Anti-poverty
activists and labour supporters, joining employees of the Homes
First Society represented by OPSEU Local 540, gathered outside the
Homes First administrative offices on Wellesley Street East in
downtown Toronto Wednesday, June 13.
They condemned the Harris
government’s attack on the poor and homeless, and called on the
Homes First Board of Directors to bring an offer to the bargaining
table which addresses the seven-year wage freeze the workers have
endured.
Local 540 members will be in legal
strike position Wednesday, June 20th. At issue are
wages and relief staff scheduling. They have been without a
contract since 1998.
Mark Grieveson, of the Local
Bargaining Committee, explained that his members are scrambling to
fill service gaps because of funding cuts and a chronic shortage
of front-line staff. "We now attend at the tenants’ births
and at their deaths," Grieveson said. "There’s no one
else there for them. But the workload is overwhelming – we just
can’t keep up anymore."
Relief
worker Rosamund Elwin explained her frustration. "There are
now more managers than ever – one for every four staff on
duty," Elwin said. "Supervisors can’t do what we do,
don’t develop trusting relationships with tenants like we do.
But experienced front-line workers are having to quit to take jobs
with decent pay."
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
director John Clark said that Harris policies are directly responsible
for the 1,000 evictions in the City of Toronto every month, and vowed
OCAP members’ support on the picket line in the event of strike at
Homes First.
Anti-poverty
activists and labour supporters, joining employees of the Homes
First Society represented by OPSEU Local 540, gathered outside the
Homes First administrative offices on Wellesley Street East in
downtown Toronto Wednesday, June 13.
Relief
worker Rosamund Elwin explained her frustration. "There are
now more managers than ever – one for every four staff on
duty," Elwin said. "Supervisors can’t do what we do,
don’t develop trusting relationships with tenants like we do.
But experienced front-line workers are having to quit to take jobs
with decent pay."
