Violence driving female workers to quit, union says

Warning comes as hospitals grapple with staff shortages, poor safety measures

An “exodus” of staff from hospitals will worsen unless the Ontario government tackles a growing problem of violence and attacks against their mostly female workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees says.

“The pandemic has brought about a further erosion in our working conditions,” Sharon Richer of CUPE told a news conference Tuesday, citing concerns from a survey of members that found increasing incidences of physical attacks and racially based harassment as patients and their families lash out over frustration with care levels.

“Staff are leaving and this is one of the reasons,” she added, also referring to a one per cent wage increase cap under the Ford government’s Bill 124 and calling for improved staffing levels. “Health-care workers have had enough.”

The warning from CUPE and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions representing registered practical nurses, personal support workers, porters, cleaners and other frontline staff legally barred from striking comes with their latest contract demands in arbitration and a new health minister on the job.

Former solicitor general Sylvia Jones, who was in charge of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, was appointed health minister in Premier Doug Ford’s new cabinet late last month.

Richer said the unions have not yet talked with Jones about the issues raised in the survey of 2,300 front-line members by Oracle Research in May. They follow a 2017 report that found inadequate and inconsistent safety measures at Ontario hospitals put health care workers at risk. In the meantime, workers are often afraid to report incidents for fear they will be blamed or sanctioned.

New Democratic MPP France Gelinas (Nickel Belt) said she has tried three times since 2017 to rectify that with a private members bill to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act to prevent any penalties against workers who blow the whistle on violence or harassment, but it was not passed by the Liberals or Conservatives.

“Workplace violence is too often swept under the rug,” Gelinas said.

The Star has reached out to the health minister’s office but has not received a reply.

Ontario Hospital Association spokesperson Hannah Ward said the OHA and hospitals have violence prevention strategies and “will continue to work with bargaining agents and other key stakeholders … to fulfil these obligations.”

Noting that 85 per cent of CUPE members in hospitals are female, Richer said “this surge in violence against women, much of it racially motivated, comes against a backdrop of severe, unprecedented staff shortages.”

She highlighted the cases several years ago of Dianne Paulin, a registered practical nurse from North Bay who was assaulted by a patient who pinned her against a door with a chair and punched her repeatedly, and Scott Sharp, a PSW who took a vicious upper cut from a violent patient, causing a spinal cord injury.

“The Ontario government has turned a blind eye,” said Richer.

The poll found 63 per cent of respondents said they had experienced physical violence, such as being shoved against a wall or worse, and 53 per cent reporting an increase in incidents against them or co-workers during the pandemic.

With staff shortages, employees are being forced to do more work alone which appears to be leading to more problems, Richer said, calling for an increase in funding to boost hiring and improve working conditions.

Interim NDP Leader Peter Tabuns issued a statement pointing to a temporary emergency department closures in Clinton, north of London, and in Perth, west of Ottawa, as examples of the problem.

“Can you imagine arriving at the ER with a sick little one only to find the doors locked and the lights out? No one should have to wait or drive down the highway to get the care they need.”

‘‘ The pandemic has brought about a further erosion in our working conditions.

SHARON RICHER OF CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES