Deaf and hard of hearing community feels isolated as Canadian Hearing Services strike continues

Staff at the Canadian Hearing Society are calling for wage improvements and an audit, but CTV’s Ashley Bacon reports some clients have been left without support

Waterloo Region’s deaf community is feeling the sting of a labour dispute that has now entered its third week.

Hundreds of Canadian Hearing Services (CHS) workers hit picket lines throughout the province on April 28th.

“We want to have fair bargaining,” CHS Counselor Rae Vandenberg said. “We want to have an audit done of Canadian Hearing Services and we also want to have a remedy to Bill 124.”

Bill 124 capped wage increases for public sector workers for a three-year period. The contentious bill was repealed in February 2024 after labour groups said it infringed on their rights to collective bargaining. Public sector workers took the province to court and, on Feb. 12, 2024, Ontario’s Court of Appeal sided with the workers, ruling that it violated their rights.

The province has been slowly paying remedies to some of the workers affected by the bill. Ontario’s financial accountability officer estimated it would cost the government approximately $13.7 billion to pay the workers between 2022 and 2028.

Local labour action

Some of the people who rely on CHS said the strike has already hit home.

Darlene Smith told CTV News her interpreter didn’t show up to one of her recent appointments.

“I asked them where the interpreter was and they just said to me, ‘All things are up in the air,’” Smith explained. “They said, ‘Could you postpone your appointment?’ I said, ‘No, this has been confirmed and booked, and my appointment is right now.’ I could not believe that I wasn’t told that there would be any kind of disruption.”

For some, a lack of in-person support has caused issues with their day-to-day activities.

“I know that there have been budget cuts but it’s so different than it was before, there was so much help in the past,” 77-year-old Terry Bindernagel said, explaining that he doesn’t use technology and relies on human connections. “It’s simply not there anymore, a big disappointment.”

The impact of the strike, for many, is almost inescapable.

“[The strike is] putting up more barriers to services that they want to use like counselling, employment services and interpreting services,” Anthony Cashin, who is also deaf, explained. “It’s adding an extra layer of challenge to deaf people in all parts of their daily life.”

Some CHS staff members told CTV News they are eager to offer their services again.

“I want to get back to work as soon as possible,” Barbara Cross, a CHS support services worker, said Wednesday. “I want to provide services. They’re deaf, just like me. I want to help. I want to support them.”

CHS declined an interview with CTV News but emailed a statement, which read: “We are ready and willing to return to the table to ensure that a mutually beneficial, responsible and affordable agreement is reached.”

Workers said that agreement must take into account the people who use the services.

“We want to make sure that funding, which is taxpayer money, goes towards frontline employees and services for the deaf, the deaf/blind and the hard of hearing,” Vandenberg said.

Canadian Hearing Services receives funding from the federal and provincial governments, Ontario Health and other donors, such as United Way and March of Dimes Canada.

According to Vandenberg, bargaining is set to resume May 21st.