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The Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa have reached a tentative agreement on a contract for workers after a strike lasting more than three weeks.
The union said in a Facebook post Tuesday that a deal had been reached on Monday night.
Michele Thorn, an adoption worker, president of union Local 454 and a member of the bargaining committee, said the ratification process had yet to be completed, though it was expected the results of the vote would be available by the end of the day on Tuesday. She did not share any details of the agreement.
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The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Employees had walked off the job on July 8. Eighty-five per cent of the agency’s unionized workers voted to strike in March after negotiations began last November.
One of the key issues for workers was the Ontario government’s plan to cut an additional 20 employees from the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa’s roster of 320. The organization, which is funded by the province and works to protect children experiencing abuse and to provide families with assistance, once had more than 400 staff members.
Thorn told the Ottawa Citizen last week that the union was looking for job protection for the life of the collective agreement. She said workers had been “accepting the erosion of staff and services for years because of underfunding.”
Thorn also said the union was seeking to secure better wages for staff, adding that a deal with wage increases totalling 8.2 per cent had been on the table before the strike.
During the strike, the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said “business continuity plans” remained in place to ensure all mandated services continued. The ministry provides funding to 50 child welfare groups in the province.
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