Over 130 mental health workers in Hamilton walked off the job Monday, joining thousands in a provincewide effort to protest what they describe as chronic underfunding in the sector.
At noon, members of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 262 marched up and down the sidewalk outside Lynwood Charlton Centre near Mohawk and Upper Paradise roads.
According to OPSEU, about 20 locals are on strike or locked out in communities including Simcoe, London, Barrie and Toronto. A spokesperson told CBC Hamilton about 4,000 workers total were picketing.
In a Monday news release, the union said workers who hit the picket lines joined those from several other organizations who went on strike over the weekend, as well as others whose employers’ locked them out.
In Hamilton, Local 262 President Tamara Putland and Patty Frazer are child and youth workers who’ve been employed at Lynwood Charlton for 30 and 40 years, respectively.
“Every year it feels like we’re doing more and more with less and less. We are at the end of our rope,” Frazer said.
She said workers are exhausted “and if we’re not doing well and our gas isn’t full, we can no longer help the people that desperately need it.”
Putland said this is the first strike her workplace has experienced and it comes after members worked without a contract for about two years.
Workers are demanding additional provincial funding and retroactive pay related to Bill 124, which capped public sector wage increases at one percent and was later ruled unconstitutional.
Local 262 president Tamara Putland, left, and Patty Frazer are child and youth workers who’ve been employed at Lynwood Charlton for 30 and 40 years, respectively. (Justin Chandler/CBC)
Below-inflation wage increases have led some members to couch-surf, work multiple jobs and visit food banks to get by, Putland said, adding some with post-secondary education earn around $20 per hour.
“That’s just not doable in today’s world,” Putland said.
She said her team shrunk from 230 to 130 people over the past five years as people left the industry, meaning fewer programs and services for families.
Per its website, Lynwood Charlton Centre’s services include live-in treatment, at-home treatment, counselling and school programs. According to its latest annual report, the centre served about 2,300 clients in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. It received about $8.1 million in funding from Ontario’s Ministry of Health and $1.8 million from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.
In an online notice, the centre said it has temporarily closed its programs and services due to the labour disruption. It also shared a list of alternative resources for people in need.
Centre says it worries about impact of labour disruption
“We know our front-line workers care deeply about their work, and the people they serve. Our staff work tirelessly to support children, youth and families with both mental health and developmental needs,” Michelle Hayes, the centre’s interim executive director, said in an email to CBC Hamilton.
“While we are supportive of efforts to secure additional government funding, we are deeply concerned about the impact the work stoppage will have on the children, youth and families we serve,” she said, adding the centre hopes to return to bargaining “as quickly as possible.”
Hayes did not respond to questions about how many clients are impacted by the closures, nor about the suggestion that the employer is struggling to retain workers.
In response to questions about the workers’ concerns and demands, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services told CBC Hamilton the government has “made historic investments in the development services sector.”
Those include “nearly $4 billion this year, an increase of $1.6 billion since we took office in 2018,” Julia Lombardo said in an email. “While collective bargaining is a matter between the employer and the union, we expect every service provider to have strong contingency plans to protect residents and ensure their care is never disrupted.”
Aime Kovacsik, Local 262’s vice-president, works for a home respite program downtown. At a time when youth violence and wellbeing is top of mind, she said the sort of “early intervention” her team provides is important.
She worked with unions across Ontario to organize the OPSEU campaign and said not enough provincial funding has gone to staff salaries.
According to OPSEU, about 20 locals are on strike or locked out in communities including Simcoe, London, Barrie and Toronto. (Justin Chandler/CBC)
At least one client and one former client joined workers on the Hamilton picket line Monday.
Rykee Edmonds received support from Lynwood Charlton Centre growing up and said showing up was a way to advocate for better funding for people who did “wonders for me.”
Tina Mach-Stevenson told CBC News her son has high needs and receives care at the centre. Because of the strike, she said, he’s currently in hospital instead.
“He needs enough staff to take care of him and good staff, qualified professional staff. In order to do that, they have to remedy Bill 124,” Mach-Stevenson said.
“You cannot pour from an empty cup,” she said. “We have to take care of the staff who take care of our families.”