CUPE rejects mandatory drug testing
Nov 16, 2000 07:00 PM
Ms. Darcy will be responding to the Harris government’s latest attack on welfare recipients in Ontario. On November 14, the government announced it was planning to impose mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients. Community and Social Services Minister John Baird said the government would conduct a consultation before their new policy is implemented.
“CUPE caseworkers are appalled by this latest attack on Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens and they won’t participate in the government’s bogus consultation,” says “Drug testing is an abuse of human rights – and it’s not the answer.
“CUPE members know that if the Harris government was really serious about helping people on welfare, it would reduce the number of families each caseworker has to work with each and every day. If there were more caseworkers, they’d be able to assist people get the counselling and training they need.”
CUPE has recently tabulated the results of a workload survey of municipal welfare workers. Sixty-three per cent of respondents report working overtime without any pay as they struggle to keep up with the paperwork while 87 per cent report increases in workload. 480 workers responded to the survey representing 10 per cent of the caseworker workforce in municipalities across the Ontario.
For more information contact:
Beryl Côté (613) 294-7246