Today, the OPSEU/SEFPO Local 249 – CWSDS Bargaining Team resumed negotiations with the Employer and a Ministry of Labour appointed mediator. We came in ready to negotiate and work toward a fair deal that would end this strike.
However, our employer was unwilling to work with us to achieve a deal today. Our priorities remain fair wages and good, safe working conditions. We have put forward wage demands that will help workers who have fallen behind catch up, and will ensure we can continue providing high-quality care to the people who need us. We began the day by extending an olive branch with a revised proposal to move closer to a deal, but the Employer stalled for hours and returned with an offer of just an additional 0.25% wage increase.
Workers at CWSDS have had years of wage freezes or 1% of general wage increases. We cannot accept the employer’s proposed general wage increases that amount to 1.38% per year. Not when the cost of living keeps rising, not when many of our members scramble to work second jobs, and not when skilled and dedicated workers are questioning if they can continue to work at CWSDS.
We know developmental services need more funding. Our Employer must advocate for funding immediately and prioritize quality care and respect for workers. We know they have not advocated for pockets of funding that they are eligible for, that they fall far behind other agencies in fundraising, and they have chosen to increase spending on “consulting and professional fees” to $3 million in 2024 – a six-fold increase.
We are out on strike right now, fundamentally, because of the Employer’s actions:
- It was CEO Patricia Kyle who filed for a No Board report when the union had not even taken a strike vote, giving the employer the power to lock us out.
- It was CEO Patricia Kyle who relocated residents from their group homes as a so-called “contingency plan.”
- It was CEO Patricia Kyle who pushed workers to the brink through aggressive actions in bargaining, creating a toxic workplace and unsafe conditions – forcing residents to live in overcrowded conditions and forcing workers to train contracted agency staff who could replace them at any moment.
- It was CEO Patricia Kyle who spent tens of thousands of dollars on agency workers who she hired to prepare for a potential lockout.
- And it continues to be CEO Patricia Kyle who denies how serious and untenable this situation has become, touting excellence in care in the face of serious safety incidents.
We as workers at CWSDS do this job because we care. The work we do is important. It is skilled work and it is work done with compassion and dedication.
We are not out here because we want to be. We are here because our employer left us no choice – and because the people we support deserve safe, stable, high-quality care.
We are ready to get back to mediation when CEO Patricia Kyle gets serious about coming to a deal.
Sincerely,
The Local 249 Bargaining Team