05/05/2026
Tomorrow, CUPE 1943 is serving free coffee and muffins at the Peterborough hospital in appreciation of the cafeteria workers.
We have billed this as "cruelty-free" coffee because the staff who work tirelessly at the Tim Hortons/cafeteria are treated extremely poorly.
Although they work at the Peterborough hospital, their jobs have been farmed out to Compass, a for-profit corporation.
The work is chaotic and demanding – workers suffer from perpetual understaffing, and lax health and safety standards (with several reporting injuries).
“About 70 per cent of the time, I can’t take my lunch break on time because we are so short-staffed," says Pam Simpson.* “I often end up working an additional 45 minutes to an hour. And yet, I’ve been yelled at for requesting a lunch break – in front of customers!”
The frenetic pace of work has contributed to injuries as workers scramble to perform their duties, only for managers to minimize their concerns (“it doesn’t look too bad” one worker was told after a fall that tore off a chunk of skin off her scalp).
Many workers have decided the pain is not worth it for minimum wage (or a fraction more – the highest paid workers get $18.09).
Ergo, staff turnover is high, and experienced workers are under pressure to pick up the slack.
The toxic nature of the workplace is rooted in sexism, racism, and classism – most workers are women, many racialized, and some are international students with precarious immigration status.
CUPE 1943 wants significant improvements to bring them up to the same standards as the hospital workers it represents inside the facility.
After all, the Tim Hortons/cafeteria jobs are no different than those of food service workers at the hospital – in fact they used to have the same contract before the cafeteria jobs were privatized more than a decade ago.
“These workers here deserve fair compensation,” says Lisa Barker, the president of CUPE 1943. “But they also deserve respect and decent working conditions, free from harassment and discrimination. It’s incumbent on Compass and the Peterborough hospital to end these hyper-exploitative practices and treat them fairly.”
Please support these workers by signing our e-action/online petition: https://cupe.ca/peterborough and sharing this post!
*Name has been changed to protect workers' identities
