The union that represents workers at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board wonders why the WSIB is outsourcing 26 jobs to a company based in Boston during a trade war.
The WSIB sent redundancy notices to 26 document managers barely a week after workers ended their strike and returned to work.
Head of the Ontario Compensation Employees Union, Harry Goslin, said the WSIB has had a contract with Iron Mountain for years, and told the union before contract talks started that it was outsourcing 26 positions. During negotiations, Goslin says the union inquired if it still intended to and was told the plan was on hold. He said he was blindsided when the notices went out.
"We understand from some of the employees who perform the work that there are already problems with the document management reps, delays or trouble finding the documents that Iron Mountain is now responsible for the care of," said Goslin.
Those documents contain long-standing files for workers who have been hurt on the job and were re-injured while working. The WSIB needs those files to reopen a claim.
Goslin said he spoke with Premier Doug Ford about it, who said outsourcing to an American company doesn't fall in line with the current push to save Canadian jobs.
He also spoke with Labour Minister David Piccini, whose comments echoed Ford's words. Piccini said he'd look into it, but "from what I can tell, has done nothing."
"WSIB is funded by Ontario employers solely," said Goslin. "So if there really was a need to outsource this work -- surely, there would be an Ontario employer that could provide the same service," said Goslin.
"These individuals are at the lower end of the pay grid, so they really have nowhere to bump to," Goslin added. "The job opportunities will be far and very few, so they're quite likely looking at layoffs for the first time in the history of the WSIB."
Just last week, WSIB workers returned to work after a six-week strike.