Ontario Nurses Protest Corporate Long-Term Care Home Profits for Better Resident Care and Staffing Ratios

Today, hundreds of nurses and health-care professionals from the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) held 37 pickets at corporate, for-profit long-term care homes across the province. These workers are demanding that for-profit nursing home corporations stop compromising resident care while pocketing billion-dollar revenues.

“We are fighting for care, not profit, advocating for the vulnerable residents of Ontario’s corporate-owned long-term care homes,” said ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN. “Our residents deserve to receive quality care, yet what we see is wealthy corporations making record profits on the backs of our residents and those who care for them. It’s not right, and it’s not safe.”

The union is preparing to enter contract talks with its 3,000 members in this sector, including registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered practical nurses, personal support workers, and guest attendants. The top two bargaining demands of the union are staffing ratios to improve resident care and equal wages with nurses and health-care professionals in hospitals to help retain and attract more workers to this sector.

“Current staffing levels make it very difficult to ensure residents get the care they need,” noted Ariss. “If these corporations don’t invest in staffing ratios and equal wages, it will continue to have repercussions for our hospitals