ONA25 very active doing “ONA’s good work!”

Up first was the annual Guelph Multicultural Festival in June, where this very active Local gathered signatures for ONA’s petitions demanding safe staffing ratios and an end to health-care privatization.  

“My Bargaining President Maggie Jarvis and I were representing ONA25, with a combination of other unions called Solidarity in Action,” says Liz Lima, the political action rep for Guelph General Hospital. “We were part of the Guelph and District Labour Council and along with ONA, there were representatives from the teachers’ and postal workers’ unions. Maggie was the liaison with the labour council contact person for this event. As you can see from the picture, we had a full table of information, treats and attractions! Maggie and I are both part of ONA’s Regional Political Action Committee [Region 4].” 

While Lima notes that some visitors to their booth were unfortunately “unagreeable to our cause, ambivalent or misinformed,” giving her and Jarvis an opportunity to help educate them, “in general, the public reaction was very positive. Who doesn’t love nurses, right?!” 

Lima also organized ONA25’s participation in the farmers’ market in Ridgeway, near Fort Erie, in early July as part of ONA’s Community Month of Action.

“I picked this area as I’m aware of several community initiatives to try and save their local hospital, Douglas Memorial, which they’re losing due to Doug Ford’s cuts to health care,” she explains. “I felt that we would have a receptive audience, and did we ever! All the other vendors came to us to sign our petitions, as they see how important our work is.” 

Lima, who also participated in a rally to save that hospital the very next day, was joined at the event by fellow ONA25 members Katherine Hattle and Paige Winton.

“We spoke to many people, including several Americans, as Ridgeway is a border town with Buffalo,” she explains. “I was curious to see if anyone would recommend the private health-care system that they have. And no one did. They all stated it was a disaster. I spoke to someone whose daughter is an RN at London Health Sciences Centre. We talked about the staffing cuts there. This person is originally from Germany, and spoke about how her daughter and the nurses in Ontario are paid better than the nurses in Germany. I told her that was because of ONA! She signed right away and encouraged her husband to sign as well.” 

Thanks to their strong advocacy, ONA25 gathered more than 300 signatures for our petition that morning alone. And Lima says they aren’t slowing down anytime soon. 

“Next on our to-do list? The Guelph Labour Day festival on September 7 to do more of ONA’s good work!”