THUNDER BAY – The province’s developmental service workers rallied Friday in front of Liberal MPP Michael Gravelle’s office, demanding more full-time jobs be created rather than relying on a mostly part-time labour force.
Erin Rice, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 740, said the system needs to be overhauled.
“The reason we feel this is necessary is that since 2009 there’s been no base increase to the agencies we work for, the transfer agencies, and that’s created a pool of part-time work,” Rice said, braving -7 C temperatures for the protest, which drew out more than a dozen supporters.
“We’re at about 75 per cent of our workforce as part-time. That’s causing retention issues and recruitment issues. People don’t want to work where they don’t think there’s going to be movement upward.”
They’re asking Minister of Community and Social Services Michael Coteau to sit down at a central bargaining table with all the unions involved to work out an acceptable deal that benefits all sides in the dispute.
Until that happens, clients are going to suffer, Rice said.
“Here’s an example. If you wanted to go for a cup of coffee and you’re living in your house with your three roommates, you can’t go for that cup of coffee if there’s only one staff and you need support staff to take you out,” Rice said.
“That’s where the retention problem is. There’s not enough staff to work.”
It’s also leading to less movement on support wait lists, meaning family members are being relied on to provide care.
Gravelle, who spoke to the protestors, said he’s supportive of their cause, mentioning the fact he’s got a relative in developmental services care.
He promised to deliver their message to Queen’s Park.
“It’s a hugely important issue and there’s a number of important ways our government is trying to invest more strongly in the developmental services sector,” he said.
“There are more than 350 developmental services organizations across the province and all of them are doing incredible work. They certainly are here in Thunder Bay.”
Gravelle mentioned an additional $1.8 billion in the recently tabled provincial budget as an example of improvements the Liberal government is making to address the problem.
“I’ll speak to the minister and the premier about it. We want to find a way to work more closely with the organizations.”
