Media Advisory - Ontario Nurses' Association to Hold Mass Protest in Toronto, Calling for Better Hospital Contract and Better Patient Care

TORONTO, March 1, 2023 /CNW/ -  Front-line Registered Nurses (RNs) and health-care professionals from the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) will hold a mass protest on Thursday, March 2 in downtown Toronto. The protest will begin at 12:00 p.m. outside the Sheraton Centre Hotel, where mediation talks with the employer, the Ontario Hospital Association, are taking place.

Nurses and health-care professionals are expected to be joined by busloads of supporters and community allies from across the province. The group will make some noise, ensuring that their employers hear the collective voices of Ontario's public-sector hospital nurses and health-care professionals.

The protesters are demanding better staffing, better wages and better care, and believe both employers and this government need to know that the future of patient care for Ontarians depends on long-overdue improvements to working conditions for those that care for them.

Shortly before 1:00 p.m. protesters will march up University Avenue, past 'hospital row' to bring their message to Premier Ford at Queen's Park. A roster of speakers is scheduled both outside the Sheraton Centre at noon and at Queen's Park around 1:40 p.m.

WHAT:            Mass Rally and March for Better Hospital Staffing, Wages and Care
WHO:             Leaders and front-line members of the Ontario Nurses' Association, supporters and community allies
WHEN:           Noon to 2:00 p.m., Thursday, March 2, 2023
WHERE:        Queen St. between Bay St. and University Ave., then to Queen's Park

ONA is the union represent 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals and more than 18,000 nursing student affiliates providing care in hospitals, long-term care, community care, public health, clinics and industry.

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

ONA Media Relations: Sheree Bond: [email protected], Melanie Levenson: [email protected]