Ontario Nurses’ Association Local 6 nurses, health-care professionals rally to stop health-care privatization, repeal Bill 124

TORONTO, ON., May 18, 2022 – Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) Local 6 registered nurses (RNs) and health-care professionals will rally tomorrow to call for a stop to the privatization of healthcare and the repeal of Bill 124, the wage-suppression legislation passed by the Ford government that is driving away front-line workers. Repealing this bill is the first step in addressing the staffing crisis in our hospitals and health-care system, they say.

“Ontario nurses and health-care professionals are leaving their positions, primarily driven by the devastating impact of the policies of the Ford government,” says Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) President Cathryn Hoy, RN. “Ford’s wage-suppression legislation has disrespected and targeted these professionals, and directly impacts nurse retention and recruitment. The bill has had a profoundly negative effect on our members’ ability to provide care to patients, residents and clients during the worst global health crisis in a century. It must be repealed.”

Joined by Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, the RNs and health-care professionals will gather on the bridge spanning Leslie Street at 4001 Leslie (Leslie and Sheppard) on May 19. Hoy notes that, “The public needs to understand the real peril our health-care system is in. The Ford Conservatives have used the cover of the pandemic to create a health-care staffing crisis and is using it as an excuse to expand private, for-profit health care. Driving the RNs and health-care professionals who care for Ontarians out of the system has created a care crisis that should be of grave concern to everyone.”

ONA is the union representing more than 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry. All media are invited to attend.

WHAT:          RNs and health-care professionals, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, rally against Bill 124 and health-care privatization
WHEN:         Thursday, May 19, 11:30-2:00 p.m.
WHERE:       Bridge at 4001 Leslie Street and Esther Shiner Blvd, Toronto

For more information: 

Sheree Bond (416) 986-8240 shereeb@ona.org

Katherine Russo 647-539-1925 katheriner@ona.org