Hospital workers are signing cards to build the collective power to win job security, fair job posting and hiring processes, just-cause protection, health and safety protection and a stronger voice at work to address concerns around workload and staffing. Whenever workers organize unions, it is common for the employer to use a few common tactics to try to scare workers from organizing.
MYTH: “The union” will come between you and us, and hurt your positive relationship with the hospital administration” OR “The union” will make changes to your job in ways you don’t want, and you won’t have a say; you will lose your ability to negotiate one-on-one
TRUTH: In CUPE, there is no “union” separate and apart from you and your co-workers. With a union you and your coworkers are united and stronger together, because united you have more power to win the changes that YOU decide YOU want to win together. How well does one-on-one negotiations between a worker and their employer work anyway? Not usually very well, especially on the big issues.
MYTH: “You will pay dues and lose more than you gain”
TRUTH: Union dues vary between 1.5% and 2% by local union and tax-deductible. Dues are the resources that workers pool together to build strong campaigns and contracts that win improvements to wages, staffing, benefits and working conditions. Hospital workers last year won a 8.25% increase, huge increases to shift and weekend premiums, among many other improvements. Dues were the resources they used in their campaign when the hospitals refused to negotiate real wage increases.
MYTH: “The union can’t promise anything”
TRUTH: This just isn’t true. While terms of the local contract must be negotiated, joining CUPE means having strong representation if/when you need it, not having to face management alone, a collective voice at work and the power to win improvements to your job. Joining a union means you can raise issues without fear of reprisal and have a set of rules that your employer must follow. Right now, for non-union employees, the employer gets to set the rules regardless of how they might affect the workers, and they can apply them unfairly or change them whenever they want. When you join a union you have “just cause” protection meaning you can’t be disciplined or terminated without just cause.
MYTH: “Unionizing will result in wage reductions or layoffs”
TRUTH: Wages don’t go down when workers organize a union (in fact the ability to negotiate fair wage increases is a common reason that workers organize a union). Unionized hospital workers have powerful job security protections that non-union hospital workers do not enjoy. This is especially important at UHN where the upcoming merger with West Park brings uncertainty of potential job losses.
MYTH: “Unions force workers to go out on strike”
TRUTH: Workers never go out on strike without a vote – it’s a collective decision to use union power to win. In the hospital sector, the right to strike is replaced by binding arbitration.