Regent Park community health-care workers reached a deal this week for better pay after spending nearly two weeks on the picket line.
The workers are part of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents more than 180,000 workers across the province.
“Together with labour allies, and community members Regent Park community health care workers celebrated their unity and strength after reaching a tentative deal. The crowd was filled with excitement and hope for a better future for Regent Park. There’s nothing we can’t achieve when we fight together,” the union captioned a recent post on Instagram.
In fact, what was supposed to be a 9 a.m. rally on Thursday, turned into a cause for celebration where food trucks were made available and people hugged and cheered.
This comes after days of workers calling for better pay for the life-saving work they do each and every day.
According to OPSEU, these frontline health-care workers provide vital programs and services in response to the weakening health services in Ontario.
And to add insult to injury, some employees say they can’t afford to live in the city they work in.
NDP MPP for Toronto Centre Kristyn Wong-Tam has been outspoken about workers rights and joined the rally on Thursday.
They believe that workers deserve so much better from the provincial budget and stands in solidarity with the union.
“The frontline workers at Regent Park Community Health Centre went on strike for fair wages. The Ford government is starving public health care and their wages were frozen by Bill 124 during an affordability crisis. These health care professionals are doing some of the most difficult work in the province in Ontario’s epicentre of a poisoned drug supply and overdose crisis,” Wong-Tam told Now Toronto in an email statement on Friday.
“They cannot do this work with unlivable wages. They went on strike not just for themselves, but for the health and well-being of everyone in Regent Park.”
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