OPSEU Strike Hits Grey-Bruce With Hanover Picket Confirmed and Owen Sound Reported
Community Living Hanover workers are on strike as of May 23. Sources say Owen Sound Family Health Team workers will join picket lines, but OPSEU has not confirmed.
Workers represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) have begun strike action in Grey-Bruce, with picket lines set to appear in both Hanover and, according to community sources, Owen Sound this week.
OPSEU confirmed on its website that as of May 23, workers at Community Living Hanover (Local 235) and Community Living Trent Highlands (Local 358) are on strike, while workers at Ingersoll Support Services (Local 172) and Murray McKinnon Foundation (Local 361) have been locked out.
Community Living Hanover workers will picket Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the organization’s main office at 583 10th Street in Hanover.
Two community members have separately told the Current that workers at the Owen Sound Family Health Team will also picket this week, beginning Monday outside the constituency office of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound MPP Paul Vickers.
One source said picketing would run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday to Friday; another said workers would be there from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday.
The “Worth Fighting For” Campaign
OPSEU is directing supporters to its “Worth Fighting For” campaign, which calls on the provincial government to increase pay for community and social services workers.
The campaign argues that frontline workers — including social workers, child therapists, addictions counsellors, shelter staff, and legal aid workers — are among the lowest-paid employees in Ontario’s public sector, and that chronic underfunding has produced long waitlists for autism services, supports for adults with developmental disabilities, and child welfare placements.
The campaign points to Bill 124, the Ford government’s 2019 legislation that capped public sector wage increases at 1% annually. An Ontario court struck the law down in 2022, ruling it unconstitutional.
OPSEU says community services workers have not received the wage adjustments that some other public sector workers received after the bill was overturned.
The campaign asks supporters to send a pre-drafted email to their MPP demanding higher pay for community and social services workers.
Local Concerns Ongoing Amidst Broader Provincial Context
The strike action comes amidst a series of demonstrations in Owen Sound and across Ontario directed at the Ford government.
In March, more than 100 high school students from Owen Sound District Secondary School, St. Mary’s High School, and St. Dominic Savio walked out of class to protest proposed changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program at Vickers’ constituency office.
A separate community demonstration is planned for Saturday, May 30 at 9:00 a.m. outside Vickers’ office as part of province-wide “Fight Ford” actions. Organizers say the demonstration will focus on healthcare privatization, environmental protection, affordability, education, and government transparency.
The last OPSEU strike involving the Owen Sound Family Health Organization was a contentious event for the community. Approximately 30 nurses, receptionists, and custodians represented by OPSEU Local 276 went on strike on May 22, 2018 over staffing and workplace concerns.
The strike drew national media attention that September after reports of escalating tensions on the picket line, including allegations of vehicles striking picketers and of spiked boards being placed to impede vehicle movement at the clinic.
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