Long-term care workers rally across Ontario against Bill 124

Unionized long-term care workers will rally this week in Windsor- Essex and across Ontario, to send a message to the provincial government. 

20 long-term care facilities across the province will take part in the rally, opposed to Bill 124. 

In 2019 the Progressive Conservatives introduced Bill 124, limiting compensation increases to one percent a year in the public sector to workers such as teachers, nurses and long-term care workers.   

Unifor Local 2458 President Tullio DiPonti represents long-term care workers and says the government needs to do more to protect them. 

“We just got through a pandemic and nothing has changed,” says DiPonti.  “We’re here to make sure the government recognizes the fact that things need to get better and improve or facilities like this will get to point where they will be too dangerous for residents to even be in here.” 

He says Bill 124 was created to restrict wages. 

“We want to make sure that they know, we’re not standing by and letting them get away with not taking care of the people they said were heroes,” he says.  “The way their actions and what’s been introduced, they’re not heroes in their eyes, you need to respect them, protect them and pay them.” 

DiPonti says the government has turned their backs on health care workers. 

“The main issue is short staffing and the fact that we can’t go to a collective barging and negotiate a decent wage for the workers here,” says DiPonti.  “This government seems to want to think that the pandemic is over so the crisis in long-term care and retirement homes is done, but that’s not correct.”  

More rallies will take place across the region this week with one on Tuesday, May 31 in Kingsville at the Chartwell Royal Oak LTC Home and the other on Wednesday June 1 at Brookshire Care Centre in Windsor. 

Leading up to provincial elections, opposing party leaders such as Ontario Libreal Leader Steven Del Duca and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath say they would repeal the legislation if they were to become premier.