Kenora Developmental Services picket calls for funding of services
September 30, 2011 - OPSEU Developmental
Services workers at Kenora Association for Community
Living (KACL) are holding an information picket on
Monday, October 3 in a last-minute bid for critical
sector funding.
What: Developmental Services
information picket
When: Monday, October 3, 2011, 4:00 – 6:00
p.m.
Where: KACL Administration Building, 501 8th
Avenue South
Of the 125 staff at KACL, more than
half only have part-time work. As workers struggle
with heavy workloads and difficult shifts, waitlists
in Kenora continue to be a problem for people living
with developmental disabilities.
"We are calling on the Kenora Association for
Community Living to negotiate a contract that
supports the quality services and care that Kenora
depends on,” said OPSEU steward and bargaining team
member, Peter Edwards.
On October 25 and 26 workers at KACL
will be returning to the table with the employer and
asking for a fair contract. Continuity of access and
standards of care are dependent on adequate funding
for front-line workers.
Central bargaining talks have broken
off at the Developmental Services Provincial
Discussion Table (DSPDT). This has resulted in the
need to bargain each agreement from scratch at the
local level, and has contributed to the fact that 45
additional Developmental Services units across
Ontario are currently in bargaining, and 38 of those
have filed for conciliation.
Many workers have now been without a
contract for as many as 17 months, and five of these
units have taken strike votes.
Ontario’s Developmental Services are seriously
under-funded with waitlists prohibiting access to
core services for thousands of Ontario’s most
vulnerable citizens. People with disabilities often
only receive services once they reach a point of
crisis.
Developmental Services workers at
KACL support people who have an intellectual
disability with the services they need to live,
learn and work in their community.
For more information:
Peter Edwards, OPSEU Local 702 steward and bargaining team member
at Kenora Association for Community Living: 807-467-1235
Emily Visser, OPSEU Communications (bilingual): 416-557-7936
