Fight with Erin: We will push back hard!

Let me provide just a handful of examples from the past few months alone that have greatly inspired and energized me.

ONA’s legislative petitions to stop health-care privatization and support staffing ratios, signed by more than 8,000 people so far, continue to be read by MPPs in Queen’s Park. And that’s all thanks to the incredible work at the Local level, driven by members of our Political Action Committee (PAC), along with regional PAC members. The impact of this can’t be overstated. When MPPs read these petitions, our demands go on record and the Ford government is forced to respond, no matter how performative.  

To bolster the number of signatures and put pressure on decision-makers, PAC members, with support from member volunteers, are also holding more than 30 community petition actions across the province right now to gather signatures and raise awareness about our demands. There are some really creative approaches, and I couldn’t be prouder! 

Our impactful Code Black and Blue campaign continued this past spring, with the ONA members featured in the ads pushing back the curtain on their harsh realities on the front lines where staffing shortages are the norm and physical and verbal abuse has become far too common. These ads received millions of views and helped put these serious issues front and centre where it belongs.   

You’ve read on F-Word about many of the actions our long-term care (LTC) and Victorian Order of Nurses members have taken in the quest for collective agreements that respect the work they do. My hope is that more members will be comfortable storming meetings, like the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, to let our demands and disgust be known. 

Because unfortunately, even though it's summer, we can’t take a break. We need to fight even harder. Why? Because all across the province, big bad bosses are coming for our jobs. Not just in hospitals, but in public health, LTC and the community. They’re cutting hundreds of nurses and health-care professionals across Ontario, which, in turn, is seriously impacting our patients, residents and clients.  

In fact, since January 2025, more than 1,300 cuts have been made in health-care workplaces, including Bluewater Health, County of Lambton Health Unit, North Bay Regional Health Centre, The Ottawa Hospital, Dundum Place Care Centre and London Health Sciences Centre.  

But here’s our warning. If big-shot CEOs decide to pick on our members, we will push back hard! We recently launched an ad campaign, which includes a dedicated and frequently updated webpage that tracks the cuts ONA leaders are hearing about on the ground, to raise public awareness and provide information on how Ontarians can join us in our fight. 

Because make no mistake, this will be a fight. The challenges we take on usually are. And we’re done pretending that conversations are going to fix it. 

That’s why all these actions I’ve highlighted – and hundreds of more I haven’t – matter. Not because they’re neat or comfortable, but because they aren’t. They give people permission to stop holding back. To take more direct action. To get a little louder. A little bolder. A little harder to ignore. 

Fighting means being scrappy. A scrappy union isn’t polished. It doesn’t wait for the perfect plan or the perfect moment. It works with what it’s got, and it moves. It turns frustration into action. That’s our strength. This is who we are. We push back. We take up space. We make noise. We back each other up. 

And that’s how we win.