The union representing thousands of health-care workers in Ottawa says it will fight “all the way to the Supreme Court” to protect workers’ fundamental rights to hold peaceful demonstrations outside hospitals and long-term care homes. Read MoreWorkers say the bylaw would stifle their ability to hold public demonstrations to express concerns about the health system.
Workers say the bylaw would stifle their ability to hold public demonstrations to express concerns about the health system.
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The union representing thousands of health-care workers in Ottawa says it will fight “all the way to the Supreme Court” to protect workers’ fundamental rights to hold peaceful demonstrations outside hospitals and long-term care homes.
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Ottawa’s proposed bubble-zone bylaw would violate those rights for health workers, say union members and officials with the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
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The city says the proposed bylaw would provide safe access to places of worship and religious centres, schools, daycares, health-care facilities and care homes when demonstrations occur nearby. So-called bubble zone bylaws, similar to bylaws restricting demonstrations outside abortion facilities, have been introduced in several Ontario municipalities.
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The Evening Citizen
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In Ottawa, the proposed bylaw came in the wake of anti-trans protests and counter-protests on Broadview Avenue, where there are two high schools and an elementary school, in addition to an anti-Israel protest outside the Jewish Community Centre and its nearby long-term care facility.
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But health-care workers say the bylaw would stifle their ability to hold public demonstrations to express concerns about the health system. The proposed bylaw would include exemptions for lawful labour protests or strikes, but health workers say that does not go far enough, especially since they cannot legally strike.
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About 60 members of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions — including personal support workers, nurses, clerical workers, cleaners, food services workers and more — rallied in front of city hall on Tuesday to protest the proposed bylaw.
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“In a democratic society, everyone should have the right to protest,” OCHU president Michael Hurley told the crowd.
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“Our members do not have the legal right to strike. They do not have the right to refuse unsafe work, and this, by law, limits their ability to protest to matters restricted to their contract, as though that’s all we care about.”
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Members of the union have held peaceful protests outside long-term care homes and hospitals in Ottawa in recent months to raise concerns about working conditions and health-care privatization, among other things.
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“We have told city council that we will take this issue forward to the Supreme Court if we have to,” Hurley said. “From our perspective, not having the right to strike, not having the right to refuse unsafe work, this is just another assault on the few freedoms that we have, and we will not accept it.”