On Aug. 24, 2022, after years of degrading working conditions, and with no contract since Dec. 31, 2021, workers from GDI Services (organized with Unifor – Local 222), were left with no option other than to rally and fight for their rights. They voted to strike and take action, forming a picket line in pursuit of fair pay and dignified working conditions. Though they faced many barriers, including attempted disruption from their employer’s bureaucracy, they were ultimately successful, showing the true power of workers through determination and solidarity.
GDI Services is a company that provides sanitation services for Durham College’s Whitby and Oshawa (ON) campuses. Like many workers, these folks have spent the last two years putting their health and safety on the line to keep these campuses clean throughout the pandemic. Despite doing this crucial work, employees were overworked, and compensated with poverty wages. GDI Services showed no indication of improving conditions or providing relief, despite the fact that they’ve been recording record profits over the past two years. After rejecting an unfair offer from their employer, and after working for months without a contract, they had no choice but to strike.
Instead of conceding to negotiate a living wage and safer conditions with the rightfully angry workers, GDI Services continued to debase their employees by bringing in scab labourers. On top of undermining this struggle, these scab labourers also lack essential training to carry out these jobs safely and effectively. On top of that, in a multi-pronged effort to prolong this dispute, GDI Services served illegal layoff notices to the striking cleaners in order to lock them out and intimidate them into crossing their own picket line.
Despite these efforts, the movement grew. Other Unifor members disavowed these acts by GDI’s bureaucracy, and showed solidarity with the striking workers by joining their picket lines on Sep. 6, 2022. The next day, they were joined by hundreds of students from the affected campuses, who rallied alongside the workers at a solidarity event.
Through striking, picketing, and solidarity, the contingent was able to achieve tangible gains in a new collective agreement, bringing this month-long dispute to an end. Appropriately, this new collective agreement is backdated to Jan. 2022, and is set to stand until Jan. 2025. The workers were able to win a 33 per cent total financial increase with an immediate $2.00 (12.46 per cent) hourly wage hike upon ratification.
The breakdown of that 33 per cent is as follows:
- $1.00 per hour retroactive to Jan. 2022
- $1.00 per hour increase upon ratification
- $0.75 per hour increase effective Jan. 1, 2023
- $0.60 per hour increase effective Jan. 1, 2024
- $0.30 per hour increase effective Jul. 1, 2024
They also won a reduction in benefit co-payments, set to initiate in Jan. 2024. Employee contribution share will be reduced from 40 per cent to 20 per cent, meaning more money in their pockets.
The indomitable action of these workers and sympathizers demonstrates that bureaucracy is no match for the power of the workers, despite corporate austerity and malice. By taking action with solidarity, and by uniting in class struggle, workers can win their rights, gain a living wage, and improve conditions for themselves. This is a lesson that unions across Ontario and Canada should take on board—strike against inflation and win!
