Protests erupt against paid blood donation centres in Ontario [Video]

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) members are rallying in an Ontario town to protest new paid blood donation centres.

The protest is scheduled for 1 p.m. this afternoon in the Town of Whitby.

CBS members represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO) will be joined by other union health workers in solidarity.

OPSEU representatives have indicated that the gathering has been designed to protest the opening of the new ‘pay for plasma’ Grifols Donation Centre — the first of its kind in Ontario.

The new Whitby location marks the first of several new centres scheduled to open in Ontario that will pay for blood donations.

Administrators within CBS recently signed a 15-year contract with private pharmaceutical company Grifols to run and operate these centres.

According to the OPSEU, the entire framework of this contract allegedly abuses legal loopholes to conduct operations, as paid plasma donations are technically banned in …