Windsor WSIB worker fears losing home as restructuring affects 131 local employees

131 jobs have been cut for WSIB employees in Windsor. As CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru reports, they must now decide if they relocate or leave the company.

A Windsor Workplace Safety and Insurance Board employee says she may have to sell her first home after learning her position is among 131 local jobs declared redundant, according to the union representing WSIB workers.

The Ontario Compensation Employees Union, also known as CUPE Local 1750, says 466 employees across 10 Ontario communities received redundancy notices Wednesday.

The WSIB is an independent provincial agency that administers Ontario’s no-fault workplace insurance and compensation system. The restructuring follows a province-wide government review of the agency.

Victoria D’Anna joined the WSIB on contract in 2020 to help process COVID-19 claims. She became a permanent customer service representative in 2022 and intended to remain with the organization until retirement.

“It is kind of devastating that that’s no longer my plan,” D’Anna said.

“I have to look elsewhere now and just see what next steps are in place, career-wise, for me.”

D’Anna said employees were invited to an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. They were told they could either voluntarily leave with an exit package or relocate to pursue a WSIB position in another community.

Employees were given the rest of the day off before returning to their regular duties Thursday.

“Today, we have returned to business as usual and [are] pretending like nothing has happened,” D’Anna said.

Relocating would mean moving to London, she said, requiring the couple to sell their Windsor home and her husband to find another job.

“Either one of us would be out of a job in this situation regardless,” she said.

“Unfortunately, the way the economy is, we need two incomes. So, it’s just not realistic to move.”

D’Anna began applying for other positions Wednesday night but said she would need to find work with compensation comparable to her WSIB job.

She and her husband are newlyweds who recently purchased their first home.

“As a millennial, I think purchasing your first home is a big feat in this economy,” D’Anna said.

“Even though it is an older home — she’s from the 1950s — we love her and we would like to keep her.”

The WSIB’s former Windsor office at 2845 Ouellette Avenue stopped providing in-person service when the pandemic began in 2020. Its lease expired in 2024, but Windsor employees continued working remotely.

Their responsibilities include processing claims and payments, answering calls, and coordinating healthcare benefits and return-to-work services.

Union president Harry Goslin said many affected employees have decades of experience working with local industries, employers, healthcare providers, rehabilitation networks, and injured workers. He said those employees kept services operating from their homes during the pandemic.

“We’re talking about a workforce that got the organization through the pandemic,” Goslin said.

“They’ve worked from their kitchen tables to provide workers with the services that they need.”

Goslin attended one of the meetings where workers received the news and said some were in tears and unable to continue working that day.

The union believes removing experienced employees will intensify existing workload problems and lead to longer waits for clients.

“It’ll delay their return calls. It’ll delay decisions. It’ll delay access to healthcare,” Goslin said.

“It will delay referrals for return-to-work services.”

In a statement, the WSIB said it continues to provide services in Windsor and that the way people access those services will not change.

The agency said it now works with 190 physical and mental healthcare providers in the Windsor community and will maintain a local team to provide in-person return-to-work support.

“The WSIB is modernizing how we deliver service and we have made the difficult business decision to consolidate some claim and account management functions,” the statement said.

The WSIB said affected employees will receive resumé-writing and job-seeking assistance, continued benefits, and unlimited mental health support during the transition.

It did not confirm the union’s local or provincial figures, saying the final number could be lower after employees consider relocation opportunities and other supports.

Goslin said the union was not included during the early planning stages and was only engaged after the proposal received approval from the Treasury Board and Infrastructure Ontario. He believes that breached consultation requirements in the collective agreement.

He also questioned the timing following the first full-scale strike in the WSIB’s more than century-long history, saying the restructuring feels like retaliation for workers exercising their legal right to strike. The WSIB’s statement did not address that allegation.

The union plans to organize rallies, seek support from other labour organizations and ask Premier Doug Ford and Ontario’s labour minister to intervene.

D’Anna said she appreciates the union’s efforts but is uncertain whether the process can save the affected positions now that employees have received their voluntary exit packages.

She said she is also unsure whether she could fully trust the WSIB again if the decision were reversed.

For now, D’Anna said she hopes affected employees can continue supporting one another as they consider their next steps.

“I do hope we can continue to support people with injuries,” she said.

“But I do hope you can recognize that if our employer is not able to support their workers, how do you expect them to support you?”