FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 10, 2001

Union to file charges as therapists laid off

KINGSTON - Therapists laid off by the Providence Continuing Care Centre are crying foul, stating that the Kingston Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) is deliberately trying to break the union at the expense of the disabled.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union will be submitting grievances and filing charges with the Ontario Labour Relations Board, stating that the layoff of 24 community therapists was improper.

Dave Carmichael, president of OPSEU Local 452, says that the layoffs are a transparent attempt by the CCAC to rid his members of their contract, and their union.

“In order to bust our union, CCAC is denying services to people in genuine need,” Carmichael said. “We doubt that funding cuts are the real issue here. It’s hard to believe that money is tight when the CEO of the CCAC has had her yearly salary increased from $70,000 to $160,000 in less than three years.”

The laid off workers include occupational therapists, social workers, speech language pathologists and dieticians. Carmichael says that these professionals provide a vital service to the community.

“People who need this assistance are getting less service than they did five years ago,” Carmichael said. “Our members already earn less than their peers who work in hospitals. We just want to be able to help the disabled clients who desperately need us. This move by CCAC is aimed at taking money directly away from the community and using it to support their own mushrooming bureaucracy.”

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For more information: 

Dave Carmichael: (613) 384-0449
Ted Loughead: (613) 546-3267