Unions across Ontario are calling for Care, Not Profits in long-term care-homes.
Services Employees International Union Healthcare (SEUI), CUPE and Unifor have joined together to push for changes to the province's long term care system and end privately owned for profit facilities.
That's after more than 1,800 people have died of COVID-19 in long-term care-homes across the province, reportedly due to understaffing.
Speaking on AM800’s The Afternoon News, Unifor President Jerry says Premier Doug Ford has acknowledged the system is broken and now it's time to fix it.
"Here we hit a pandemic and now Canadians from coast to coast see the short falls of the for profit system," says Dias. "Frankly, our parents and grandparents deserve better."
Of the 15 homes with the most COVID-19 deaths, Dias says for profit homes lead by a large margin.
"Thirteen of them were run by for profit corporations and we have 1,800 deaths at long-term care-residents including eight personal support workers ... so this is a system in crisis that's broken," added Dias.
Residents receive an average of six minutes with a personal support worker (PSW) every morning to get ready for their day, according to Dias.
He says that's nowhere near enough time and is direct result of understaffing to maximize profit.
"Our parents and grandparents built this country. The least that we can do for them is insure that there final years are in comfort and in respect," says Dias. "The current understaffing in these homes has led to the pandemic."
According to Dias, long-term care-homes need to be brought back into the universal health care system so they're properly staffed to care for residents, not to profit off them.