3,600 unionized WSIB workers remain off the job across Ontario, including in Windsor

The WSIB strike has entered its second week.

Thousands of employees with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) are now into their second week of a strike, the first full-scale work stoppage in the WSIB’s 110-year history.

3,600 members of the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU/CUPE 1750), including 180 members in Windsor, walked off the job on May 21 after contract talks that began in late February did not amount to a tentative agreement.

Speaking on AM800’s Mornings with Mike and Meg, Carla Mallett, appeals resolutions officer at WSIB and CUPE member, said one of the main sticking points for the union remains wages.

“We want to be back up into the current rate of inflation and seek the gains that we lost since 2020 and COVID,” Mallett said.

“We’re not asking for anything unreasonable, as well we’re looking at workloads, we have consistently had workload issues, however it’s reached a point where it’s unmanageable.”

The union levied some serious allegations against the employer on Thursday including staff being harassed for participating in strike action, being targeted by private investigators hired by management to monitor pickett lines, and as Mallett said, staff were locked out of their work systems.

“As you may or may not know, the Windsor office does not have a physical location, we all work remotely, and they locked us out of our system, so it forced us to go onto the streets to strike,” Mallett said.

Mallett claims operations at WSIB are compromised with 3,600 workers off the job and said injured or ill workers will feel the impacts.

“They’re going to be probably forced through the system in some capacity, but they’re not going to be receiving the ongoing care that’s necessary to get them back to work, get them the healthcare that’s needed, there’s case managers, there’s nurse consultants who work with these individuals, and we’re not there to help them,” said Mallett.

A WSIB spokesperson, responding to the union’s allegations, argued that the union has “no idea what they’re talking about,” adding “hundreds” of union members are choosing to go to work.

WSIB vice president of communications, Aaron Lazarus, called upon the union to produce proof of their claims.

“I think there are actually some examples where people have made complaints to our business ethics office around feeling that some of their colleagues had harassed them or bullied them for choosing to elect to continue working, and we have zero tolerance approach to harassment and bullying, so I believe there are some investigations that are happening there,” Lazarus said.

Lazarus added hundreds of both unionized and non-unionized workers remain on the job, with no current backlogs.

“I think the most important thing for people in Windsor to know is that if you were already a client of the WSIB, your income support and your healthcare is going to continue,” Lazarus said.

“If you get hurt on the job today, you can go online and file a claim, or you can call us, and we’re picking up the phone, your claim is going to be registered, you’re going to get income supports if you’re off work, and you’re going to get the healthcare access that you need.”

Lazarus said the job action is affecting some of their services, including the postponement of any scheduled hearings and worksite meetings and the appeals process.

“So, if you are appealing a previously made decision, that process is on pause for now and we’re going to get that back up and running as soon as we are able to have the full team together again,” Lazarus said.

According to Lazarus, negotiations between the two sides continue with the help of a mediator.

- Written by Dustin Coffman/AM800 News.