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TORONTO - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has
taken down its three bus shelter ads that asked the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health to protect its staff from violence.
The ads provoked a heated debate within the community over
whether the union and the victims of the violence should publicly remain silent
in the face of mounting assaults, for fear of further stigmatizing mental health
patients.
“Our ads went up to address the issue of workplace violence and
CAMH’s responsibility to protect its employees. It has become increasingly clear
that CAMH has contributed to an alternate interpretation in the community that
was never intended,” said Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of the 130,000
member public service union.
OPSEU says the campaign would have never gone public had it not
been for the building frustration at CAMH over the inaction of the hospital in
dealing with workplace violence.
“The hospital is a dangerous place to work. When you go to work
and are beaten and sexually assaulted, how is anyone expected to come to an
alternate conclusion?” asks Thomas. “The fact that 23 recorded assaults took
place in September should be a wake up call for everybody. Don’t our members and
other hospital employees deserve empathy from the community as well?”
“We know that our members face violence in all kinds of
workplaces around the province and we are helping them try to change that. But
what’s been going on at CAMH requires attention urgently,” says Thomas.
Given CAMH’s new commitment to work on these issues, OPSEU will
be asking for a meeting to again press for greater precautions for staff who
work in the center.
It will also be challenging community agencies concerned about
the stigma of violence to urge CAMH to do a better job to protect the workers
who care for patients at CAMH, as well as vulnerable patients who are also at
risk. |
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