Family Health Team picketers enter third month of strike action
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Published Jul 20, 2026•3 minute readMembers of the OPSEU Local 276 Owen Sound Family Health Team unit picket in front of Owen Sound City Hall on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, while on strike as part of OPSEU's province wide Worth Fighting For protest in support of community and social services workers. Greg Cowan/The Sun TimesMembers of the Owen Sound Family Health Team are still on the picket line nine weeks after walking off the job, and said they are being shut out by a local MPP. According to members of OPSEU local 276, Grey-Bruce-Owen Sound MPP Paul Vickers has not responded to their various requests for a meeting since the strike began. While the OSFHT’s executive director, as well as the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario, have both met with or petitioned the province directly — this opportunity has not been extended to them, the picketers said. Recommended VideosAccording to the union, on June 17, three Local 276 members and a union staff representative visited Vickers’ constituency office to request a meeting. According to one member present, office staff turned off the lights shortly after their arrival, told the group no appointment would be granted, and said they needed to leave or police would be called. The union member said police arrived within minutes, the interaction was peaceful, no charges or reports were filed, and the group left when asked. Later that same week, the entrance to the Vickers office was guarded by two Legislative Protective Service officers from Queen’s Park who told members of Local 276 that they were prohibited from entering the building. Stay connected to the news in your community. Get our free newsletter every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Times Extra will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againIn a statement sent to the Sun Times, Vickers said he’s always available to work and listen to all members of the community who “wish to engage in respectful dialogue. ”“As OPSEU well knows, collective bargaining is a matter between the employer and the union – the government and my office are not a party to these negotiations,” Vickers said. Fifteen Owen Sound Family Health Team (OSFHT) staff remain off the job, with union representatives picketing daily at three rotating locations: outside Vickers’ constituency office, in front of Owen Sound city hall, and on the Giche-name-wiikwedong Bridge. The strike, which began May 25 as part of OPSEU’s province-wide Worth Fighting For campaign, continues to affect an estimated 34,000 patients who rely on the Family Health Team’s allied health professionals, according to a media release. The union said that community health teams operate within funding envelopes determined by the province. When those envelopes are underfunded, employers cannot offer competitive wages no matter how much goodwill they may bring, the striking workers said in a media release. “Telling workers to negotiate with their employer while withholding the funding to settle is like cutting someone’s water supply and telling them to take it up with their plumber,” said Skylar Wright, Registered Practical Nurse of Local 276. Amorei Sohl, a Registered Practical Nurse at OSFHT and member of Local 276, noted that “OSFHT’s budget is set entirely by the Ministry of Health, meaning only the province can fund the wage increases workers are asking for. Right now, the province sets our wages at 15 to 30 per cent below market rates. ”Vickers said the provincial government is making the largest investment in primary care in Ontario’s history, $3. 4 billion, by expanding Interprofessional Primary Care Teams and is on track to connect every person in Ontario to a family doctor or primary care team by 2029. “Since 2018, operational funding for Family Health Teams has increased by more than $125 million, or roughly 30 per cent, including significant new investments through the Primary Care Action Plan to strengthen team-based primary care across Ontario,” Vickers said. In response to that claim, Sohl told the Sun Times that the provincial government’s billions of dollars in recent healthcare spending is money locked into new initiatives focused on expansion, rather than sustainment funding for existing infrastructure that is collapsing. Picketers are now collecting signatures on a print petition at the picket line and are directing supporters to OPSEU’s letter-writing tools (https://worthfightingfor. ca/en/). They are asking residents to contact Vickers’ constituency office directly and press him to meet with the workers, and to also reach out to Deputy Premier and Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Premier Doug Ford. Join the ConversationThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more aboutcookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to ourTerms of UseandPrivacy Policy.