On July 22, the Executive Director of the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa (CASO), Kelly Raymond – along with its Board’s Chair, Deborah Tunis – published a letter with choice reflections not just about the state of child welfare, but implicit comments on the ongoing strike at the agency.
We don’t bargain in the media – we bargain at the table. But it’s important that what either party discloses publicly is factual. While emphasizing how vital CASO workers are to the work of child protection, Raymond and Tunis were quick to highlight how “reasonable” their recent offers at the table are given their agency’s “significant financial constraints.” The fact of the matter is that management’s statements to the media do not reflect the discussions at the table – the numbers are misleading and the central issues are misrepresented.
Last bargaining round, workers were promised a wage offer to help them “catch up,” after three years of our wages capped to an annual increase of only 1% under Bill 124. We’re falling further and further behind – all the while, as Raymond and Tumis acknowledge, “staff are continually asked to do more with fewer resources.”
In light of this, the parties agreed to a wage re-opener of 3.5% for 2023 – on paper. We have it on good authority that even the highest paid workers have only seen $700 of total retropay hit their bank account since 2021. While Raymond and Tunis collapse the numbers to publicly message an inflated wage offer, that agreement expired December 31, 2023.
We’re bargaining a new contract, and what’s on the table for this bargaining round is 8.6% over three years – but with no retroactive pay for the first two months of the agreement, and wage increases only applied for certain months of each year of the agreement (not the full year!) In reality, workers are looking at a total offer just shy of 7%.
The dire state of funding for child welfare which Raymond and Tunis highlight is undoubtedly true. What’s also true is that amidst these funding restraints, Raymond received a pay bump of 8.3% in 2023, raising her salary to $237,698. In 2023, CASO Director Wendy White also received a pay bump of 13% – bringing her salary up to $148,425 – and Amy Bennett, Director of People and Culture, received a wage increase of 16.4%, bringing her up to an annual salary of $176,611. These figures are, of course, exclusive of any undisclosed bonuses.
For context – Executive Director Kelly Raymond makes over six times more than the lowest paid salaried worker, and nearly three times more than the highest paid salaried frontline child protection workers.
Negotiations are currently at a standstill over one central issue: lay-offs. Not only is our job security on the line, but staffing cuts will have devastating consequences for our already ballooning workload crisis. When so many of us are on the brink, how can we be expected to pick up the work that’s redistributed? We desperately want to get back to our vital work – but we want to guarantee that it won’t be the last time for any of us. If there’s money to pad the top ranks, there’s money to put kids first.
The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa would like you to believe that it’s business as usual – but we know that youth trying to access services are getting turned away. In the last year alone, a record-high number of children and older youth have slipped through the cracks created by shrinking resources. Just this week, it broke our hearts to find out that another older youth receiving agency support had tragically passed away. We cannot afford to inflame the crisis and jeopardize the safety of children and families we support through staffing reductions. Kids can’t afford further cuts, any more than we can.
– Michele Thorn, President, OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454 – representing over 320 Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa workers currently on strike