HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-05-23, Page 12Page 12 May 23, 2007 • The Huron Expositor
News
Developmental service workers picket for pay equity
Jennifer
Hubbard -- strives towards equal pay for like
jobs."
Together base and wage gap
n —when compared to ., funding is expected to grow to
of _ ,. $181 million in 2010-11.
The announcement also includ-
ed capital funding of $7 million to
repair and maintain developmen-
tal service community agencies.
"We've allocated $7 million for
capital funding, but we know it'll
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Community Living Central
Huron's (CL -CH developm
service workers
last week, in
et to raise Awareness
for pay equity
an
h
it
t
he
st
nformation
within
of
the
their
e
ntal
reets
pick -
need
field
of
work.
"Wages for developmental ser -
workers are lower — 25 to 30
ce p
people doing the same
of work in other sectors, like
e tion or municipal," said
Wettlaufer, one of six local
Community
Living employees
picketing outside
Huron -Bruce
MPP Carol
Mitchell's office
in Clinton on the
morning of May
16.
Wettlaufer is
the president of
the Ontario
Public Service
Employees
vice
p
those
kind
duca
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Union (OPSEU)
Local 146,
which repre-
sents 60 devel-
opmental ser-
vice workers in
the area.
She noted
the information
picket was
being held in
conjunction
with the annual
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Carol Mitchell
Community Living Day at the
provincial legislature.
Developmental service workers
across the province are hoping to
get back funding that was elimi-
nated under the Rae government,
Wettlaufer explained.
And, while the Dalton McGuinty
Liberals have promised $200 mil-
lion in funding, "we still don't
know how it'll be distributed," she
said.
"It'll likely just be the status
quo, two per cent across the
board, but that doesn't address
this issue," Wettlaufer added.
take more than that," Mitchell
said.
"We're not going to fix 10 years
of problems all at once, but you
can.'t lose sight of the fact that
we've invested over $500 million
in new funding since we took
over."
According to an OPSEU hand-
out, the average wage for full-
time developmental service work-
ers is less than $35,000 per year.
Almost two-thirds of those who
work in the field are forced to
work part-time because of the
funding shortfall:
Wettlaufer said the collective
agreement for CL -CH workers in
Goderich expired in March of
2006, and members voted 96 per
cent in favour of taking strike
action, if necessary. However, last
week's picketers were not on
strike, but rather raising aware-
ness while off-duty.
Rosemary Foran, executive
director of CL -CH, does not dis-
In an interview on pute the fact that
Friday, Mitchell there is a discrepan-
offered abreakdown
of the funding,
which she said will
allow for a multi-
year agency base
budget and
wage / s a l a r y
increase.
Developmental
service agencies will
receive $22.2 mil-
lion this year for
base funding.
That figure will
increase annually
by two per cent for
the next four years.
In addition,
Mitchell said the
agencies will get
$20 million for tar -
'Wages for
developmental
service workers are
lower - 25 to 30 per
cent - when
compared to those
of people doing the
same kind of work
in other sectors, like
education or
municipal,'--
.> Kathy Wettlaufer,
Ontario Public Service
Employees Union Local
146 president
geted wage gap \
funding. An equal
amount, $20 million, has been set
aside to increase capacity in suc-
cessful programming.
And while she couldn't speak to
the difference in pay between var-
ious developmental service work-
ers in the province, Mitchell com-
mended Community Living
employees for their dedication.
"They do a terrific job," she com-
mented. "There's many different
jobs within the service providers
on both sides, but one always
cy in wages, but
worries about the
effect a strike
would have on CL -
CH clients.
"I think it's
unfortunate that it
comes down to a
potential strike,"
she said. "The peo-
ple we support are
always at risk in
situations like
that."
Wettlaufer
said the front-line
workers are con-
cerned about the
well-being of their
clients as well, but
that high staff
turnover caused by
insufficient wages is
similarly disruptive.
"If we're not willing to say that
we're ready to take this step, and
we keep getting treated the same
way, that falls back to our clients.
"They end up with a steady
stream of people walking through
their lives, because people come
and go faster than you ever want
them to. Retention really is an
issue because of the low wages."
With files from Ben Forrest