“It’s not just a new contract that Canadian Hearing Society workers (CHS) in 24 Ontario communities including Durham are striking for,” says Fred Hahn, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario.

“This is a struggle to regain the heart and soul of an organization, where regrettably new management has lost perspective of what’s truly important: the quality services that tens of thousands of people in the deaf and hard of hearing community rely on and, a healthy work environment for the workers who provide the services,” says Hahn.

Along with Oshawa MPP Jennifer French and Durham area labour leaders, Hahn will be on the CUPE 2073 picket line today (Friday) March 10, 2017 at 11 a.m., 575 Thornton Road North (Braemor Centre, Plaza Unit 7).

227 counsellors, literacy instructors, audiologists, speech language pathologists, interpreters/interpreter trainers, clerical support, program coordinators, program assistants, information technology specialists, and other staff from CHS offices across Ontario, have been on strike since Monday, after contract talks broke down over the weekend.

Stumbling blocks in negotiations include a CHS proposal that would replace the existing sick leave plan with options that would gut provisions and have an outside firm determine who qualifies and a modest wage increases, following four years of frozen wages.