OCEU members announce they are prepared for full strike action after their employer locks workers out amid threats from management and rumours of scab labour

TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– The union representing bargaining unit employees at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board announced that they will remain on the picket lines this morning. The members of OCEU/CUPE 1750 initiated legal job action on May 21^st after talks stalled at the bargaining table ahead of the midnight deadline. The key issues on the table are workload and bringing pay back on par with inflation after the impacts of the pandemic and bill C-124.

“The WSIB management has said they view our members legal job action on Wednesday as a strike and have locked our members out of the computer systems and sent workers home,” said Harry Goslin, president of the union. “Our intention has been to conduct rolling strikes to limit the impact on injured workers in Ontario, but it seems management has other ideas.”

There have also been unconfirmed reports that the WSIB has contracted an unknown telephone service to fill the role of the striking workers. The union strongly condemns all strike breaking tactics, including threatening our members with disciplinary action and hiring scab labour.

“Our members are sick of the bullying tactics,” said Nicole Francis, Chief Steward “Many of our members have received warning letters from the employer threatening discipline for being involved in legal strike action that is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Now we are hearing reports that the WSIB may be hiring scabs to do our work. It’s shameful.”

“Even I have received on of these notices,” said Goslin. “It’s plain that management doesn’t respect the right to strike, or the bargaining process. I wouldn’t be surprised if the WSIB outsourced work again to an America firm. The provincial government has to right this wrong.”

The union has issued a cease-and-desist letter to the WSIB over the weekend in response to the threatening letters sent to its members. We have given the employer a deadline to respond and OCEU remains prepared to bargain when the employer is ready to take the members’ priorities seriously.

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For more information, please contact:

Bill Chalupiak, CUPE Communications Representative
wchalupiak@cupe.ca
416-707-1401