Striking OPSEU members push for more funding from province

Striking community, health and social services workers and supporters joined provincial counterparts this week walking up and down Main Street in Picton Thursday as part of their ‘Worth Fighting For’ campaign.

This is week seven of their fight for funding for the future of vital services that some of the most vulnerable people in Ontario rely on.

The 4,000 or so striking workers work for more than 20 different organizations and agencies and are represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).

They all share the same funder: the provincial government.
They are pushing for more funding from the province for their services, and to catch up on retroactive wages held down under Bill 124. The legislation that capped public sector wage increases at one per cent a year was eventually found to be unconstitutional.

Wearing their purple shirts and dropping the banners with slogans like “Support us so we can support others,” “Fund community services” and “Social services are worth fighting for” workers in recent weeks have taken their message everywhere – from MPP offices and community events to Ford Fest and even Premier Doug Ford’s cottage.