OPSEU/SEFPO says significant progress has been made in the province-wide strike by some 4,000 community and social development workers, with agreements reached with two agencies and more headed back to the table.
Agreements were reached through mediation-arbitration at Hamilton’s Lynwood Charlton Centre and Community Living Trent Highlands in Peterborough. The multi-year deals in both workplaces include record wage increases that will begin to set a new standard for their sectors.
“The coordination and steadfast resolve of these members are what got us to this point. Together these workers have raised the floor for wages that we expect to see replicated and built upon across the province,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick.
Workers at another 21 community agencies across Ontario remain on picket lines and will continue to escalate – doing everything they can to push their employers to agree to return to the table for meaningful negotiations so they can get back to the people they support. Talks with some agencies are scheduled for later this week.
“This is more than a job to these workers. The people they support are like family and they miss them dearly,” said OPSEU/SEFPO First Vice-President/Treasurer Laurie Nancekivell. “For eleven weeks they have been making it clear that this is a shared fight for the future of services in our communities. Employers and the government should be doing everything in their power to get these workers what they deserve.”
The workers in this dispute support some of the most vulnerable people in our province, including: children and adults with disabilities, women fleeing violence and abuse, people with mental health and addictions issues, people experiencing homelessness, and adults with developmental disabilities and complex care needs.
On top of their coordinated bargaining campaign, workers have been sounding the alarm on chronic underfunding of these sectors and the outstanding remedy owed from Premier Ford’s unconstitutional Bill 124. To-date Ford has denied any involvement or responsibility for the dispute, despite being the direct funder for the agencies that employ these workers.
The union has filed more than a dozen Unfair Labour Practice (ULP) applications regarding the Ford government’s responsibility as the funder of these sectors, as employers have repeatedly cited underfunding in negotiations. Throughout the eleven-week strike, workers have been stonewalled by Premier Doug Ford and his government. PC MPPs have refused to meet with striking constituents or families whose loved ones are impacted by the strike.
The union remains committed to using every tool available to achieve Bill 124 remedy, funding to sustain these services, and justice for workers and the people they support.
Refusing to be ignored, striking workers have taken their fight directly to MPPs – canvassing their communities, picketing outside constituency offices and even drowning out the Premier and turning Ford Fest purple.
“If Doug Ford thinks we’re going anywhere, he has another thing coming,” added Hornick. “The premier has underestimated the determination and strength of these workers at every turn, and he can expect to see a lot more from us in the coming days.”