Posts published in April 2026

More than 4,000 people live in apartments and townhouses owned by Peterborough Housing Corporation, PHC, and serviced by members of CUPE 504. Those workers, who operate one of Peterborough County’s most critical safety nets, took the unprecedented step of voting to strike.

Members of CUPE 504 working at PHC include custodians, maintenance workers, and administrative staff. They are responsible for cleaning properties, preparing units for new residents, and performing minor repairs, while also serving as a key point of contact for tenants. Behind the scenes, they connect residents to services, calculate rents, and manage tenant ledgers.

Despite skyrocketing living costs, PHC has offered workers annual wage increases of just 1.5% while also seeking concessions, including the elimination of flexible work arrangements.

“People used to stay in these jobs for their entire career. Now there are only a handful of workers with long term experience,” said Jesse Horrigan, CUPE 504 President. “PHC isn’t a place where people can build a career anymore. It’s become a stepping stone that workers leave as soon as they can because they feel undermined and undervalued by management.”

According to CUPE 504, the workplace climate has deteriorated sharply in recent years. Members have filed 10 grievances since January alone.

Workers say chronic understaffing is already affecting service for residents. PHC’s largest high-rise property has been without a full-time custodian on site for 16 months, leading to a growing backlog of cleaning and maintenance issues. At the same time, the number of management positions has continued to increase, with roughly one manager for every two frontline workers.

“People took these jobs to serve our communities. This group has never taken a strike vote before, but they’ve never faced this kind of crisis,” said Horrigan. “Families, seniors, and residents living in PHC housing deserve better, and that starts with properly supporting the workers who keep these homes running.”

The two sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining table on April 29.

Long-term care workers at Grand View Manor, Magnolia Continuing Care Centre, Shiretown and Ivey’s Terrace Nursing Homes, and Maple Hill Manor represented by CUPE locals 5183, 5165, 2503, and 2765 respectively, have issued their official 48-hour notice to strike. 

This means that, if the government continues to refuse to return to the table to bargain, Grand View Manor, Magnolia Continuing Care Centre, and Shiretown and Ivey’s Terrace Nursing Homes will hit the picket line come Thursday morning at 7 AM with Maple Hill Manor following suit on Friday.

“Government has been silent since this started except for the soundbites that Minister Adams keeps repeating in the media,” said CUPE Long-Term and Community Care Committee Chair Christa Sweeney.

“We’ve been ready and willing to continue bargaining since we reached impasse on March 24, but they haven’t called us back to the table,” continued Sweeney. “The government’s refusal to bargain is dragging this strike out and putting residents at risk. This could end tomorrow if they were willing to negotiate.”

If these four homes reach the picket line, that would mean 29 CUPE locals and nearly 3,000 workers are now on strike in long-term care across Nova Scotia.

Unions representing thousands of City of Edmonton workers are warning that any attempt to introduce profits or public-private partnerships into city recreational services will come out of the pockets of Edmontonians using these services.

Sterling Valentine, president of CUPE Local 30, and Bryce Jowett, President of Civic Service Union 52, said a recent discussion in council to consider changes to how the city provides rec centre service could easily lead to increased costs for Edmontonians.

“We’ve been through this over the years in Edmonton and other municipalities across the country,” said Valentine. “Recreation is a vital public service enjoyed by people of all ages and incomes. Introducing private partners puts that at risk by allowing companies to try to squeeze a profit for themselves by raising costs or cutting programs.

Once you factor in profit for private operators, where is the public good?”

“Public recreation facilities are affordable because we want to encourage fitness and health,” said Jowett. “If we were to charge the same rates as private gyms, many Edmontonians would not be able to access our services.”

Valentine said that under a profit-based system, Edmontonians would pay more for swimming lessons, ice skating, pickleball courts, personal trainers and daily access to all facilities. 

“There are plenty of GoodLifes and other private gyms around. We need public facilities because there is a need for fitness programs that are accessible to all citizens,” said Jowett.

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The virtual registration pilot at St. Joseph’s urgent care centre is a mistake as it will discriminatorily impact vulnerable groups of people without fixing the core issue, lengthening wait-times, according to CUPE.

Last week, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton announced that patients will be able to self-register for urgent care prior to arrival at the King Campus in an ostensible effort to reduce wait-times amidst rising demand.

However, the union representing 2,000 workers at the hospital says virtual registration will create a two-tier system that will provide faster access to certain segments of the population at the expense of others.

“Virtual self-registration is discrimination dressed up as innovation,” says Rick Rigby, president of CUPE 786. “It undermines service based on class, disability, and status. It will marginalize people who don’t have access to the internet or smartphones, such as the homeless population in our city. It will hurt people who are not tech-savvy or have visual impairment, including many senior citizens. It will also hurt people who are not comfortable navigating digital forms in English or French, such as many newcomers to Canada. We are disappointed that the hospital has not been able to find a more equitable solution to longer wait-times.”

While demand for urgent care is rising rapidly at King Campus, registration times do not pose a barrier, according to Rigby. He says it only takes a few minutes to register patients. The hospital could add more staff to reduce system pressures.

“Oftentimes, people are swiftly registered but waiting hours anyway because doctors and nurses are dealing with the large volume of patients,” he said. “That does not help patients who register in advance. And if they come in and expect faster service, that would only intensify pressure on staff who already face aggression and violence from some members of the public.”

Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, OCHU-CUPE, said the hospital must ensure an equity lens, which is an important cornerstone of the public health care system.

“We can’t presume everyone can access technology in the same way,” he said. “We don’t want a situation where well to-do, relatively healthier patients are jumping ahead of more vulnerable people. That type of disparity would undermine the accessibility principle of the Canada Health Act.”

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Delegates from across Newfoundland and Labrador will gather this week for the CUPE NL Convention, bringing together workers from across sectors to set priorities for the year ahead and strengthen the collective voice of public service workers in the province.

This year’s convention is being held during the “Year of Health and Safety,” with a strong focus on protecting workers on the job and ensuring that safe workplaces are treated as a fundamental right—not an afterthought.

Delegates will also take up key issues facing workers and communities across Newfoundland and Labrador, including:

• Strengthening public healthcare, with an urgent focus on recruitment and retention challenges that continue to strain the system and the workers who sustain it
• Advancing workers’ rights and fair wages, as the cost of living rises and workers demand respect at the bargaining table
• Promoting equity, inclusion, and anti-racism, to ensure that workplaces reflect the dignity and diversity of the communities they serve
• Building stronger communities through public services, recognizing that well-funded, accessible public services are essential to the province’s social and economic well-being

“Workers across this province are showing up every day in increasingly difficult conditions—and they’re doing it because they care about the people and communities they serve,” said Sherry Hillier, president of CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador. “This convention is about turning that commitment into action—setting clear priorities and building the strength we need to win safer workplaces, fair wages, and the public services our communities depend on.”

The convention will feature policy debates, workshops, and guest speakers, as well as opportunities for members to share their experiences from the front lines of public service work.

“At a time when public services are under pressure, this convention is about more than internal business—it’s about sending a clear message,” said Hillier. “Investing in workers is investing in communities. You can’t have strong public services without the people who deliver them.”