OPSEU Logo / Facebook.
The Community Living Prince-Edward picket line continues outside Loyalist College in Belleville today.
Workers with Community Living Prince-Edward, represented by Ontario Public Service Employees Union, are picketing only outside the Pioneer Building Entrance at the College from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Drivers are not behind held up for long as members are just informing drivers of what it going on. OPSEU Local 448 has 120 members. The team is picketing in two-shifts and members can picket up to 20-hours a week. OPSEU Local 448 added they have received support from other agencies, community members, and client families who are picketing with them.
Yesterday, tensions on both sides flared as OPSEU members blocked traffic at both College entrances for various lengths of time from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. OPSEU Local 448 said that one of their members was bumped by a vehicle yesterday and they notified Belleville Police who arrived on scene to talk to the suspect. The victim was not injured. Belleville Police have not responded to a request for comment.
Speaking to 91X outside the picket line at the Pioneer Building today, Victoria Robinson, Vice-President of OPSEU Local 448, said members remain upbeat.
Community Living Prince-Edward clients, who normally live in group homes locally, are currently living at Loyalist College Residence. OPSEU believes there are 38 clients at the College, and claim they are being cared for by replacement workers from Quebec. Robinson, who has worked for Community Living for 15 years, said that she is not aware where they have exactly come from, or who they have been hired through.
Robinson said that local members will happily leave the College, as soon as the replacement workers leave and clients are sent back home.
Across the province, over 4,500 workers in the social service sector with several organizations are on strike. OPSEU gave strike notice at the beginning of this month. OPSEU members with Community Living Prince-Edward are calling on better wages and working conditions. Robinson noted that Ontario Government’s Bill 124, which imposed a 1 per cent wage freeze, was recently struck down as unconstitutional. The local team added that they are understaffed and forced overtime, which can lead them to have to work 24-hours straight. Robinson added that many staff have to work multiple jobs in order to pay their bills.
91X spoke to two OPSEU members, on the picket line who wished to remain anonymous, Both work for Community Living Prince-Edward and have been in the sector for over 10 years. One is a Loyalist College grad.
They told 91X, that they are devastated for their clients, who have developmental disabilities. They say that their clients thrive on routine and community outings – and they are the ones that are suffering in all of this. They say it remains unclear if their clients are in separate bedrooms at the College, as they normally would in a group home setting. They add that they are fighting for better quality care for their clients, and for a living wage, with many workers having to work multiple job to get by.
91X has reached out to Community Living Prince-Edward for comment, but has not heard back.
There are currently no bargaining dates set.
Belleville Transit has announced that buses are not coming onto the Loyalist College campus. As of today, people who wish to get on and off the buses at the College will have to do so along Wallbridge-Loyalist Road. Those going northbound, can pick-up the bus in front of the Pioneer Building entrance. Those going south, are being told to cross the road and pick-up the bus at the main entrance of the College at the intersection.
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