OPSEU urges CAMH to take action on workplace violence

23 assaults in September at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Toronto (13 Nov. 2008) - Ontario's largest public sector union has launched a media campaign to shame the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) into dealing with the issue of violence in the workplace.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) initially posted ads at bus shelters near the centre's main entrance. The union now says the ads will be moved to another location nearby but the campaign will continue.

The ads feature a woman with a bruised face next to a caption that reads, “No more excuses: The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health must protect its staff from violence. It’s the law.”

The ads are a direct response to ongoing violence at the hospital, including 23 reported assaults this September alone.

“This campaign is a direct message to senior management at the hospital,” says OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “The unions have been at the table with CAMH since 2004 to try and get a violence prevention program implemented.... CAMH is failing in its obligations to staff and the patients they serve.”

The ministry of labour has written orders to address workplace violence at CAMH. However, OPSEU members say little meaningful improvement has taken place.

“Last week OPSEU and the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) held a press conference in front of CAMH to urge the hospital to make a serious commitment to this issue,” says Thomas. “Instead of action, we just read about more excuses from CAMH in the media. Enough is enough.”

OPSEU wants to be clear that it is not trying to stigmatize patients in the campaign. Workplace violence comes from a variety of sources, he notes.

The union says there is much CAMH could do, including staff training, personal alarms that work throughout the campus, thorough risk assessments, better staffing and clear policy directions and communications. NUPGE