Workers want end to eight-year wage freeze
After 14 hours at the negotiating table, the employer and Settlement Assistance and Family Support Services (SAFSS ) and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 518 agreed to extend the strike deadline to midnight Oct. 18.
Negotiations resume October 17 and bargaining team chair, local 518 president Valentina Khoudiakova is optimistic."We've made ourselves very clear to the employer. We will continue to fight for a fair deal," said Khoudiakova.
SAFSS workers held a picket outside of head office Monday to support their bargaining team at the table, and were joined by a number of other OPSEU members.
Negotiations have spanned 18 months for the 48-member local. Key demands are ending an eight-year wage freeze and reinstating benefits which the employer had suspended during a statutory freeze when no changes to contracts are permitted, according to the union.
OPSEU members at SAFSS provide a variety of services for recent immigrants, including language and skills development, newcomer settlement services and childcare.
