Community and social services workers welcome the return of the legislature with demands for long-overdue justice from Ford Conservatives for Bill 124

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than 600 days since Bill 124 was repealed, tens of thousands of community and social services workers are still waiting for the wages that were stolen from them. With the return of the Ontario Legislature, workers are calling on Doug Ford’s Conservative government to finally deliver justice.

Bill 124, passed in 2019, capped wage increases for public sector workers at 1 per cent per year, even as the cost of living soared. The law violated workers’ constitutionally protected collective bargaining rights, drove down wages, pushed workers into poverty, and deepened a province-wide crisis in community and social services.

“Bill 124 was found unconstitutional twice. It trampled on workers’ rights. It deprived our communities. Finally, it was repealed because workers fought back. But in the months since, Doug Ford’s Conservatives have paid back wages to some workers and continued to ignore the crisis they created in community and social services,” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario.

“Social services workers are living in poverty despite doing some of the most critical care work in our communities. This has to end. Doug Ford does not get to pick winners and losers while short-changing families who depend on these services.”

Together, CUPE and OPSEU represent more than 50,000 workers across community agencies, developmental services, community health services, and children’s aid societies who never received Bill 124 remedy.

Workers from more than 60 agencies are leading the Worth Fighting For campaign to secure fair, funded wage increases and much needed long-term investments in frontline community and social services. More than 35 locals have already taken strike mandate votes with dozens planned in the weeks ahead. They are showing they are united as they take their fight to their collective funder – the Ford government – and they are willing to take coordinated action unless the province steps up.

“Workers cannot live off of these low wages and communities deserve better than years-long waitlists for support. We have workers moonlighting at second or third jobs and relying on food banks while families struggle to find mental health counselors for their children or developmental supports for their loved ones. That is a direct result of chronic underfunding and it is the reality in Doug Ford’s Ontario,” said JP Hornick, president of OPSEU/SEFPO. “These workers make an impact in every single community in this province. They deserve to catch up for the years of wages that were stolen from them. And our communities deserve long-term, stable funding for the community and social services we need.”

This Thursday, CUPE and OPSEU members will bring the Worth Fighting For campaign to Queen’s Park with a 9:30 AM press conference in the media gallery to take a stand for themselves and the communities they support, followed by a march through the downtown core.

Quick Facts:

• There are 62 locals between CUPE and OPSEU currently involved in the campaign, representing roughly 10,000 workers
• Workers in frontline community agencies, mental health services, addictions, and developmental services are particularly low paid, with thousands not even earning a living wage
• While the Ford Conservatives have given Bill 124 remedy to other groups of public sector workers, social services workers – the majority of whom are women – have been ignored despite being among the lowest paid in the public sector
  • 78% of social and community workers are women
  • 85% of social workers are women
  • 82% of direct support professionals in developmental services are women
• Remedy for Bill 124 for the CUPE and OPSEU community and social services locals currently in bargaining would cost $51.7 million (representing a 6.5% retroactive wage increase over the 3-year Bill 124 moderation period)
• This is a small fraction of the estimated total cost of remedy for Bill 124, which the Financial Accountability Office projected would be $13.7 billion between 2022-23 to 2027-28.
• Thousand more workers in social services who will be in bargaining in the coming years are also still owed remedy for Bill 124.
• Based on the 2025 Ontario Budget, provincial funding for social services is set to decrease by 20.5% from 2017-2027

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