More than two-thirds of Worker Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) employees have been on strike since their employer locked them out on May 22 after negotiations broke down.
The workers are demanding better pay rates and working conditions, and are represented by the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU/CUPE 1750).
Employees face unmanageable workloads, creeping up from between 40 and 50 cases per worker in the past to around 140 today, according to OCEU/CUPE 1750.
A survey conducted by the union found WSIB workers face nearly double the average rates of anxiety and depression.
A leaked internal memo revealed that not only is there a backlog of claims at the WSIB, but that the government agency has turned to automation during the strike to deal with it. The WSIB told the Toronto Star it has registered more than 11,000 new claims and issued over 60,000 payments to injured workers since the strike began.
OCEU/CUPE 1750 President Harry Goslin says this will create more chaos as it “will have to be cleaned up when workers come back to their jobs.”
WSIB has offered a 4.5 per cent wage increase over three years, but Goslin says that’s not keeping up with inflation.
This is the first strike in the organization’s 150-year history.
This article appeared in the 2025 Summer issue.
