MEDIA ADVISORY: Rally at the Perley gates: health care staff demand better working and living conditions at Ottawa residential care facility

Event Information

Begins: 21 February 2024
Location: Ottawa, ON

OTTAWA, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– Financial precarity, stressful working conditions, and lack of support from their employer has left workers at Perley Health feeling demoralized and burnt out. Staff at the residential care facilities are holding a rally on Wednesday, February 21 to demand better – for themselves and the vulnerable residents they care for deeply.

Patty Lowe, a personal support worker and president of CUPE 870, says that workers have made a lot of sacrifices over the past few years to provide the best care possible for residents. But they are feeling unsupported.

Four out of five workers say there are not enough staff to provide good quality of care. The staffing crunch is getting worse as many leave for better paying employers.

In ongoing bargaining, CUPE 870 is calling on Perley Health to sign onto the same provisions that other health care employers have agreed to for over 40,000 staff across Ontario. The workers say improved wages and benefits would help with staff retention and enable provision of care.

On Wednesday, February 21, CUPE 870 will hold a public demonstration to impress on their employer that it must negotiate a fair contract that serves the interests of both workers and residents.

WHAT:
CUPE 870 rally for a fair contract

WHO:
Health care workers led by PSW and CUPE 870 president Patty Kilby Lowe; Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE; and Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa & Labour District Council.

WHERE:
Perley Health, 1750 Russell Rd, Ottawa

WHEN:
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.

-30-

For more information, contact:

Zaid Noorsumar, CUPE Communications
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859