Community Living Greater Sudbury strike deadline set for April 7

“This is a quality services issue, but it’s also about quality of life. ” said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “More than two thirds of the CLGS workforce is part-time or casual. The frontline staff should be able to afford to work there.”

Sudbury (03 April 2013) – More than 230 members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) employed at Community Living Greater Sudbury (CLGS) could be in a legal strike position as soon as midnight on April 7. Mediation has been scheduled for April 2.

The union is calling for a commitment to progressive reduction of part-time and casual jobs. Only 50 staff are currently full-time, while the rest struggle with part-time and casual work.

Another key issue at the table is the scheduling of shifts, which are frequently long and unpredictable to compensate for an inadequate number of relief staff.

“Frontline staff are dedicated to our work and our clients, but there need to be some improvements in shifts and hours for us to be able to do our jobs well,” said June St. Germain, Chair of the bargaining team.

A majority of these workers are female and work part-time. There is no pension plan, 80 per cent of employees are without benefits and there has been no acceptable wage increase since 2008.

So far the employer has demonstrated little willingness to bargain a fair and just contract and expect staff to wait another two years before considering a wage hike. This would amount to a 15-cent an hour wage increase over six years which the employees are not willing to accept.

NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE