Community Living Stratford and Area avoids strike with support workers

Community Living Stratford and Area and its close-to-200 support workers avoided a strike with a last-minute deal this week.

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Almost 75 percent of the members who voted to ratify the deal, OPSEU Local 141 president Cheryl McKenny confirmed Friday.

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McKenny said 139 of the 189 eligible members voted on the offer, which included a “rather sizeable” signing bonus for accepting and “some fairness to part-time classification, which spoke volumes to the members.”

Full- and part-time workers will reportedly receive a 2.5 per cent raise in 2024 and a 2.25 per cent pay increase in 2025, though no retro pay.

“I fully understand why the members accepted, and I support that,” McKenny said. “It avoids the strike, avoids further loss. We’ve lost enough, and I think the members are very much of that agreement.”

The process could have been avoided, she added, “if we were heard and acted on in the first place.”

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CLSA support workers who support adults with developmental disabilities had been without a contract since March 31, 2021, and were set to strike Thursday at midnight if no agreement had been reached.

“We thank the union and management bargaining committees for their hard work and continuing commitment to improving working conditions for CLSA employees,” CLSA chief executive officer Trevor McGregor said in a statement. “This is great news for the adults with developmental disabilities whom CLSA supports to pursue richer and more rewarding lives through involvement in everyday activities.”

The latest contract expires March 31, 2026, and McKenny said there are a “very clear set of demands” when it’s time to renegotiate.

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The union and management have been at odds recently. A third-party investigator cleared CLSA of one complaint, while another filed by the union last month is pending, McKenny said.

“While the board has been notified that there are a number of employees who have concerns about the work environment, the board has repeatedly requested details about what each of the employees is concerned about and has not been provided with the particulars of any allegations,” CLSA said in a statement. “There have not been any complaints filed in accordance with the policies and processes established for complaints.”

The union president expressed a desire to “move forward and build. . . considering the losses every member would have taken going on strike and not being able to recover that.”

“We went from having 10 members show up to a union meeting to 100. We have a very good sense of what we want to go for next time around. We also established that respect with the employer.”

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