‘Fight together' message loud and clear at Labour Day event

CUPE has started a 'stop the layoffs at WSIB' campaign, while workers were also told that vigilance and a united front needs to be maintained The Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees member Peter MacLeod waves with tongs while divvying out the eats during a Labour Day event at the Steelworkers' Union Hall & Conference Centre on Sept. 7. 1 / 1 The Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees member Peter MacLeod waves with tongs while divvying out the eats during a Labour Day event at the Steelworkers' Union Hall & Conference Centre on Sept. 7. Advertisement The shadow of approximately 460 Workplace Safety and Insurance Board layoffs hung over this year's Labour Day festivities like a dark cloud. The move includes closing all nine Northern Ontario WSIB offices, including the region's largest office in Sudbury, where 136 local jobs will be lost. 'It took about 25, 30 years for the organization to build out their regional locations, and now they want to unwind it all in six months,' Ontario Compensation Employees Union president Harry Goslin told Sudbury.com following his public remarks at the Steelworkers' Union Hall & Conference Centre on Sept. 7. The Ontario Compensation Employees Union represents WSIB employees. The offices at WSIB are 'absolutely mayhem' right now, Goslin said, with morale 'less than zero.' Although the offices are slated to close in less than six months, Goslin instilled in both his public comments and conversation with Sudbury.com that it's not a done deal. Northern Ontarians can fight this. 'People have to hold (Premier) Doug Ford and the province to account on their own stance,' he said, noting that while also maintaining a policy to decentralize services to underserviced areas of the province, the Ford government also sent a directive to WSIB to look at cost savings by closing offices. 'It's an absolutely insane decision from management, it makes no sense whatsoever,' Goslin told Sudbury.com. During his public remarks, Goslin called the layoffs 'an attack on injured workers,' pointed the blame squarely on WSIB CEO Jeff Lang, and maintained, 'There is no financial crisis, there is no justification for the centralization.' CUPE has launched a letter-writing campaign to MPPs called 'An insult to injury: Stop the layoffs at WSIB,' and Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West is hosting a rally at his office to protest the layoffs on Thursday morning (an exact time is yet to be determined). Talk of impending WSIB layoffs permeated through many of the public remarks delivered during the Sept. 7 event. United Steelworkers international secretary-treasurer Myles Sullivan speaks during a Labour Day event at the Steelworkers' Union Hall & Conference Centre on Sept. 7. Tyler Clarke / Sudbury.com United Steelworkers international secretary-treasurer Myles Sullivan, originally from Northern Ontario and now residing in Pittsburgh, flagged the decision as part of broader hypocrisy under the Ford government. After praising Ford for standing up for Ontarians during the ongoing U.S. tariff debacle, he added, 'We all forget quickly that it was only a few years ago we had to beat him in court to get the imposed one per cent wage cap taken away and stripped back.' Further to this, he said, health care is being privatized, cuts are being made to education, and WSIB offices are being closed in Northern Ontario. 'We've got thousands of workers in this community alone who have been impacted by industrial disease, occupational disease, injuries in the workplace,' he said. 'You don't come to the north, tell everybody you care about it, and strip those jobs not only out of the community but make it weaker for those people who need those protections.' Local politicians also spoke during the Sept. 7 event, including Sudbury Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt Conservative MP Jim Bélanger and Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West. When it comes to fighting for fair compensation and benefits, Lapointe said, 'There are great strides that have been made, but work still needs to be done.' Bélanger said he's 'proud to stand with working people and push for good-paying jobs,' and West said, 'We need to come together and fight together,' after listening to a handful of advocacy priorities (securing fair collective agreements, cancelling the WSIB layoffs and right-funding hospitals). Mayor Paul Lefebvre issued a statement for Labour Day, noting it 'honours the pioneers of the labour movement who fought for safe workplaces, fair wages, reasonable hours, healthcare, and equal treatment without discrimination.' 'Today, we express our heartfelt gratitude to every hardworking individual whose dedication, resilience, and vital contributions help our city flourish,' he said. 'The prosperity and spirit of Greater Sudbury are built on our workers' commitment, from those who build our neighbourhoods to those who provide essential services. Our workforce is the heart of our community, inspiring a brighter, more prosperous future for all.' The province issued a statement on behalf of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Minister David Piccini, in which he promoted the province's Canada-Ontario Workforce Tariff Response efforts and various government expenditures. 'On behalf of the Government of Ontario, thank you to every worker for everything you do to build our province, support our communities and keep Ontario moving forward,' he said. 'This Labour Day, and every day, our government is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ontario workers.' Sudbury.com sent a response in which the following questions were asked: What has your ministry done in response to WSIB announcing its exodus from Northern Ontario? Is there anything the province might have done to prevent the exodus or mitigate its impacts? Under the Ford government, requests of this nature are frequently ignored. When they do respond, questions are often bypassed in their written responses. This story will be updated in the event Piccini's office responds. Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.