More than 400 long-term care workers in Thunder Bay are on strike as they push for improved wages and better working conditions.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) says approximately 97% of members voted in favour of strike action, with all eligible workers signing up for strike duty.
Union representatives argue that long-term care staff are being left behind when it comes to compensation, despite the essential role they play in caring for residents.
OPSEU President J.P. Hornick says workers are deeply committed to their jobs, but many are struggling to make ends meet.
“They love the work they do,” Hornick said. “But if they can’t pay their bills, they simply can’t afford to stay.”
The union says it will remain on the picket line until a fair deal is reached.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union says the underfunding of community and social services is pushing workers to the brink.
The union has launched a campaign, calling for fair wages for workers and funding increases to the agencies they work for.
OPSEU President JP Hornick says it is a major issue in contract talks.
“Thousands of OPSEU/SEFPO members in the Worth Fighting For campaign are taking a historic stand, not just for wage justice, but for the future of the services and the care that they provide,” says Hornick.
Hornick says 27 bargaining units have filed no board reports in separate negotiations.
The union wants the government to compensate workers who were impacted by wage-restricting legislation that was eventually declared unconstitutional in the courts.
This led to agreements of retroactive increases for some public sector workers, such as those working in colleges and hospitals.
Hornick says thousands of others are waiting for the same treatment.
“These workers have been at the bargaining table with their employers, and they’ve told them as much that the funding just isn’t there. It’s on Ford to make this right.”
The union notes a $1.5 billion funding shortfall for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
The latest provincial budget shows a 2.4% decrease to the Ministry’s allocation over the next year.
Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) met outside the office of Kevin Holland, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan to protest the provincial government’s public service cuts.
While tens of thousands of OPSEU members are currently on strike as Ontario public college support staff, an additional 150,000 members in sectors including teaching and healthcare are currently in bargaining with the province.
At the center of OPSEU’s conflict with the Ontario government is Bill 124, which in 2019 limited pay increases for public sector workers to 1% annually. Though the law was repealed after Ontario courts ruled it unconstitutional last year, public service employees continue to feel as though they’ve fallen behind after years of high inflation rates.
OPSEU strikers rallying outside the office of Kevin Holland, MPP Thunder Bay-Atikokan, September 17, 2025
An attack on working people
Representatives from OPSEU consistently voiced the belief that these provincial cuts to public services are designed to bring about the degradation and privatization of public services.
“We’re very concerned that they’re about to try to close colleges or privatize colleges,” said OPSEU president JP Hornick. “Meaning more and more students are going to get left behind.”
Hornick referenced the closure of 650 public college programs: “This is something that should be striking fear in the hearts of Ontarians.”
JP Hornick, president of OPSEU, at a rally outside Kevin Holland’s office on September 17, 2025.
Carlos Santander-Maturana, president of the Thunder Bay and District Labour Council, echoed the feelings of Hornick. Asked about the public service cuts, Santander-Maturana pointed to the high inflation rates of the past few years – particularly in areas of basic necessity like food.
“Rent is skyrocketing, mortgages are high, and it’s very difficult for workers to make ends meet. Many of them have to start looking for a second or third job in order to pay the bill, so any cuts to wages and salaries are going to be felt by working families.”
“There is no question this is an attack on working people,” continued Santander-Maturana.
NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois, representative for Thunder Bay-Superior North, attended the rally in support of OPSEU. In alignment with the general theme of the day, she accused the Ford government of underfunding colleges with calculated purpose, with spending cuts “to the tune of at least $10,000 per student.”
A particularly stinging loss for Thunder Bay was the now-cancelled culinary program at Confederation College, which Vaugeois said was important for restaurants in the community.
Nobody’s Listening
Asked whether OPSEU had heard anything from the office of MPP Kevin Holland, JP Hornick stated they’d heard “nothing but crickets.”
“He’s not very keen on meeting with people who will have opposing political points of view,” said Carlos Santander-Maturana.
This reporter contacted the office of MPP Kevin Holland for a response, but at press time had yet to receive a comment.
Owen Smith, president of OPSEU Local 731, in a costume outside the office of MPP Kevin Holland on September 17, 2025.
President Owen Smith of OPSEU Local 731 could be seen in a tongue-in-cheek costume meant to call out CEO Graham Lloyd of the College Employer Council. OPSEU’s negotiations with the College Employer Council have been at a standstill for more than a week.
Asked whether he felt the provincial government was listening, Smith said no. “It’s sad that it seems to be falling on deaf ears, that we have to go on strike to get people to take notice.”
Smith maintains that the striking OPSEU public college support staff want to go back to work.
“People are falling behind… it’s unfair,” said Smith. Referencing the 10,000 layoffs of public college support staff, representing one-fifth of staff in the sector, Smith said workers were stressed by the large reduction in staffing.
“We’re trying to do more with less… Overtime is not allowed in most departments. So how do we keep up? We can’t. Things are going to fall through the cracks for us, and specifically at colleges, students are going to fall through the cracks.”
The NDP’s Shadow Minister and Critic for Colleges, Universities, Research, Excellence and Security, MPP Peggy Sattler, is calling on the Ford government to fund the province’s colleges sufficiently.
“Ontario’s public colleges power our economy. They train the next generation of talent, create good jobs in communities across our province, and help shape the future of our province,” said Sattler.
“Under Ford’s watch, our public colleges and universities are languishing. Ontario has the lowest per-student college funding in the country. But in the latest budget, the Conservatives cut $2 billion from post-secondary education, putting the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of students at risk.”
This comes after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council (CEC) failed to reach a new agreement.
The support staff have been without a contract since August 31.
“10,000 college workers have already lost their jobs, one of the biggest mass layoffs in the province’s history. This didn’t happen by accident,” added Sattler. “This is death by a thousand cuts from Doug Ford’s Conservative government.”
“Ford’s refusal to invest in post-secondary education, while at the same time funnelling public dollars to private trainers, has created one of the worst crises Ontario’s colleges have ever faced.”
In the region, picket lines are set up at the Confederation College campuses in Thunder Bay, Dryden, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances.
