Hon. Tony Clement Fax: 416-326-1571
Minister of Health and Long Term Care
10th Floor, Hepburn Block, Queen’s Park, ON M7A 2C4

Dear Minister:

I am writing to request a meeting to draw your attention to a serious situation facing Ontario’s hospitals. I represent about 10,000 hospital professionals affected by central bargaining with the Ontario Hospital Association.

The recent series of funding announcements at hospitals across the province are noteworthy. Yes, there is an urgent need for improved hospital funding, but this must also be targeted to properly compensate hospital staff, which make up about 80 per cent of the cost of running a hospital.

OPSEU health science professionals are an essential part of the health care team in our hospitals. They work with patients both directly and behind the scenes. They provide important rehabilitative and diagnostic and therapeutic services, and include MRI and CT Technologists, Mammography Technologists, EEG Technicians, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, X-Ray and Lab Technologists, Social Workers, Pharmacists, Psychologists and Respiratory Therapists – everyone besides the doctors and nurses.

Without these professionals, the health care system would fall apart. Without these professionals, doctors are only guessing.

My members are tired of the long hours, the poor pay, the lack of respect, and the problems with workplace health and safety. People are working several double shifts a week, and many are constantly on standby. They have little time to spend with their families. More importantly for patient care, they are working exhausted, they are stressed, they are getting sick (a recent study said 10 per cent of staff are on disability payments,) they are tired, and they are afraid of making mistakes. In general, working conditions of health workers have deteriorated under the combined effects of inadequate staffing levels, widening wage gaps, work intensification, inconsistent and counter-productive managerial strategies, contracting out and privatization.

We need an agreement that substantially improves both wages and working conditions for our members, who are such an important part of the team in our hospitals. Otherwise, more skilled professionals will leave the province or the professions. The number of staff on disability will increase. It will be harder to attract new people into these professions. Our hospitals will be faced with more shortages.

We deserve the same level of respect in bargaining that other health professionals receive. Instead of adapting demands to fit a limited budget, that budget must be expanded to give OPSEU members a competitive wage rate. You must provide the necessary funding and support to our public hospitals so they can provide the diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative services that people need.

I look forward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience to discuss these matters further.

Sincerely,

Leah Casselman, President