Workers at the Canadian Hearing Service (CHS) have been on strike since April 28, following the expiration of their contract on March 31, 2025. The workers and their union, the CUPE Local 2073—which represents more than 200 workers (including front-line staff, speech therapists, audiologists, etc.)—are demanding greater job security and better wages. These workers have fought a similar battle before, and they will not be deterred, as they fight alongside the community they assist.
How did we get here?
CHS workers last went on strike on March 6, 2017. At that time, workers were primarily fighting for wage increases and improvements to sick leave, or, as CUPE 2073 stated “fairness, respect, and high-quality services.” After 10 gruelling weeks, a tentative agreement was finally ratified.
Since that time, workers have struggled to keep up with cost-of-living increases.
Negotiations between Canadian Hearing Services (CHS) and CUPE 2073 broke down on April 28, sparking a strike that has now stretched into its fifth week. According to a recent submission to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB), CUPE 2073 claims the employer violated multiple sections of the Labour Relations Act, alleging a pattern of bad faith bargaining and union interference.
Union president Mara Waern criticized CHS for spending just six hours at the table before triggering a legal strike process and unilaterally changing contract terms. “That’s not real bargaining – it’s manipulating the system,” said Waern.
The union argues this is part of a broader strategy by CHS to weaken worker protections and operate more like a business. CUPE notes that CHS also left staff on strike for over 10 weeks in 2017 and has now refused to bring in a mediator to resolve the current impasse.
Portending the difficult road ahead, CHS issued a statement noting that the average annual staff salary equals $75,000.00—the clear implication being that this is sufficient–and that the union’s demand (30.5 percent over three years) is not “based in the realities of our business and our available resources.”
The company’s statement conveniently ignores two facts. First, the statement concerning the annual salary does not acknowledge the reality of the growing cost of living crisis. As Jesse Lintz, CUPE 2073 national spokesperson, clarified, wages have fallen 16 percent below inflation in the last decade.
Second, the smoke screen of $75,000 is in CHS’s statement, hides a much larger number, and that is $340,250. This represents President and CEO, Julia Dumanian, annual salary. This represents 122 percent more than her predecessor. Additionally, her salary has increased by 178 percent over nine years. All the while, worker’s real wages decreased. Even when you factor this out, in the same period, worker’s salaries increased 12%. When the appropriate context is given, it shows that the resources are continually there, just not for the workers.
The fight continues
CHS workers are ready for a long strike. Unfortunately, this is becoming a familiar feeling. In 2017, the strike lasted 10 weeks. There is no indication that this strike will be shorter. Despite CHS claiming that they offered a deal that would see workers receive a 4.9 percent increase, each year for the next three years, CUPE argues to the contrary. Workers contest that the company has no interest in negotiating. Rather, they’re more concerned about maintaining a positive public perception and profits are the main—and potentially the only—priorities. It is for these reasons that CUPE has written to the Ontario Labour Relation Board (OLRB) arguing that CHS has violated six sections of the Labour Relations Act—including, going through the legally mandated motions without any intention of reaching a deal.
Fortunately, the workers are aligned with the community, including individuals who identify as deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing. The role of the community in the strike shows the stark juxtaposition between the worker’s goals and those of CHS. Community members have been signing an open letter to Accreditation Canada, lobbying the organization to support the workers’ demands and emphasising the need for an increase in staffing and compensation. These individuals are aware that staff have been drastically reduced since 2010 (450 workers then vs. 206 today) and how this affects access to services. Sammy Jo Johnson outlines some of these concerns and how the choices made by those in power are negatively affecting individuals who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing. Investment in more staff equates to better service.
Support for the workers has been so present that CHS approached CUPE 2073 requesting a media blackout, a publication ban, and an end to the open letter to Accreditation Canada. CHS is undoubtedly influenced by its desire to entice donors to provide funds—which becomes imminently more difficult amid bad press. Yet, it should be lost on no one that accepting these demands is effectively an attempt to silence community workers.
Representing the crisis ahead
This strike is emblematic of the struggle ahead. It is understandable that as the risk of greater economic stability grows, so too does the concern about losing what we currently have, as opposed to what we stand to gain. With this instability, growing pleas to consider nationalist platitudes to try to take the focus away from what workers know can help them in these trying times. In their statement, CHS cries out for stability:
As we navigate the strike alongside the complexities of the current economic and political climate, we remain focused on resolving the labour dispute in a way that ensures stability for our staff and vitally essential services for our clients.
Lobbying with this language is an obvious tactic to engender sympathy along nationalist lines. CHS will not be the first, nor the last, organization to use nationalist sentiment to deny workers. Again, it doesn’t require much imagination for workers to recall a time when they felt silenced by their employer, much like CHS has tried to do in this case. All of us can see ourselves in these workers. To get through this tumultuous time workers can’t rely on nationalistic lines spun by the corporate media and political class, but on the solidarity of picket lines.
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