from The Tyee
Twenty years after NAFTA, the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks are among "next generation" trade deals posing serious threats to North American communities, according to an article in The Tyee by Raul Burbano, Kristen Beifus and Manuel Perez-Rocha. A coalition of civil society protestors are calling for more equitable and sustainable trade regimes.
from the Ontario Health Coalition
More than a thousand people in communities across Ontario held candlelight vigils and rallies outside local hospitals March 4 to protest privatization and cuts to hospital services.
Organized by the Ontario Health Coalition, "S O S — Save Our Services" rallies protested the $3 billion cuts in health spending featured in the government's recent budget.
While the health ministry states that home care will take up the slack in hospital services, according to the coalition, the cuts are hospital services such as surgeries that cannot be replaced by home or community care.
“Thousands of surgeries are being cut from our local non-profit hospitals to be privatized to for-profit corporations, or they are simply cut. Hundreds of health professionals, nurses and hospital support staff are being cut along with the services they provide”, said Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coaliton.
In smaller communities, the cuts range from 10 percent to almost 50 percent of existing hospital beds, she said. In larger cities, deficits ranging from $20 million to $40 million have been created by hospital funding cuts, resulting in bed closures and service cuts.
Hundreds of registered nurse positions are to be cut, said Vicki McKenna, First Vice-President of the Ontario Nurses' Association.
"The impact of cuts to hospital services as a result of government hospital funding reform means less care provided by fewer registered nurses," said McKenna. "This is happening at a time when Ontario already has the second-lowest ratio of RNs to population in the country and will result in higher readmission rates and increasing costs."
Together, these changes mean $36 billion less in federal funding for health care over ten years, shrinking the federal government’s share of health care spending to a small fraction of its original 50 percent contribution, down to 18.6 percent by 2024.
“Manitobans have been vocal about their support for public services, and suporting services was something the current government pledged to do in past elections,” said Michelle Gawronsky, MGEU president.
from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees
Secrecy goes hand-in-glove with private delivery,” said Dechant.
by SGNews staff
from The Province
This report, based on Statistics Canada data, shows that the difference in wages for similar jobs in the public and private sectors is miniscule.
“While we have experienced a marked and welcome change in the Wynne government’s approach to addressing its relationship with teachers, this has yet to translate into real change,”
by SGNews staff
The Ontario Seconday School Teachers' Federation is recommending its members suspend political action related to extracurricular and voluntary activities, following a meeting of the organization's provincial council Feb 22.
“We expect that this sign of good will from our members will prompt the government to have genuine discussions that can lead to a fair resolution to this current impasse,” said Ken Coran, federation president.
"We still maintain that voluntary activities are just that, voluntary," he said. "We encourage members to review recent information and decide if they are willing to return to participating in the activities we know they feel so passionately about."
