Gary Kinsman, for the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty
We also know from talking to OW and ODSP workers that with SAMS it now takes much, much longer to do their work and this means that they have far less time to meet the needs of the people on social assistance that they work with, especially given their very high case-loads. We fully support the issues and grievances raised by both the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) regarding SAMS. SAMS is not working and this problem needs to be resolved immediately. The needs of social assistance recipients and of workers in OW and ODSP demand immediate action to end these problems. One solution would be to revert to the pre-existing system while the SAMS system is fixed and perfected and adequate training can be provided.
Yours sincerely,
Gary Kinsman, for the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty
We also know from talking to OW and ODSP workers that with SAMS it now takes much, much longer to do their work and this means that they have far less time to meet the needs of the people on social assistance that they work with, especially given their very high case-loads. We fully support the issues and grievances raised by both the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) regarding SAMS. SAMS is not working and this problem needs to be resolved immediately. The needs of social assistance recipients and of workers in OW and ODSP demand immediate action to end these problems. One solution would be to revert to the pre-existing system while the SAMS system is fixed and perfected and adequate training can be provided.
Yours sincerely,
Gary Kinsman, for the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty
Dec. 8, 2014
Dear Premier Wynne, the Honourable Kevin Daniel Flynn and the Honourable Helena Jaczek:
The Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty is an anti-poverty organization in Sudbury. We are very concerned about the ways that the new Social Assistance Management System (SAMS) has created major problems in the lives of people on social assistance (both OW and ODSP) and also for workers in OW and ODSP. We are aware of people not getting cheques or other necessary benefits, people experiencing delays in getting badly needed support, or receiving the wrong amount on cheques. This has dramatically added to the problems many people on social assistance face at what is a difficult time of the year with the start of winter and with the holidays approaching fast.
We also know from talking to OW and ODSP workers that with SAMS it now takes much, much longer to do their work and this means that they have far less time to meet the needs of the people on social assistance that they work with, especially given their very high case-loads. We fully support the issues and grievances raised by both the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) regarding SAMS. SAMS is not working and this problem needs to be resolved immediately. The needs of social assistance recipients and of workers in OW and ODSP demand immediate action to end these problems. One solution would be to revert to the pre-existing system while the SAMS system is fixed and perfected and adequate training can be provided.
Yours sincerely,
Gary Kinsman, for the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty