CUPE and SEIU ambulance workers have launched a province-wide public information and anti-privatization tour. In an ambulance painted with credit card logos, theyll tour the province for the next five weeks, warning Ontario residents about the threat of pay-as-you go ambulance and hospital services.
“The notion that private ambulance companies will save money is completely false,” says Michael Dick, a CUPE paramedic. “An ambulance call in Ontario costs an average of $230, while U.S. private companies charge an average of $760 per call.”
The tour will meet other hospital workers at hospitals across the province for press conferences highlighting the threat of privatization in all hospital sectors.
The public awareness campaign is part of the OCHUCUPE and SEIU hospital bargaining campaign to protect job security language that helps prevent contracting out and privatization.