{"id":6239,"date":"2026-05-15T01:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stocks-future.com\/?guid=7051ce508853d6b3cfb9782d33500cab"},"modified":"2026-05-15T01:29:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:29:00","slug":"we-deserve-the-same-rights-as-other-health-care-workers-psw-day-protest-at-doug-fords-office-on-may-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/?p=6239","title":{"rendered":""We deserve the same rights as other health care workers:\u201d PSW Day protest at Doug Ford\u2019s office on May 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

ETOBICOKE, ON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Personal support workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees are demanding the Ontario government fix a \u201cfundamentally flawed\u201d regulatory body that denies them rights and protections granted to other health care workers.<\/p><\/a><\/a>

\nPSWs will be holding a rally to register their protest outside Doug Ford\u2019s constituency office on PSW Day, which falls on May 19 this year.<\/p>

\nThe action is in response to a rising trend among health care employers, making it mandatory for PSWs to join the Health and Supportive Care Oversight Authority (HSCPOA) as a condition for employment.<\/p>

\nThe Ford government created HSCPOA in 2021 as a regulatory body for PSWs and other \u201csupport workers.\u201d The agency was intended to act as a professional registry like the College of Nurses of Ontario, and other regulatory bodies governing the practice of health care professionals.<\/p>

\nHowever, workers are upset that it leaves them exposed to disciplinary actions including revocation of their license without guaranteeing due process. CUPE pointed out several flaws in marked contrast to other regulatory bodies including:<\/p>

\n- Lack of license protection: the HSCPOA director can arbitrarily revoke a PSW\u2019s license to practice. This undermines basic due process rights, which are provided to all other regulated health care workers.\n- No right to appeal: HSCPOA does not provide PSWs the right to appeal decisions - even in cases where a PSW may have her license revoked. Other health care professionals (like nurses) have the right to appeal.\n- Lack of representation: HSCPOA\u2019s oversight committee currently doesn\u2019t have any PSW representation, meaning decisions about the profession will be made without the input of workers. The CNO has nurses on its board.<\/p>

\n\u201cWe are calling on the government to fix HSCPOA because PSWs deserve the same rights as everyone else,\u201d said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE\u2019s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions. \u201cThis is a predominantly female, disproportionately racialized workforce that is heavily exploited and treated with blatant disrespect. If Ontario wants to address the PSW shortage, the government must provide guarantee them basic rights as other workers, in addition to fair compensation and decent working conditions.\u201d<\/p>

\n\u201cWithout representation on the council for PSWs, all Doug Ford has done is create a new obstacle for providing meaningful support for workers,\u201d added Debra Maxfield, chairperson of CUPE\u2019s Healthcare Workers Coordinating Committee (HCWCC). \u201cCreating tiered criteria is pushing out experienced professionals and confining new people in the field to a system of uncertain and incompetent oversight. We need the government to do better for PSWs.\u201d<\/p>

\nCUPE is calling on Ontario residents to send letters to their MPPs to demand the government fix the registry<\/a>. The rally at Doug Ford\u2019s office will begin at 10:30 a.m. on May 19. Media spokespersons will be available for comment.<\/p>

\nWho: <\/b>PSWs represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees<\/p>

\nWhat:<\/b> Respect PSWs: Fix HSCPOA Rally<\/p>

\nWhere:<\/b> Doug Ford\u2019s Constituency Office, 823 Albion Rd, Etobicoke, ON<\/p>

\nWhen:<\/b> Tuesday May 19, 2026 at 10:30 a.m.<\/p>

\njs\/cope491<\/p> Contacts<\/b>

\nFor more information, please contact:<\/b>Bill Chalupiak, CUPE Communications\n416-707-1401\nwchalupiak@cupe.ca<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ETOBICOKE, ON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Personal support workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees are demanding the Ontario government fix a \u201cfundamentally flawed\u201d regulatory body that denies them rights and protections granted to other he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infos-businesswire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6240,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239\/revisions\/6240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}