MEDIA ADVISORY - ONA Nursing Homes Members Demand Fair Wages, Safe Working Conditions During Province-wide Information Pickets

TORONTO, June 3, 2026 /CNW/ - Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) members at more than 46 long-term care homes across the province are hosting information pickets tomorrow to pressure employers to meet their bargaining demands and share their experiences working on the frontlines. Their top priorities include wage parity with hospitals, better benefits and safe working conditions; this new contract will impact 4,400 nurses and health-care professionals.

Nursing homes across the province are a mix of public and private, for-profit homes that receive public funding from the provincial government to operate. Over the last few decades, the wage disparity between hospital and long-term care has grown, despite staff providing similar levels of care. Lower wages coupled with unsafe working conditions, workplace violence, and burnout are pushing nurses and health-care professionals out of the sector.

It is essential for employers, some who are raking in as much as $96 million in profits, to provide fair wages, benefits and safer working conditions so that they can retain and recruit staff to long-term care. With more staff, residents can get the high-quality care they need and deserve.

ONA is the union representing 68,000 health-care professionals, along with 18,000 nursing student affiliates, who provide care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, community settings, clinics, and industry.

WHO:	ONA leaders, nurses and health-care professionals working at long-term care homes across the province
WHERE AND WHEN:	June 4, 2026 (visit our website to see full list of locations and times)
WHAT:	Information pickets
WHY:	To demand fair wages, benefits and safe working conditions for long-term care staff

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

For more information contact: [email protected]