District 6 members demand support, funding for long-term care workers

Members and activists of the District 6 Health Care Workers Council have been campaigning for years for better working conditions and pay for long-term care workers in Ottawa. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, that work has not slowed down.

After a video conference with provincial leaders at the end of June, District 6 Health Care Workers Council President Audra Nixon and District 6 Staff Representative David Lipton followed the meeting up with a letter outlining their demands to keep long-term care workers safe, as well as to strengthen the industry as a whole.

Among the actions the District is calling for is the withdrawal of two provincial bills that they say allow more privatization of long-term care facilities and penalize workers at nonprofit facilities.

“At a time when compensation and working conditions are required to attract and retrain qualified staff, this law [Bill 124] creates an unjustified labour market distortion,” the letter said.

The Steelworker activists also called for increased targeted funding for long-term care, better wages and conditions for workers, improved inspections of facilities, and more.

Click here to read a former Stat Facts story about the district’s work around long-term care in Ottawa.