Pay increases for some 430 Community Living Guelph Wellington workers are on hold pending a second order from the province’s pay equity commission.
Community Living executive director Bob Butella said the organization disputed a commission order issued in early March – something the commission, according to him, also agreed was incorrect. The order has been sent back to the commission to be amended with a second order expected back some time this month.
However, Butella said without additional provincial funding Community Living does not have the financial means to pay the final figure. The pay equity increase would be retroactive to 2010.
Community Living offers services and activities to people who have an intellectual disability and their families in several locations throughout Guelph and Wellington County. It operates about 40 facilities and group homes in Guelph and the county, including ARC Industries.
Despite the fact pay equity is mandated by the provincial government, some provincial ministries are not required to pay it.
“Our ministry says it’s not their problem, it’s the employers’,” Butella said of the ministry of social services, which oversees and funds Community Living work.
“Our ministry doesn’t have the money to pay for it.”
The organization receives about $14 million annually from the province to operate, but Community Living has not seen an increase in funding since 2010, he added.
Workers earn $15 to $21 an hour depending on the position.
Joanne Smithers, president of CUPE Local 4392, which represents some of the workers, said the money is owed to union and non-union workers.
According to the original order issued by review officer Al Coulen, almost $500,000 is owed for a period from 2010 to 2013. The amount is based on a one per cent pay hike in a bid to reach the pay equity benchmark.
Smithers said the amended order could see the amount increase to $1.6 million, a figure Butella would not confirm, saying he is under a “gag order” not to comment.
The union recently held a protest in front of Guelph MPP Liz Sandals’ office to voice their concerns about not receiving the increase.
“We’re certainly not blaming the employer,” Smithers said of the delay.
The second order, according to Butella, “will give us an indication what the retroactive amount is.”
He is hoping the upcoming provincial budget will offer more funding through the ministry.
“If the budget passes there will be money coming,” he predicted.
