By Adam Frisk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Unionized staff at Community Living Trent Highlands (CLTH) are back on the job this week after a nearly 11-week strike.
The end of the prolonged labour dispute saw four per cent initial wage increase for workers, and the return of community programs across Haliburton County.
According to CLTH executive director, Teresa Jordan, employees were greeted by management staff at locations throughout the area as Community Living transitioned from temporary replacement workers.
“We’re just getting started back to our regular teams,” Jordan said in an interview with The Highlander on Aug. 10. “Happily, everything reopens this week… by Wednesday, we will have everything back up and running and open.”
The strike began on May 25, when more than 300 developmental service workers, represented by OPSEU Local 358, walked off the job. Members were fighting for a 6.5 per cent retroactive wage increase, a no-layoffs guarantee and an increase to baseline funding that supports residents living in Community Living group homes.
Under the new agreement, workers secured a four per cent wage increase in year one, retroactive to April 2025, followed by three per cent increases in years two and three.
OPSEU Local 358 president Jessica Bushey noted the significance of the deal for developmental service workers, and said they had not seen general wage increases above 1.9 per cent since 2018.
“We really did set the bar for the sector provincially,” Bushey told The Highlander.
“Having that retro payment will help reduce some of the costs of being on strike… This agreement wouldn’t have happened without the campaign, without the strike, and without the strength of the membership.”
Jordan said that while the collective agreement includes a 10 per cent salary increase over three years; other compensation items were removed from the package compared to the initial offer at the start of the strike, including the guarantee against layoffs for existing staff.
As for budget concerns amid fixed provincial funding, Jordan said she was confident in navigating the outcome.
“I think the difference for Community Living Trent Highlands is that we have a lot of diverse programs. I’m confident we can find the efficiencies that we need to find without drastically impacting service or jobs.”
The local union president said the return of members brought emotional reunions between staff and residents, many who experienced disruptions to their routines while replacement staff covered shifts.
“A lot of happy tears, a lot of really good reunions happening,” Bushey said. “A lot of the people supported were really happy to see the staff back.”
With staff returning to work this week, the focus shifted toward workplace reconciliation.
“Our relationship can’t be healed immediately when it’s had this kind of trauma,” Jordan admitted. “While this will be a long road back to feeling like a comfortable partnership, I just want to convey my excitement that we are now at this stage of having ended the strike and to start that work.”
