Hello,

Developmental service workers have decided they’d rather walk picket lines then be stuck on shift for days on end.

After more than a year of bargaining between the roughly 100 members in CUPE Local 2276 and Community Living Port Colborne-Wainfleet (CLPCW), talks broke down last Wednesday. There was only one main issue outstanding, yet management refused to address the workers’ concerns and as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, workers went on strike.

Referred to as “forced shifts” or “stuck on shift”, many members of this local (and most, if not all, Developmental Services locals across the province) find themselves forced to stay at work long after their shift has ended; sometimes up to 30 or more hours. Retention and recruitment have reduced the workforce and rather than address the issue, the employer simply opts to force our members to remain at work to fill vacant shifts.

Many of these members are single parents, provide elder care and/or have a 2nd or a 3rd job. Constantly being forced to stay, unable to leave work to pick up children, leaving elderly family members alone, unable to feed pets, cancelling appointments and plans and jeopardizing other jobs is unconscionable and must be addressed. This situation merely compounds retention issues and leaves the vulnerable persons our members provide service to with exhausted, burned out and distraught employees.

Please find time to attend this emergency rally with Fred Hahn. Please send a message of support. If you are a DS worker, this is your fight as well. Please help support the workers that support some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Thank you,
Andrew Hunter
CUPE Social Services Coordinator