PERSPECTIVE: Worth fighting for: Community Living London workers ready to strike

Community Living London workers are preparing to walk off the job on Monday, joining thousands of workers across Ontario in a growing labour dispute driven by chronic underfunding, low wages, and worsening working conditions. 

This action is a part of the “Worth Fighting For” campaign, a coordinated, province-wide community and labour action in Ontario led by frontline workers in the community and social services sectors, including members of OPSEU/SEFPO and CUPE.

Workers are demanding retroactive pay to compensate for wage increases being unfairly capped at 1 percent in 2019 by the Ontario government’s Bill 124, which was ruled unconstitutional in 2024. While some public sector workers have since received retroactive compensation, many bargaining units across Ontario were left behind.

Workers left behind

Lisa Fewster, president of OPSEU Local 166 for Community Living London, has over 30 years of experience as a developmental service worker and labour activist. She argues that structural differences in collective bargaining power have left smaller workplaces, like Community Living agencies, at a disadvantage.

“It’s the power in numbers. We just don’t have that power that other sectors do through collective bargaining, unfortunately,” she said. “So here we are — we have to fight for it.” 

For Fewster, this inequity has fueled frustration among social services workers and union members. 

“Just do what’s right is the very clear message from so many members across the province,” Fewster said. 

This week, thousands of workers are mobilizing in this coordinated labour action, with some already walking off the job or facing employer lockouts. “There are currently 27 locals with 4,500 members across the province that are ready to strike. When we’re talking close to 5000 members, Doug Ford needs to sit up and pay attention.”

For many, the scale of the mobilization underscores how widespread the crisis has become, not just in wages but in the erosion of a system that workers say is no longer able to meet the needs of those it serves.

Cost-of-living pressures deepen crisis

As the rate of inflation has gone up, living costs have risen dramatically, making the situation untenable for many workers, particularly in a sector largely made up of women and newcomers.

“Community Living London is mostly women. There are a lot of single mothers who are working two and three jobs,” she said. “They’re not able to pay rent, they’re not able to pay for groceries, and they are struggling.”

As president of the local, Fewster has seen larger and larger waves of workers turning to internal hardship supports offered by the union. Fewster says “the number of members that come to me is astounding. People are struggling.”

For Fewster, however, the problems plaguing the sector go far beyond wages. She emphasized broader systemic issues, including staffing shortages and challenging working conditions that continue to deteriorate. 

“This sector in particular is in crisis. We cannot retain staff,” she said, describing the system as a revolving door. “The people that we support need that consistency… we have protocols and if they’re not followed… it can lead to somebody getting severely hurt, and I’ve seen it over and over again.”

Fewster highlights that this instability is not just an operational issue; it directly affects the safety, health, and emotional well-being of those they support. Frequent staff turnover means individuals must continually adapt to new caregivers, disrupting routines that are often essential for people with developmental disabilities.

“The people that we support and their families are struggling. We have people supported in hospitals, in psychiatric units, and in nursing homes who are 20-30 years old,” Fewster says. “That’s not the place for them, but because there are no [alternative] services available, they’re wrongly placed, and the crisis just goes on and on.”

These situations represent a systemic failure, where people are pushed into inappropriate care settings not because of medical need, but because community supports are underfunded and understaffed.

“Right now our members are being made to pack up these people from their homes — some of them are going to be housed in hotels,” Fewster said. For workers, these moments are among the most emotionally difficult. “We have a palliative home, and we support people who are close to the end of life. We have members walking out the door knowing that if this goes past a week, that’s the last time they’re going to see them.”

This reality captures the emotional weight behind this labour action. Workers are not only advocating for fair compensation but grappling with the possibility of losing the meaningful, human connections that define this work.

Fewster places responsibility squarely on the provincial government, stating “this is not on us for walking out — This is on the Ford government.”

A fight for the future

As workers prepare for potential strike action, London community members are setting up support, with some starting a food bank for members at London’s OPSEU Regional Office on 1092 Dearness Dr., who will likely struggle with food insecurity during this strike.

Fewster encouraged community members to contact Doug Ford and the Conservative Party of Ontario to voice their support for these workers and to visit the picket line.

Despite the challenges, Fewster says growing solidarity among workers has provided hope.“The members are giving me the hope that we can do this, and in solidarity, we will do it,” she said.

Ultimately, Fewster emphasized that this fight is not just about lost wages; it’s about creating a better system of care. “We see the underfunding and what it’s doing in our workplaces and to the people that we support — these people deserve everything that we deserve.”