Nearly 4,000 employees responsible for helping injured workers in Ontario officially walked off the job Thursday morning, following months of stalled contract negotiations with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).
The union, represented by CUPE Local 1750, says they’ve never been on strike in over 100 years. But after months of bargaining that began on Feb. 25, they say they’ll move forward with picket lines in nearly a dozen cities across the province, including Toronto, Ottawa, and Windsor.
The WSIB, for its part, has said it will continue to process claims and pay income support during the strike, with automated systems covering the majority of cases.
New claims will be prioritized based on urgency and officials say “wait times are likely to be higher than usual,” particularly for “non-urgent” matters.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Harry Goslin, the union president said “it’s workers who feel the sting of inflation” and “no one should be asked to do more with less.”
He added the union is “ready to do whatever it takes to get a fair and just deal.”
Some of the key issues workers cite include wages, workload, and union representation. On Wednesday the union claimed WSIB management ‘failed’ to come forward with a meaningful offer.
‘A disgusting wage nobody’s accepting’
“We said to WSIB you have to do better, they haven’t done better. Then they offered us a disgusting wage nobody’s accepting.,” Goslin told CP24.
“Two per cent in the first year, 1.5 per cent and then one per cent in the last year. Show me a contract like that anywhere. We need to catch up with inflation, we are 5.25 per cent behind inflation since 2020.”
“We know when we look at 302 collective settlements in the Ontario public sector and the federal public sector, the wages range from 3.2 to 3.4 (per cent),” he added. “Offering us less is not going to cut it.”
The WSIB said in a news release on Thursday that the union has yet to respond to its latest offer, which it says “includes enhanced benefits and a wage increase above inflation in 2025.”
The WSIB added that it was “disappointed” that the union walked away from the bargaining table but remains committed to reaching a deal that is “fair for our employees and focused on delivering better, easier, and faster service to the people who need us.”
“Our number one concern is helping the people who depend on us,” WSIB CEO Jeffery Lang wrote in a news release. “We are focused on making sure income support continues for people as they recover from an injury or illness.”
Both sides accuse the other of stalling
While the WSIB says it’s ready to make a deal, the union claims management has tried to sow division amongst workers with “lies and threats.”
“Ongoing member priorities continue to be ignored,” OCEU/CUPE 1750 Chief Steward Nicole Francis said.
“While the union was in a legal strike position yesterday (Wednesday), the employer sent emails to our members telling them that the union was giving them false information and that any job action was unlawful,” Francis said.
“They ordered the staff to get back to work but our members knew better.”
It’s unclear how long workers will continue the strike, but Francis noted that last month, WSIB’s bargaining team informed the union that they would be “unavailable” to negotiate from May 21 - June 6, adding that “clearly we are not a priority.”
The WSIB serves more than 5.3 million people in more than 300,000 workplaces across Ontario, the agency says. They provide wage-loss benefits, medical coverage and support to help people return to the job after an injury or illness happens at work.
During the job action, the WSIB says people can still report injuries, access claims, and submit documents online.
