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\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nAfter being diagnosed with profound hearing loss when she was nine months old, Alex Karayannides says the therapy his now\u00a0two-year-old daughter Riley has been receiving at\u00a0Surrey Place, a non-profit health organization that supports individuals with\u00a0developmental,\u00a0auditory and visual\u00a0disabilities, has been game-changing.<\/p>\n
But six weeks ago, all those services were paused when staff at the facility went on strike.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has really been excelling, so to know that that has stopped has really been alarming and not only for our family but dozens and dozens of other families,\u201d\u00a0he tells CityNews.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery parent will say you just want everything for your kids, you want them to be happy and healthy, so to know that there\u2019s a resource who can support in that journey that\u2019s unavailable right now is devastating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
OPSEU, which represents the workers, says staff are striking for\u00a0better long-term funding and fair pay adjustments after\u00a0years of capped wages under the province\u2019s\u00a0Bill 124, which was found unconstitutional in 2024.<\/p>\n
OPSEU also points out that the Surrey Place employees\u00a0are among nearly\u00a04,000\u00a0public sector\u00a0workers currently on strike.<\/p>\n
A provincial spokesperson with the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services tells CityNews that\u00a0Ontario has made significant financial investments in the development services sector over the last few years, adding, \u201cWhile collective bargaining is a matter between the employer and the union, we expect every service provider to have strong contingency plans\u00a0to protect residents and ensure their care is not disrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, Surrey\u00a0Place tells CityNews that\u00a0\u201cMost families they\u00a0support have experienced significant changes to their services\u201d<\/p>\n
Karayannides\u00a0says he has\u00a0been forced to find alternate\u00a0treatment programs\u00a0during the ongoing strike, and he\u2019s had to pay out of pocket for those. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are fortunate enough to be able to find some private help, but that isn\u2019t necessarily the case for a lot of families, and you grow bonds with these people; they\u2019re helping your kid have mainstream communication and grow up and overcome these challenges, so you grow very attached to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tExterior view of Surrey Place, a non profit health organization that supports individuals with\u00a0developmental,\u00a0auditory and visual\u00a0disabilities. CITYNEWS <\/p>\n
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