BRANTFORD, ON – Workers at Brant Family and Children’s Services (FACS) are hand-delivering a message to MPP Will Bouma after he backed out of a proposed meeting with the union to discuss recent layoffs to front-line staff at the agency. “The children and families who will be left behind by these layoffs and the people who worked tirelessly to help keep families together in our community deserve some answers about what is happening,” said Jennifer Kirby, President of Local 181 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 181) which represents front-line workers at Brant FACS. “We want to ask Mr. Bouma, on behalf of our members with unsustainable workloads, the workers who lost their jobs when their services are needed most and the children and families who will suffer as a result of these layoffs, what this government plans to do to defend the children and families in our community who rely on these services.”
The layoffs of 25 workers were announced in March and took effect over the past week.
After originally scheduling a meeting with CUPE 181, Bouma has backed out of the meeting citing the government’s recently announced, province-wide public sector consultations as the appropriate venue to address their concerns, but according to Kirby, “the people in our communities are looking for answers about what is happening here from the people who represent them. These answers will not come from a province-wide consultation. We look forward to delivering our concerns in person.”
What: CUPE 181 members deliver message to MPP Will Bouma
When: Wednesday, April 24, 12:00 p.m.
Where: Will Bouma, MPP Constituency Office, 96 Nelson St., Suite 101, Brantford, ON
Who: Front-line workers of Brant Family and Child Services
Why: To deliver a message to MPP Will Bouma about the impact of these layoffs and the necessity of properly funding the front-line work of Brant FACS
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For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Kirby, President CUPE 181, 519-718-8604
Matthew Stella, CUPE Communications, 613-252-4377
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