By Helen Kennedy
After yet another breakdown in negotiations, the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (CUPE Local 1750) held a spirited rally at WSIB headquarters in Toronto on June 9, the beginning of the third week on strike for nearly 4,000 workers. The union and management at WSIB are still far apart on the main issues in the dispute, wages and workload.
While the employer argues they have offered the union a fair deal, with above average inflation increases, the union acknowledges that the deal doesn’t address how their workers have fallen behind inflation by 5.2 percent since their wages were frozen by Bill 124 in 2020. Other public sector unions have since negotiated catch-up increases, including OPSEU, ONA and the Society.
Aside from wages, workload issues are a huge problem. There are 1000 caseload managers in the union who have unsustainable workloads. These workers process over 200,000 cases a year. Workers who deal with the long-term claims, those workers who have had catastrophic injuries in their workplaces, have been significantly affected by the increase in their workloads.
The turnover rate for caseload manager positions according to the employer is 35 percent, an increase from 12 percent in 2017. Anxiety and depression levels of caseload managers are double the national average. Workers who continue to struggle are at risk of losing their lives from suicide. The ultimate irony is the compensation workers are at risk of becoming clients of their own service.
According to union president Harry Goslin, both the WSIB President and the Board of Directors are appointees of Doug Ford and bring an anti-union mentality to the organization. The number of grievances filed since these appointments have escalated to over 350 – a clear sign that the collective agreement is not being followed.
This anti-union approach can clearly be seen when you compare the management offer to the union with the amount of money WSIB has paid to businesses over the past year. WSIB paid out $4 billion to employers just this year, on top of $2.5 billion paid to them in 2024. In addition, Ford has reduced employers’ WSIB premiums to historic lows. Clearly there is no shortage of funding for WSIB – the decision-makers are choosing to help their friends and to starve compensation employees and injured workers themselves.
The current strike is about the survival of the WSIB. Without its workers, it cannot function or provide essential support to the thousands of workers injured on the job each year. The current administration, along with the Doug Ford government, is trying to reduce it to the lowest common denominator – poorly paid and overworked WSIB workers, and injured workers left to their own devices.
The union and injured workers across the province need our support. Write your MPP and WSIB, and visit a picket line in your community.
[Photo: Domenic Bellissimo]
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