Posts published in October 2025

After neglecting the public tendering process, the Houston government awarded a $2.18-million contract to a private consulting company to “take home care to the next level.” This comes after two years of bargaining with nearly 500 workers in the home care sector where wages are the key sticking point.

“At each bargaining table across the province, home care employers are telling us that they can’t afford to pay home care workers more, that they need to work for at least seven years before reaching the top wage scale,” said CUPE Home Care Coordinator Kathy McLeod. “A wage which, by the way, is still below the living wage everywhere in the province.”

Most CUPE home care workers have been working with an expired contract for nearly four years and have been actively bargaining a new one for the last two. All four groups have taken positive strike votes in the past several months and are in the midst of preparing for strike if bargaining continues to stall.

“The last thing we want is to end up on strike,” said CUPE Home Support Coordinating Committee Chair Jenn Smith. “We understand how stressful that can be on our clients and their families, as well as our own. But the fact remains we’ve been fighting for two years for the government to pay attention to us, to recognize the value of our work, and instead they want us to settle for the bare minimum.”

“This latest untendered home care contract is just a symptom of what we’ve been seeing in the senior care sector for the past several years: a lack of care,” commented CUPE Long Term Care Coordinator Tammy Martin. “Houston’s government has made home care wait 4 years, has made long term care wait 2 years, and still offers nothing. This government has made their stance clear: supporting those who care for our seniors is not a priority.”

As the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers face off in the 2025 World Series, two major union locals, CUPE 416 representing Toronto’s outside municipal workers, and Teamsters Local 396 representing logistics and sanitation workers in Los Angeles, have entered into a friendly wager to mark the occasion.

The agreement? Swag for solidarity.

Once the World Series is over, the losing local will proudly wear the winner’s union gear for a day.

“This is what solidarity looks like: rivalry with respect,” says Ted Aivalis, vice president of CUPE 416. “It’s a fun way to show that no matter what side of the scoreboard we’re on, we’re united in standing up for working people.”

Both locals see the wager as a way to promote cross-border union collaboration, highlight the shared struggles of public and private sector workers, and add a little fun to a season of hard work.

The two unions plan to post updates on their social media accounts throughout the series, showcasing how labour pride and sports spirit can bring people together — no matter who wins the World Series.

Over 150 academic workers at Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) will be walking off the job tomorrow at 12pm Atlantic Time, following an impasse in negotiations Tuesday evening.

These workers are part-time instructors at MSVU and members of CUPE 3912. On the table are changes to the job evaluation process which would improve job security, and improvements to wages. 
  

“Like many workers in this sector—and across the province—our members at The Mount are struggling to make ends meet,” said Lauren McKenzie, CUPE 3912 President. “They are responsible for educating the next generation, for being experts in history, economics, chemistry, you name it, but they can’t even put food on the table. Is that fair?”
  

These workers do not have any health benefits or a pension, and unfortunately, the employer is not even willing to begin discussing these items unless workers accept their offer on wages.
  

CUPE 3912 represents part-time faculty, teaching assistants, and independent course appointees at Mount Saint Vincent University, Saint Mary’s University, Dalhousie University and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD).
  

At every bargaining table, CUPE 3912 members are challenging precarious contracts and poverty wages, fighting to ensure students have the experienced instructors that universities get to boast about in their prospectuses.
  

“We are proud to be fighting for academic workers, for students, and for world-class postsecondary education in Nova Scotia,” said McKenzie. “Our local is thousands strong and we are united, ready to support workers at The Mount fight for a fair deal.”

A tentative agreement was reached with Dalhousie University on Monday, October 20. Details of the tentative agreement will not be shared until members have had the opportunity to review and ratify the terms, which will take place as soon as possible.

CUPE 3912 is in negotiations with Saint Mary’s University tomorrow, October 22.

Staff cuts at the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) in Northern Ontario will affect every facet of care provision, contrary to claims of “no service impact” by the hospital CEO and Ontario Conservative MPP Vic Fideli, said the Canadian Union of Public Employees at a press conference held today in North Bay.

The hospital has announced 40 layoffs including nurses, PSWs, clerical staff, a pharmacy technician and a patient food service worker.

“The truth is that staff are currently under intense pressure due to high patient volumes and we desperately need more nurses, PSWs, clerks and other workers, not less,” said Mike Turgeon, president of CUPE 139. “I recently had a nurse tell me she fears making mistakes every day, which put her patients and her licence at risk. The anxiety this causes has her hiding in the staff washroom crying on her breaks. For the hospital and politicians to pretend like everything is fine is just an attempt to conceal the true impact of the cuts.”

Staffing shortages at the hospital are undermining quality of care and delaying access to care, according to the union.

Based on latest data from August 2025, ER patients at NBRHC wait 17.3 hours on average for hospital admission, more than twice the length of the eight hour provincial target. Only 41% of patients are admitted on time.

“The first person you see in the ER is a nurse, and then a clerk. How will cutting those positions help improve care? How can a hospital that has a 59% failure rate in timely admissions afford more cuts? It begs the question: has the government given up on meeting its own standards?” Turgeon said.

Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s hospital division (Ontario Council of Hospital Unions), blamed the provincial government for real dollar cuts that will cover less than half of the hospital’s cost increases.

He pointed to the recent analysis by the Financial Accountability Office showing a $19.4 billion shortfall in health care over the next three years and the closure of 2,500 beds province-wide.

“North Bay has an ageing, growing population that desperately needs these services. This government’s funding plan will doom more patients to hallway healthcare, longer waits for surgery, reduced quality of care and it will drive staff to leave in despair,” Hurley said.

CUPE estimates that North Bay requires about 120 additional hospital staff every year to keep pace with demand.

“Hospital funding has not been keeping pace with growing demand,” he said. “It’s taken a tremendous toll on the workforce, who are deeply demoralized because of their inability to deliver care to patients to the standard they have been trained to provide but can’t.”

The union says it will launch a campaign to save jobs and protect services.

“We have every confidence that the people of North Bay will help us to defend their hospital,” said Turgeon. “We have resources from CUPE, and we will use those resources to reach and mobilize the community to defend our services.”

CUPE 139 represents about 1,000 employees at the five NBRHC sites.

After just a few days of bargaining, municipal workers from Bishop Falls, represented by CUPE 1349, have ratified a tentative agreement. This round of bargaining has brought forward increased work-life balance and wages, improved pensions, and better job security.

“I would like to recognize the collaborative and respectful approach the town has taken with the union in this round of bargaining,” said CUPE 1349 President Tammie Greening. “When willing to work together, all parties can come away from the table satisfied with an agreement that works for everyone.”

“This is what bargaining looks like when the union and the employer have good relationship,” commented CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador President Sherry Hillier. “It doesn’t have to be combative; it doesn’t have to lead to a strike or lockout. It can just be a true negotiation where both sides recognize the value of the work done, and the people who do it.”

CUPE 1349 represents municipal groups working in Bishop Falls, Grand-Falls Windsor, Botwood, Exploits Regional Services Board, and Norris Arm. With Bishop Falls negotiations concluded positively, they will now turn their attention to the other groups.

“I’m proud of this round of bargaining—of the work we did building support and how it was received at the table. I can only say I hope the rest of our bargaining goes just as smoothly,” finished Greening.