Staff at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children held a protest today to demand that their employer join the Healthcare of Ontario Retirement Plan, or HOOPP. The call came after workers learned that their current plan will leave them in precarious retirements, with the employer suspending contributions to the plan for decades.
“This hospital has built its reputation as a world-class institution through the contributions of these women. SickKids must ensure that its staff do not retire in poverty,” said Michael Hurley, President of the CUPE Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE).
SickKids is set to become the only hospital in Ontario not part of HOOPP, which covers more than 460,000 health care workers.
The group of workers, which includes nurses, health care aides, administrative staff, lab technicians and other staff, is calling on the employer to provide a pension plan that staff deserve. According to the workers, HOOPP is far superior to the SickKids staff pension plan. A worker earning $45,000 at the end of their career after 30 years of service can expect to receive $25,560 annually from HOOPP, about $8,000 more than the SickKids pension plan.
“The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and its 68,000 members stand in solidarity with SickKids staff as they fight for a decent and secure retirement. After caring for the most vulnerable in our community, health care workers deserve to retire with dignity. SickKids and the Board of Directors have a responsibility to ensure this,” said Erin Ariss, RN and ONA Provincial President.
Leonora Foster, a health care aide and president of CUPE 2816, which represents about 670 hospital workers, said she and her colleagues have repeatedly raised the issue of pensions, but hospital management has been reluctant to change.
“For years, we have been calling on SickKids to do the right thing and join HOOPP,” said Leonora Foster. “HOOPP is a high-quality pension plan that provides workers with a dignified retirement. Many other hospitals offer it, and there is no good reason for SickKids to continue to impose their own pension plan that perpetuates poverty. All of the workers here stand together in our fight for a decent pension, and that means SickKids joining HOOPP.”
According to union research, SickKids has “suspended its contributions,” even though the hospital has not contributed to the pension plan for 25 of the last 27 years.
“SickKids staff dedicate their lives to helping the most vulnerable children and deserve real financial security in retirement. SickKids must take the future of these staff seriously by joining the HOOPP pension plan. We will stand together and demand it!” thundered OPSEU President JP Hornick.
