Northumberland County’s safety net is tearing. Repair it by supporting workers

People in Northumberland County are struggling. The cost of living is going up.  Affordable housing is in crisis. Families need help accessing child care supports. The workers in Northumberland County’s Community and Social Services department are our safety net – but that net is tearing as workers are being pushed too far.

When people in our communities need support from government – when they fall on hard times and have to rely on Ontario Works, require a subsidy to put their children in care, or find themselves living in a tent – it’s Northumberland County Community and Social Service workers who help them. These workers are critical. But in recent years, too many of them have been chased from jobs they care about which has meant less reliable service for people who need it and a degradation in service.

These are demanding, emotionally taxing jobs. Thousands of workers for other municipalities manage that toll with flexibility and options to balance service to the community and care for their families. But Northumberland County is stubbornly refusing to give their workers the same respect. That, coupled with salaries thousands of dollars behind counterparts, has led to an exodus of staff to other cities, lured away by better work-life balance. Some Northumberland County workers haven’t even lasted a month when they experience the unrealistic workload.

Members of CUPE 3725 love Northumberland County. They do these jobs because they want to make sure everyone in our community has the support they need to thrive. But that can’t come at the expense of their own life. While the county has given generous pay increases to non-unionized staff, they are taking these critical frontline workers for granted.

Tell them enough is enough. Send a message to Northumberland County today and demand that they invest in the workers who support our community on the front line every day.

Subject: Repair Northumberland County’s safety net by supporting workers.

Body:

I am writing in support of members of CUPE 3725 who are frontline and support workers for Northumberland County’s Community and Social Services department. You are receiving this email in your capacity managing this department or as an elected leader or administrator in the county.

These workers are critical supports for our communities. They are our safety net at a time when more of our neighbours than ever before are struggling. With rising costs of living, more people relying on Ontario Works, and encampments growing, now is the time to support the workers who deliver social services.

But that’s not what the  department leadership is doing. While countless municipalities across Ontario allow their workers flexible, hybrid work options, Northumberland County is refusing to allow workers to balance their schedules or take care of their mental health. These jobs are emotionally demanding and a four-day work week has been proven to allow for greater work-life balance without impacting the quality of service provided. In fact, these workers had a four-day work week for nearly twenty years, pioneering work-life balance options that have proven to attract and retain dedicated staff serving Northumberland County, until it was stripped from them. The result has been an exodus of staff to other cities that provide more reasonable workloads and better  pay, by offering the very options Northumberland proved a success.

While frontline workers have been chased from the agency, the number of managers has swelled. There are now nine people in management overseeing roughly 30 frontline workers. How is this best meeting the needs of people living in encampments, forced to turn to warming centres, or struggling to afford child care?

Our communities rely on these workers. They deserve decent working conditions, that balance the needs of their families, their mental health and well being, while serving Northumberland County residents when they are in their most vulnerable time of need. I urge you to listen to the concerns of workers when they tell you that they are burnt out.

Help repair our safety net and safe guard our communities for future generations.

Sincerely,

[Your name]