Receiving Ontario Works, disability cheques by mail? You need to read this

Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) are continuing negotiations for a new contract, yet the possibility of a strike or lockout as of midnight Tuesday, Sept. 25 remains.

With that, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, which issues monthly payments to Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) clients (Ontario Works payments issued through the municipality), has advice for those clients who receive their cheques by regular mail delivery, should postal workers go on strike.

“If there is a strike, those who normally receive their Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) or Ontario Works payment by mail should contact their local office to find out when and where they can pick up their cheque. They may also sign up for Direct Bank Deposit or request a Reloadable Payment Card to ensure they get their payment on time. They may also call 1-800-267-8097, or 1-800-808-2268 (automated Interactive Voice Response), for further information,” wrote Ministry spokesperson Graeme Dempster in an email to SooToday.

The local ODSP office is located at 341 Queen Street E. and may be contacted at (705) 253-2001.

The local Ontario Works office is located at 540 Albert St E., available by phone at (705) 759-2130.

“We are preparing for a possible strike by Canada Post workers that will affect people on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) or Ontario Works who normally receive payments by mail. We have a plan ready for dealing with cheques in the case of a strike, but we have not had to move forward with that plan just yet. We will continue to monitor this situation closely,” Dempster wrote, adding “as this situation unfolds, we will provide further information on our website.”

Canada Post and CUPW failed to reach an agreement on their own by an Aug. 30 deadline, and an arbitrator has been brought in.

One issue at stake is the rate of pay for rural postal workers.

CUPW had argued that Canada Post’s 8,000 rural carriers, mostly women, were being paid much less than urban carriers, most of them male.

An arbitrator has come up with a ruling that gives Canada Post rural carriers a significant pay increase, which could see a 25 per cent jump in their wages, plus increases in other benefits.

But the two sides are still talking about working conditions and how workers deliver the growing number of parcels being shipped through Canada Post, while the number of letters still declines.

CUPW also wants to see the return of postal banking, which would result in more paper documents shipped by mail.

Collective agreements for all letter carriers, urban and rural, expired in Dec. 2017.