WSIB workers in London continue picketing as strike nears 3-week mark with no resolve

Workers at the London office of Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) say they're not discouraged after being locked out for almost three weeks.  

About 3,600 members of the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU), also known as CUPE Local 1750, which represents workers at the WSIB, have been on strike since May 22 fighting for better wages and the flexibility to work from home.

The union and employer met over the weekend for mediated bargaining talks, but the negotiations broke down late Sunday evening.

"We are continuing to be available to bargain and it's unfortunate that we are at a standstill. The mediator has put a pause to things because we've been told we're too far apart," said Suzanne Flannery, unit officer for CUPE Local 1750 in London. 

Dozens of workers hit the picket lines on Fullarton Street outside the WSIB's head office on Tuesday. Flannery said they've been without a contract since last month after their extended collective agreement expired, adding that they were locked out of their computers on May 21. 

"We are looking to gain what we lost during Bill 124 days, which we've never come back from as well as reasonable inflation rates," she said.

"We have case managers in particular, [who] have very high case loads that have been ongoing for years and have never historically been addressed, so we're definitely looking for that."

Bill 124, which was mandated by Premier Doug Ford's government, capped salary increases for broader public sector workers at one per cent a year for three years. The province repealed it after the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled it unconstitutional. 

In a news release on Monday, the WSIB said its latest position includes above-inflation wage increases, improved benefits and a commitment to continue to improve workload. It called on the union to return to negotiations with "fair and realistic expectations" to reach a deal.

"The WSIB is at the table, ready to land a deal, as it awaits a meaningful response from the union," said Jeff Lang, the agency's president and CEO.

"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."

The organization has been operating during the strike and said it has registered more than 11,000 new claims and issued upwards of 60,000 payments since May 22 to people off work due to injuries. 

However, appeals of the WSIB's decisions continue to be on hold while the strike continues. 

The WSIB said some highlights of its offers to the union include: above inflation wage increases over the next three years, meaning more than 73 per cent of OCEU members would earn over $100,000 by 2027. The organization is also proposing to enhance a joint workload committee to help speed plans to further reduce caseloads.

OCEU employs nurses, case managers, return-to-work specialists, customer service representatives, payment specialists and health care payment representatives. Majority of the union has voted 96 per cent in favour of the strike," said Flannery. 

"Those are huge numbers so I think that's reflected in our picket lines," she said. "It's been two-and-a-half weeks — morale is up and down, but our numbers aren't waning, so that tells me that while they're disappointed, we're still here fighting and that's going to keep happening."