Children's Aid workers on verge of strike in Nipissing and Parry Sound

Workers with the Children's Aid Society (CAS) in Nipissing and Parry Sound are on the verge of a lockout or a strike.

Representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), were in mediation talks with the CAS Tuesday.

Those broke off without resolution, according to the President of CUPE Local 2049, Debbie Hill.

No new talks are scheduled.

Hill says the members will be in a legal lockout or strike position as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday, December 23.

She says one of the main issues is workload.

Hill says most of the child welfare and support workers are burdened with extra duties because the employer is not filling positions which become vacant for one reason or another.

"Those positions, while technically they still exist, aren't being filled, so then of course if there's a workload issue already and there are positions not being filled and time and leave that aren't being filled, that all overflows on to the rest of the workers," says Hill.

Hill says that heavy workload affects those they serve.

"You're not spending time with the families, with the children, the teens and the parents and developing those relationships. It's in those relationships and that time that we learn what they need and we learn best how to meet those needs."

Hill adds that when workers rush around trying to meet provincial standards, plus keep up with caseloads they can't always tell if they've missed something.

"We're not giving [the wards and families] quality service and it absolutely increases the risk that we are going to miss something."

Children's Aid workers in Guelph and the Region of Peel were on strike this year over similar issues.

The members in Peel only just returned to work December 19, after a 13-week lockout.