CLPE workers, members of Ontario Public Service Workers (OPSEU) Local 448, are demanding the province provide retroactive pay for an unconstitutional wage cap introduced in 2019.

A retroactive wage increase of 6.5 percent would compensate for an illegal three-year, 1 percent wage cap on public sector workers introduced by the Ford government’s Bill 124.

“Our wages were stolen under Doug Ford’s unconstitutional Bill 124 which capped public wage increases to one percent at a time when the cost of living was skyrocketing,” said Stacey Kinnear, Coordinator of Supported Independent Living.

The Bill was struck down by the Ontario Superior Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal and repealed in February 2024.

Since then, some public sector workers, including college and hospital workers, have received a 6.5 percent retroactive wage increase, but others are trying to catch up.

“Our sector has not received any kind of compensation for that yet,” Ms. Kinnear noted.

CPLE is among 27 agencies across the province, representing 4500 workers, who are on strike. Each of them bargains their collective agreements with their individual agencies, but the demand for funding is directed at the province.

“Doug Ford is playing a game of pass the buck where he wants to say that the specific agencies are the ones that are divvying up the money but it is the province’s fundamental job to be divvying up where those services are going to,” said Katie McKinley, Coordinator of the Associate Home program.

The campaign kicked off with a picket outside MPP Tyler Allsopp’s office on May 14th. MPP Allsopp’s office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

The 2026 Provincial budget reduced real sector spending for social services by 2.4 percent.

“The sector may technically receive more dollars overall but when inflation and demand are considered, the buying power of the funding decreases,” she said. 

“Current services would require about a 4.2 percent annual growth while the government plan projected an average reduction of .5 percent annually over several years.”

Ms. McKinley added that “since 2018, the Ontario Social Services funding per person has been cut by 16.4 percent.” There are 52,000 Ontarians with developmental disabilities on the waiting list for support services. 

CLPE’s 150 staff members operate 10 community homes and serve over 500 adults and children with intellectual disabilities in Prince Edward County.

Staff report severe burnout with forced overtime, lack of resources for programming, and despair over the impact on their clients. 

“A lot of staff members are pulling 24 hours on a regular basis within their work schedules because we do not have funding or the retention available,” Ms. McKinley said.

Many employees have had to take on multiple jobs to combat the financial pressure, contributing to emotional strain which has led some workers to seek counselling. 

“The people who work here are incredible and passionate and they manage to not let it show,” said Ms. Kinnear.

Ms. McKinley stresses that they are taking action to preserve the dignity and care of the people they support. 

“We don’t want to have to go on strike but we have to go on strike or we’re not going to be able to move ahead,” she added.

Their demands are not just wage increases for existing employees, but robust funding to provide valuable programming and services for vulnerable community members.

“The bottom line is even if our employer were able to squeeze into their budget reasonable wages, it’s not going to change the status quo,” said Ms. Kinnear. “They need funding to have proper staffing and case loads.”