Safety. Dignity. Respect.
This is what CUPE Ontario demands for all the workers that CUPE locals represent -- workers who provide essential community services across the province.
It is also what we expect and demand for the people who our members provide support for and work with at hundreds of workplaces across the city of Toronto. And it is what this press conference is all about. Unhoused members of our communities deserve safety, dignity and respect, wherever they are living - in affordable housing, in the shelter system or in encampments.
We have a state of emergency in Toronto: thousands of people are homeless. Safe, dignified and affordable housing is the goal. Meanwhile, the number of people who are being unhoused is growing every day. People are being evicted by developers who are building new housing only wealthy people can afford. People are being evicted from encampments where they find safety, autonomy and support. And people are being forced back onto the street through the use of service restrictions at congregate and hotel shelters across the City.
This city has to stop unhousing people. We know there is a better way to build a culture of safety and respect for staff and community members. There is a basic commitment from the mayor’s office to get council agreement to have Toronto lead again in providing affordable housing and there is money now available based on the City of Toronto's New Deal with the province. It means momentum is building for Toronto to transform its approach to unhoused people. But this means the city needs to also transform the kinds of services and supports offered to people who are unhoused. and to transform a punitive sheltering system into a system that, at its core, upholds the human rights, the inherent dignity, of every person who comes through the door.
Stop evictions, from the shelter system and from encampments. And when it comes to evicting unhoused people, I want to remind people: CUPE members have the right to refuse unsafe work – work that endangers their lives or the lives of others. If any worker feels that participating in the eviction of unhoused people from encampments is unsafe, for themselves or for anyone, including the people who are homeless, they have the right to refuse that work. I will emphasize that no one can direct anyone to refuse unsafe work; however, as a union, it’s CUPE Ontario’s obligation to remind our members that they, like every other worker, have this right. We urge CUPE members and all workers to remember that as workers we have the ability to exercise this right. Let's use this moratorium to fund and build supports, shelters and housing that can meet people where they are at and ensure they can not only survive, but thrive.