Over 4,000 workers in Ontario’s social services organized with OPSEU are either on strike or locked out in a province-wide fight for better wages, backpay from the illegal Bill 124, better conditions, and better funding to keep social services strong. The workers are taking action under the banner of the Worth Fighting For campaign, uniting workers and supporters in the fight for public services and funding.
As the Worth Fighting For campaign continues, more and more workers, families of persons supported in social services, and even community members are coming out to show their support and solidarity. OPSEU Local 511 (Surrey Place in Toronto) encountered Dani Bowman from popular reality show Love on the Spectrum while she was visiting for AccessFest, garnering more visibility and attention to the cause.
When we speak of people who work in social services, a lot of people may immediately think of social workers. While social workers are indeed one group that delivers social services, there are many other sectors under this umbrella as well. One of them is developmental services workers (DSWs), which is specifically my sector. We are the people who support persons who have developmental and intellectual disabilities, and we make up a very large portion of the Worth Fighting For campaign. The other sectors participating are child welfare, community agencies, youth justice and corrections, universities, child treatment centres, hearing services, community health care, and mental health and addictions agencies.
So what is it exactly that DSWs do?
We are cooks, cleaners, bookkeepers, personal assistants, behavioral therapists, activity coordinators, counsellors, and punching bags both physically and/or emotionally, and the list continues to grow depending on what the needs are.
But Doug Ford sees none of this. He has refused to provide funding to the Ministry of Community and Social Services, which has not seen funding increases since 2007. Because of this, wait times for services grow longer, people have to work two, three, or more jobs just to make ends meet, working conditions become dangerous, and the rate of burnout and turnover continues to rise. We are expected to do more with less, meeting an ever growing list of demands without being able to even save for our future.
So many workers love the work that we do, so much so that some of us are willing to work at one of the only 2 agencies in the province that do not have a pension or RRSP, and Doug Ford continues to allow this to happen. Many employers do not want to stand with us to get more funding which will benefit them as well, and they will call us greedy and uncommitted — all because they’d rather just hire part-time workers to save money on wages and not pay for any health benefits. This is absolutely shameful.
Due to a forced offer by our employer, the members of our very large local chose to take a bad deal due to employer propaganda and intimidation. Looking at the campaign from the outside is tough when you are an activist and want to go out and fight for your rights. However, those not on strike are by no means out of the fight. We can absolutely help our comrades by:
- Spreading the word on social media
- Spreading the word within memberships that are not on strike
- Joining phone blitzes hosted by activist groups
- Joining picket lines and making noise with them (find a picket line near you with OPSEU’s picket line finder)
- Showing up to lines with food/snacks, beverages, umbrellas, tape, markers, or even just asking them if they need anything
- Sending a message to Doug Ford (which you can do easily by clicking here)
Doug Ford is not going away any time soon, but then again, neither are we.
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