Thousands of workers at Ontario's WSIB ready to strike, union says

The union representing workers at Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) says it's ready to strike, accusing the agency of failing to "come to the table with any meaningful offer." 

"The union is commencing job action on May 21, with rolling strikes planned for Thursday and Friday," the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU) said in a statement Wednesday.

The union, which is part of the larger Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) union, said it will be setting up picket lines in nearly a dozen cities across Ontario on Thursday, including Windsor, Toronto and Ottawa.

"Our members are committed to supporting injured workers in Ontario," Harry Goslin, president of OCEU, said in a statement. "We have done everything we can to try and negotiate, but without a willing partner at the table we are unable to reach an agreement. Instead, the management team is trying to sew division in our union with lies and threats."

The union and agency had extended an original contract negotiation deadline to May 21, but on Wednesday, the union said it was still trying to get the WSIB "to deliver a response on key issues around workload, wages and union representation."

The union also said any labour disruption would be a first for WSIB employees. 

The WSIB said in a statement Wednesday that it was "disappointed that OCEU has walked away from the bargaining table," and claimed the union hasn't responded to the agency's most recent offer, "which includes enhanced benefits and a wage increase above inflation in 2025."

The WSIB also said it will "continue to process claims and pay income support to those off work due to work-related injury or illness during a labour disruption," but that the strike "will impact some service timelines."

"[T]he WSIB has taken significant action to minimize any disruptions, including through automated payments for the vast majority of claims," the statement said. "New claims will be prioritized based on urgency of need."   

Workers' mental wellbeing is at the heart of the union's stated concerns. 

"The bargaining team for OCEU/CUPE 1750 is demanding that the employer take meaningful steps to
reduce the dangerously high workloads which are driving up rates of depression and anxiety among their
members," the union said in a statement Wednesday. 

The agency, however, argued that workers' case loads for a "manager handling physical injury claims is down 60 per cent from its peak in 2021."  

More than 3,000 OCEU members voted 96 per cent in favour of a strike earlier this month, the union says. It has been in a "legal strike position" since midnight, per a statement.