Dear Fellow Member of Local 79 Working at Bridgepoint Hospital:

On Wednesday April 18, 2012, members of the Bridgepoint Hospital Nurses and Paramedical Units, and Service Units had an opportunity to attend information sessions on the transition plan into the new hospital. Following the information sessions, ratification votes were held and the members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the plan.

In March, Bridgepoint Hospital celebrated Dietitians month. Various activities related to the celebrations were held at the hospital to thank our members for all their work and dedication as dietitians. By all accounts, everyone enjoyed the opportunity to both show appreciation and be appreciated.

May is Physiotherapy and Speech Pathology Month at Bridgepoint Hospital. This provides a perfect opportunity for the recognition, and a show of appreciation, for the work that Local 79 members do as they provide physiotherapy and speech pathology services to their patients. Events will be taking place throughout the month.

Canada’s National Nursing Week for 2012 is May 7th -13th. This year’s theme is “Nursing – The Health of Our Nation”, reflecting the positive impacts nurses make to the lives and well-being of Canadians.

Local 79 is pleased to have been able to provide financial donations in support of these three worthy events.

I wrote to both Prime Minister Harper and Premier McGuinty expressing Local 79’s concerns regarding their recent, respective budgets. The Federal Budget once again failed to address the continued hardship suffered by significant numbers of Canadians across the country. Instead, it paves the way for deregulation, privatization, contracting out good jobs, outsourcing jobs, and foreign ownership of our resources. The proposal to delay the eligibility period for Old Age Security (OAS) until people reach 67 years of age, will only force people to work longer instead of securing the dignity that workers deserve in their retirement.

Premier McGuinty’s Budget is equally lacking. The government proposals can only result in people being thrown out of work, a funding freeze and changes to the hospital funding formula that will put the majority of Ontario’s hospitals into deficit – forcing them to cut services, pensions threatened, Children’s Aid Societies experiencing funding cuts, cutbacks in social housing, and the whole child care system destabilized through a lack of adequate funding. The Provincial government has failed miserably to take the necessary actions needed to get families, communities and the province back on their feet. Local 79 strongly supports NDP leader Andrea Horwath’s budget proposal to rein in public sector executive compensation, boost funding for local healthcare, and funding to protect 4,000 existing child care spaces – 2,000 of which are provided by the City of Toronto. She is also urging the Province to avoid another ORNGE scandal by extending whistleblower protection to anyone in a publicly funded organization that receives more than a million dollars in annual funding.

On Saturday April 21st, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at Queen’s Park, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), along with community groups and organizations across Ontario, is calling on workers, retirees, students and community members to join a mass rally to tell Premier McGuinty that he cannot cut his way to economic prosperity. (Please see the Local 79 website for more details.)

April 27th is the National Day of Mourning (date changed from original post), when we pause and remember all workers who have been injured, made sick, or killed on the job. It is also a time when we rededicate ourselves to ensuring that all workers have safe, healthy workplaces. The ceremonies will be held this Friday, April 27th with the downtown Toronto ceremony moved to the Monument to Chinese Railway Workers, just south of Front and Spadina. It will be at 12:00 noon. The York Region event starts at 11:00 am, at the Woodbridge Memorial Arena, Islington + Highway 7.

Applications for the 2012 Alex Gregory Memorial Scholarship will be accepted for students who are in their final year of secondary school in Ontario, and are registered in a post-secondary institution this fall. Five scholarships for $500 each will be awarded to children of current or retired members. Please apply for an application in writing to the Education Committee, c/o the Local 79 office. Please include your name, address, home and work telephone numbers, division, and employee number.

In Solidarity

Tim Maguire
President