Upwards to a thousand delegates of CUPE Ontario’s convention in Windsor are expected to attend a noon hour rally on Thursday, May 24th to protest the Liberal government’s continuing plans to privatize Ontario’s health care services. The delegates will gather in front of the
St. Clair Centre for the Arts at the riverfront park.
“The Liberal government’ s health restructuring plan threatens to turn our health care system into a competitive market and pull health care services out of smaller, rural and northern communities,” says CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan. “We expect that the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) will cause services to be pulled out of communities in this region such as Leamington.”
In the last two weeks, CUPE Ontario has successfully worked with the City of North Bay mayor and workers from the Nipissing Area Joint Hospitals Laundry to try and stop the closure of that laundry, which would send 26 jobs down the road to Sudbury. “This is the kind of job loss that can occur when health care becomes a competitive market,” adds Ryan. “We’re going to fight that trend wherever that occurs, from Windsor region through to Kenora, and all other Ontario locations governed by the 14 LHINs.”
At this rally:
Date: Thursday, May 24, 2007
Time: 12:00 noon
Location: Riverfront Park
St. Clair Centre for the Arts
Windsor, ON
Speakers, including Michael Hurley, President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE) will join CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan in calling on the Liberal government to stop the privatization of health care.
Over 1,200 delegates of Ontario’s largest union are attending the 44th Annual CUPE Ontario Convention to be held May 23 through May 26 at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts. Media are invited to attend the convention. Please identify yourself as a media delegate at the registration desk at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts and ask for CUPE Ontario communications representative Valerie Dugale.
For more information, contact:
Valerie Dugale, CUPE Communications 647-225-3685
Sid Ryan, President, CUPE Ontario 416-209-0066