better protections when they are dealing with patients or residents who may have COVID-19.

Check out the PDF below.

COVID-19 Directive #5: Questions and Answers