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TIMMINS, Ont. Child and Family Services of Timmins and District workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), will walk off the job on Tuesday, April 19th, after their employer applied to the ministry of Labour for a forced vote by CUPE members on managements last offer.

The last thing we wanted was a strike, said Kim Cress, CUPE 2196 bargaining committee spokesperson, representing 150 workers. But CAS management tried to go around the union, forcing our members to vote on an unacceptable offer that was already rejected by the bargaining committee its clear we cannot resolve our differences without a strike.

The workers provide child protection, mental health and other counselling services to children and families in Timmins and District, covering a wide area from Moosonee to Temagami. They include social workers, children and youth therapists, mental health counsellors, residential counsellors, early childhood educators, child and welfare workers.

Management has tabled benefit concessions and other takeaways during contract talks, and major outstanding issues include wages and workload language. Many similar agencies include contract language in their agreements to help with workloads.

We invite management to come back to the table to negotiate a fair contract so our members can get back to doing the work they love, said Fran Ludwick, CUPE national representative. Trying to circumvent the union is not the way to settle this dispute.

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For further information, please contact:

Kim Cress, Bargaining Cttee spokesperson, CUPE 2196 - 705-465-2543

Fran Ludwick, CUPE National Representative - 705-264-1269 (o) - 705-363-8387 (c)

Robert Lamoureux, CUPE Communications - 416-292-3999