Whether a contingency plan for area children in the care of Dilico is working depends on who’s being asked.
As Dilico Anishinabek Family Care employees entered into Day 4 of strike action Thursday, CEP local 7-0 president Candace Lavalley said there has been no contact at all between the union and management.
Citing a high number of caseloads Lavalley said workers have to see up to 140 children in care a month.
“That’s pretty impossible to do,” she said in the picket line Thursday morning.
But Dilico acting executive director Darcia Borg said the number of cases are similar to other child protection services in the province.
A contingency plan means that Dilico managers have taken over cases to provide essential service care to children and families. While the union says those managers have little training, Borg said all managers are very experienced in the field.
“Managers become managers for a reason and many of these managers in other areas have already the experience of doing the frontline,” she said.
CEP national representative Marvin Pupeza said he’s hearing reports that some children are being taken from their communities and sent to places like Toronto as part of the contingency plan, something that goes against the founding principles of Dilico.
“The longer that this dispute continues the more horror stories we’re going to hear,” he said.
“What about trying to keep kids in their communities? What about the service to the families and the children.”
Borg said some children have been removed from communities but wouldn’t say how many or where.
“Children have been moved for safety reasons due to the strike and it is a very minimal number of children that have had to go to other safe settings,” she said.
The union also claims to have seen replacement workers crossing the picket line but Borg said that hasn’t happened.
“Not at this time,” she said.
No meetings are scheduled between the union and management. Borg said the agency is under restraints like any other government service and offered workers a wage increase, changes to language in the collective agreement and enhanced benefits.
“We did put or best offer forward,” she said.
