OCEU/CUPE 1750 Calls Out WSIB and Ford Government for Outsourcing to U.S. Company, Laying Off Ontario Workers
TORONTO — The Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU/CUPE 1750) is calling out the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and the Ford government after confirmation that 26 document management jobs will be eliminated and handed to Iron Mountain, a private company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts
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The workers provide essential support to Ontario's workplace safety system. The layoffs notices will take effect July 16, just one week after members returned to work following a legal strike.
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'This government says it wants to protect Ontario jobs, but when it mattered, they sided with a U.S. multinational corporation over public service workers,' said Harry Goslin, president of OCEU/CUPE 1750. 'I spoke directly with Minister Piccini and urged him to intervene. Instead, he defended the outsourcing. That's unacceptable.'
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Although Iron Mountain highlights its Canadian operations, it is a U.S.-based multinational corporation. Its Canadian division is a wholly owned subsidiary, not a public agency accountable to Ontarians. The WSIB's decision to contract out unionized public sector work to a private company sets a troubling precedent that puts corporate profit ahead of public service.
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'This is how the WSIB responds after a difficult and historic strike — by cutting some of the lowest-paid workers with no explanation of how it will help injured Ontarians,' said Goslin. 'The WSIB is acting like a private insurance company, focused only on cost-cutting, when it was meant to be more than that.'
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OCEU/CUPE 1750 has consistently signalled a willingness to work with WSIB leadership to avoid cuts. Despite this, and despite options for in-house solutions, the agency — with the Ford government's support — is threatening its first major layoffs in recent memory.
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'Our members just walked back through the doors, and now they're being targeted again,' said Goslin. 'We are ready to work on real solutions. But if the WSIB goes through with this plan, we will fight to defend every one of these jobs.'
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