Many of us read Ronni’s email about the union campaign and had the same reaction:
The picture he’s painting about our working conditions just doesn’t line up with our experience.
Ronni (the second highest-paid hospital CEO in Canada) sent out this email because he knows that support for our union is growing. More and more of our coworkers are signing up to win job protections, better wages and a voice in our workplace!
In his email, Ronni says “we cannot take care of our patients and families without taking care of employees first,” but workers remember when SickKids:
- Cut workers’ wages to fund paid breaks – costing employees roughly $4,000 per year. And still, some workers don’t receive paid breaks at all.
- Failed to contribute to our pension for 27 years, while also denying workers access to the HOOPP pension plan. It was only after CUPE members organized and fought back that workers finally won the superior pension for everyone.
The timing of this email is also telling.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Ronni sent an email about “Project Beacon” — a hospital-wide restructuring initiative focused on “reducing costs”, “replacing transactional tasks”, “exploring different ways of working”.
All code for: layoffs, cuts, heavier workloads and fewer protections.
Ronni’s email talks about partnership and respect. But respect isn’t town halls, surveys and third-party consultants.
When you have a union, management cannot make major workplace changes in the dark or simply impose whatever they want without pushback. You have collective power, legal protections and a voice in decisions that affect your jobs and working conditions.
To win our union we need to keep talking to our co-workers. Ronni’s email actually makes those conversations easier to have openly. You can start by asking your co-workers what they thought about Ronni’s email!
Today’s Ice Cream Truck event is the perfect opportunity to do that. Invite your co-workers to come grab a free ice-cream, meet workers from across the hospital and get more information about the union drive! Ice cream is free for ALL SickKids staff.
We’ll be there from 11:00 am – 3:30 pm.
Ronni’s email also linked to a standard-issue anti-union misinformation FAQ. If you want clear, truthful information about the drive, check out this FAQ.
In solidarity,
Your friends and co-workers at SickKids