Unions stage LHIN protest

Members of four local unions participated in an information picket in front of La Verendrye Hospital here Tuesday to protest the creation of Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) in Ontario.
“We see them as an opening for privatization and competitive bidding,” said Danny Scheibli, a CUPE national rep for Northwestern Ontario who attended the picket.
Local members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) walked in front of the hospital carrying signs reading “No to LHINs.”
The unions have formed a coalition in Ontario representing about 200,000 health-care workers, and are actively lobbying the McGuinty government to review the legislation before it passes.
Scheibli said high-level meetings are planned later this month between government and the coalition.
“They’re not likely to make any substantial amendments,” he admitted.
Because the LHINs call for the amalgamation and transfer of services, certain medical procedures could be moved to one hospital in a region.
While this may not be inconvenient in a place like Toronto, it causes problems in a region like Northwestern Ontario, which will be incorporated into a single LHIN.
That means patients living in the region may have to travel to Thunder Bay for certain treatments.
Scheibli said the government has denied this will happen, but the unions are asking them to “put it in writing.”
They also object to the lack of public consultation on the issue, noting there were only seven public meetings across the province.
“It was pretty ridiculous,” Scheibli said. “As we see it, it’s going to affect every community.”
Vi Kocuiba, a member of CUPE Local 4807, was out picketing Tuesday with her three-year-old grandson, Kaden. “It’s his health care, too,” she noted.
Under the LHIN plan, the province would be divided into 14 areas, which the government claims would allow for greater local control over health care facilities.
The LHIN legislation—contained in Bill 36—is expected to pass in early March.