Some high-powered help joined the locked-out mental health association workers for a rally and march in Timmins Friday afternoon.

Among supporters was the provincial present of the mental health and addiction workers union, OPSEU.

J.P. Hornick says the membership voted 87 percent against the latest offer, yet it’s what management brought back to the table before talks broke down.

Hornick says it’s a two-tiered contract, forcing the workers to pay for their own long-term disability coverage.

“We’re here to send a message to management to say ‘take a look at our last pass. You accept it, you end this lockout, they’re back to work.”

Hornick says in the middle of a mental health and opioid crisis, locking out the workers is “irresponsible and immoral.”

The locked-out workers and their supporters marched from outside the CMHA office past Timmins City Hall, to the former Living Space shelter, part of which is now a residence for men with mental health issues.

Here is audio of our conversation with Hornick.