SUDBURY, ONT. — United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500 in Sudbury is calling for Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to engage in “good-faith negotiations” to bring an end to the over month-long labour dispute.
“So many vulnerable workers and families are being affected as this dispute drags on, but the cases that hit me the hardest are the widows who lost their husbands to occupational disease,” said Sean Staddon, a WSIB worker representative with the 2,900-member USW Local 6500, in a statement.
“There are too many widows who have to fight, who have to pursue WSIB claims for benefits they are owed, and these claims take a long time to adjudicate,” Staddon added. “And now their access to justice is being prolonged even further. It affects their living standards and their well-being. They’re looking for some sense of closure, of justice, but that’s being denied.”
WSIB workers who are members of the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU), also known as Local 1750 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), have been on strike since May 22.
At issue between the union and WSIB are wages, workloads and backlogs.
The WSIB stated previously it had engaged in mediated talks with the OCEU and was at the table.
In an earlier press release the WSIB stated it had proposed “above inflation wage increases over the next three years. By 2027, over 73 per cent of OCEU members would be earning over $100,000.”
The board also said it had proposed to “enhance a joint workload committee with dedicated resourcing to help speed plans to reduce caseload further.”
“We have an amazing team that does tough but excellent work,” said Jeff Lang, president and CEO of the WSIB. “When people are hurt at work, we help them recover and return to what matters, and we’re getting the best results in a decade. I hope our team sees our position as a genuine effort to put this strike behind us and get back to what we do best: helping people.”
National and provincial CUPE leaders are slated to join the picket line in Toronto today at 10 a.m.
The solidarity rally will take place at the WSIB headquarters at 200 Front St. W.
The WSIB continues to be open during the strike.
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