After seven weeks on the picket line in Haliburton, Community Living Trent Lakes staffer Michelle Cooper said she and 35 other Highlands-based workers remain resolute as the strike action involving 4,500 public sector employees continues.
Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 358 walked off the job May 25. They’re fighting for a 6.5 per cent retroactive wage increase, a no layoffs guarantee for existing staff, and increase to baseline funding that supports residents living in Community Living group homes.
The dispute involves nearly two dozen community agencies across Ontario. While workers are paid by their employers, OPSEU Local 358 president, Jessica Bushey, said the funds for those wages comes from the Ontario government. She’s blaming the province for the current situation, with Bushey claiming the Ministry of Community and Social Services is underfunding the sector around $1.5 billion per year.
“I’ve been with Community Living for 19 years and this is the first strike action we’ve ever done,” Bushey said, noting workers unionized in the early 1990s.
“The situation today is different than it ever has been before. It’s two-pronged. We’re advocating for ourselves, for the wage increase we feel we’re owed… but we’re also fighting for the people we support, who rely on us every single day,” she added.
The Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator pegs the cost-of-living increase, using consumer price index (CPI), at just over 20 per cent since 2021. Bushey said many Community Living residents are budgeted just $14 a day for food, while many workers have second or third jobs and utilize the food bank to get by.
In its most recent offer, Community Living pitched a multi-year contract with a three per cent increase in year one and two per cent hike in years two and three. She said the company has yet to guarantee no layoffs as part of a new contract.
Bushey said the provincial government needs to make some concessions for the impasse to end. “We will never, ever pay for the wage increase we want with our own blood.”
In a statement to The Highlander, the provincial government said it has “made historic investments in the development services sector, including nearly $4 billion this year, an increase of $1.6 billion since we took office in 2018, to provide people with access to the services they need, when they need them.
“While collective bargaining is a matter between the employer and the union, we expect every service provider to have strong contingency plans to protect residents and ensure their care is never disrupted,” a spokesperson said.
‘Fighting for the future’
Cooper has put in 27 years with Community Living – 10 in Clarington-Oshawa and 17 in Haliburton County. She told The Highlander she’s fighting for future staff and residents.
“Most of us lifers have been here so long and are relatively close to retirement. We’re fighting for the staff coming up behind us, the programs in the future and Community Living as a whole,” Cooper said. “What is it going to look like in the future when we can’t recruit and retain staff now?”
She’s had a near daily presence on the picket line on Maple Avenue, saying the weather has made it a “brutal” few weeks. Strikers are out Monday to Friday, four hours per day. Cooper said the public has been extremely supportive.
While the strike has been tough, Cooper believes the people she cared for at Community Living have had it worse.
“I can’t even imagine what they’re going through, how confused they must feel. A lot of our residents thrive on routine and familiarity, but they won’t have gotten that these past few weeks,” Cooper said, noting Community Living is bringing in temporary staff to cover shifts. “The people they trust, who know their routines and behaviours, aren’t there anymore. Instead, it’s total strangers supporting them.”
Community Living Trent Highlands did not respond to questions by press time.
