Agency helps at-risk women in Toronto
Workers at Sistering — which helps homeless, low-income, and under-housed women — have voted to join Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).
All 60 non-management staff at the agency — including frontline support, kitchen staff, and clerical workers — are now unionized. Half of the workers are relief staff who are on call and currently have no benefits, according to the union.
"They wanted to have some input into choices made that had a very direct impact on their working lives," said Amy Clements, chair of OPSEU's Community Agencies Division. "OPSEU will give them that much-needed voice."
Sistering is a multi-service agency for at-risk, socially isolated women in Toronto who are homeless or precariously housed. Sistering supports women with substance use and mental health issues, women who have experienced violence, and immigrant and refugee women, among others.
