Personal care workers at the Villa Colombo assisted living facility in Toronto are on strike for paid sick days and benefits.
The 25 workers, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 5525, have been on the picket line since May 28 and are fighting for their first collective agreement.
“Throughout the pandemic, Villa Colombo staff worked tirelessly to keep residents healthy and safe,” said CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn. “Now the employer is proposing to keep part-time workers excluded from existing health benefits and reducing paid sick days for full-timers. Sick employees should not be forced to work with vulnerable residents.”
Stephany Herrodor, who has been a personal support worker at Villa Colombo for four years, said that the demand of their employer to take away their benefits and to have them work more hours was unreasonable.
“They want to take away our benefits. For the full-timers, they want us to work even more. Right now we work Mondays to Fridays, but they want us to start working on weekends,” said Herrador. “Most of our casuals do the weekends. If our full-timers work on the weekends, then there’s no work for our casuals and part-timers.”
In addition to caring for the residents at the assisted living facility, workers also are often caregivers at home on top of working other jobs. Herrodor said that she and other workers get paid $16.40 an hour by Villa Colombo. The minimum wage in Ontario is $17.20 an hour.
A provincial program tops up the wages of personal support workers, with the province providing an additional $3 an hour. By providing this program, the Ford government is allowing companies hiring personal support workers to effectively pay them less, while relying on public funds to make up the difference.
“I have four kids and I have both of my parents who are seniors who I take care of.” she said. “I have two part-time jobs and I have this one because it is not enough. It is not fair.”
Herrodor said that the employer is seeking to cut sick days, dental care and other benefits.
Scab workers undermine good faith negotiations
Just days after the strike began, Villa Colombo, which is affiliated with the Villa Charities Group, hired replacement, or scab workers, to take over the duties of the striking union members.
The scab workers were hired through a replacement agency, a move that the union says not only undermines negotiations, but also disrupts the lives of the residents at Villa Colombo.
“Agency workers are not trained or certified to the standards of personal care workers with CUPE 5525. Some residents have already mentioned that they are unhappy with the sudden replacement. Villa Colombo workers are trained to a high standard of care and have long-standing relationships with residents in the supportive housing unit,” reads a statement from the union.
Herrordor said that some of the residents have told them that they are uncomfortable with the replacement workers, some of whom are men who have been assigned to senior women staying at the home.
“Scabs shouldn’t be allowed to go in when we are on strike,” she said.
NDP MPP for Parkdale-High Park Alexa Gilmour visited the Villa Colombo picket line on Friday, June 13.
Gilmour said that the situation at the assisted living facility highlighted the need for provincial anti-scab legislation in Ontario.
While lobbying from unions like CUPE led to the creation of federal anti-scab legislation, it does not apply to provincially regulated workers.
READ MORE: Anti-scab legislation introduced in win for unions and NDP
“The Ontario NDP has repeatedly called the Ontario government to bring in anti-scab legislation, so I stand with the workers on this and with the Ontario NDP. There are many provinces that have anti-scab legislation. Ontario is not among them,” Gilmour said in an interview with rabble.ca.
CUPE also pointed out that replacement workers are also more expensive than their unionized staff members.
“I think it’s the seniors that are paying the price for when we bring in scab labour because it lowers the quality of care that they receive,” said Gilmour.
Gilmour called on the employer to come to the table and reach a fair deal with their unionized employees.
“I could see how much they [the workers] loved the seniors, and they are being virtually ignored, and that is a real tragedy. It’s very frustrating for the workers. I’m sure it’s upsetting for the seniors. And I would like to see Villa Colombo come to the table and negotiate a fair deal,” she said.
Herrodor said that they want a fair deal for our coworkers to get back to work.
“We miss our residents. They are our family. We think of them as our own grandmothers and we just want to get back to work to take care of them,” she said.
Editor’s Note 2025/06/18: This article has been updated to clarify how personal support workers employed by Villa Colombo are paid.
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
