On May 4th, 2026, SEIU filed a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board alleging that in 2025, Dexterra Group Inc (Dexterra), misled the Union and the Ministry of Labour when it represented it had no cleaning accounts in the City of Toronto that would fall under the union’s collective agreement and therefore would not be participating in negotiations for a new collective agreement. 

The complaint alleges that in early 2025 Dexterra had a number of contracts to provide cleaning services that fell under the scope of the Union’s collective agreement, including contracts with the Toronto Transit Commission and the Eglington Crosstown LRT.  When the Union delivered notice to bargain a new collective agreement, Dexterra told both the Union and the Ministry of Labour that it no longer had any accounts.

As a result, Dexterra was able to avoid providing workers with union wage rates and benefits inclusive of wage increases that were negotiated through industry-wide collective bargaining that same year. It strains credulity to think Dexterra couldn’t keep track of its own business accounts, particularly one as large as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which involves many workers, and as such it is hard to believe Dexterra’s actions represent anything other than a deliberate deceit aimed at undercutting its competitors and its own workers in order to gain an unfair advantage in the cleaning industry.  

The Union began investigating in early 2026. Shortly thereafter, a worker came forward to complain that they were not receiving the proper wage rates or benefits while working at a Dexterra account. The Union initiated the legal action after it confirmed Dexterra was hiding at least five accounts from the Union. 

SEIU Local 2 represents over 3000 cleaners in the City of Toronto.  Standard terms and conditions of employment in the cleaning sector are set through central negotiations between the Union and ten different employers.  Industry-wide negotiations are intended to ensure that companies can’t gain a competitive advantage at the expense of worker wages and benefits.

“Not only have workers at Dexterra accounts been cheated out of wages and benefits but Dexterra’s actions undercut the companies that are operating lawfully.” said Kumar Ramcharran, SEIU Local 2 spokesperson