Peel Children's Aid workers on strike for 11 weeks say families are suffering

A striking worker from the Peel Region Children's Aid Society says families are suffering now that the labour dispute has enteredits 11th week.

Families who were getting supportfromthe CAS are calling the striking workers directly on their cellphones to ask for help,RoxanaCondor, a child protection worker, told CBC's Metro Morningon Tuesday.

"We hear daily from our families that they are not being serviced. It's been difficult," she said.

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"We hear from them because most of us give out our personal cellphone numbers so that families can reach out to us in times of emergency. Families have reached out to workers directly and said 'come back to work.'

"All we can do is say, 'again, we're sorry, you know, we are in a situation where we are not abletohelp you right now.'"

Children 'sitting in limbo' in foster care

Condor said the workers have been directing the families to appropriate agencies.

She saidshe has heard that some children "are sitting in limbo" in foster homes because they are having to wait longer for their permanent homes.The strike is affecting young people as well, she said.

"We've heard from youth who have been incarcerated and they haven't had the support from anyone to be released on bail as our workers would have done the same day."

Condor said she thinks managers are tending to emergencies or what the agencycalls "essential services," including situations involvingsevere abuse or neglect, sexual abuse and child apprehensions.

Wait times for service now longer

DariaAllan-Ebron, a senior service manager with the Peel Region Children's Aid Society, said managers are continuing to provide services to clients, but acknowledged that families are havingto wait longer than usual for services.

"Families are continuing to have increased wait times at certain times for services, particularly, I think, when people call into our organization," she told Metro Morning. "There are times when families have had to wait for a phone call back."

She said conditions are not "idyllic" as the strike wears on,but children are not "languishing" in foster care.

"I'm not specifically aware of a child who is sitting in a foster home who is languishing. I am aware of the fact that we are doing our best to get to people as quickly and as soon as possible," she said.

"Obviously, under these circumstances, we have to prioritize the circumstances and situations that we work with."

Allan-Ebronsaid the strike has been difficult for managers, as well.

"There's nothing that we want more than to get our staff and colleagues back at work. This has been a long and challenging process. And we have continued throughout this process to provide essential child protection services to our community."

She said managers are continuing to receive calls from people who are concerned about children in the community.

"We are assessing and conducting investigations," she said. "We've also continued to support our families in our community and continued to see and support our child in care throughout this time."

Union appeals to Queen's Park

Meanwhile, the striking workers have appealed to the Ontario government to do what it can to endthe long-running labour dispute.

Local 4914 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE),which represents 435 front-line, administrative and support staff for Peel CAS, has saidit wantsto return to the bargaining table or have all outstanding issues referred to binding arbitration.

The union has askedOntario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn and Children and Youth Services Minister Michael Coteauto take action.

Peel CAS, however, said in a news release on Monday that it will ask the Ontario labour ministry, under the Labour Relations Act, to hold a secret ballot vote and allow the workers to vote on its final offer to the union.

The offer includes wage increases and improvements to benefits including mileage, cellphone and family leave in each year of the three years of a contract, and a $1,000 lump-sum payment. It also includes some revised language on job classifications and workload. It needs 50 per cent plus one to be accepted.

The vote would be anonymous and supervised by the Ontario Labours Relations Board.

The workers have been on strike since Sept. 18. The largest remaining outstanding issues are case load and job evaluation language.