Category: Bargaining
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College Full-time Support Staff Bargaining Update #18: The employer is getting nervous about the power we’re building.
We’re living in a very different Ontario than 10 years ago. We’re also bargaining in a very different landscape today, than just a few months ago. Yesterday, you should have received a message from JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO, encouraging members to turn out to our Bargaining Town Halls this coming Monday. But their message…
Andy Pedersen
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OPSEU/SEFPO and CUPE Ontario community and social services workers launch Worth Fighting For campaign with rally and actions
On September 4, hundreds of OPSEU/SEFPO and CUPE Ontario workers, along with allies, rallied in Hamilton for a public launch of the Worth Fighting For campaign. The momentum continued into Friday, with petition delivery actions across the province! Community and social service workers are some of the lowest paid workers in the public sector. Workers…
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Upcoming Mobilizer Actions for OPS Unified Demand Set!
OPS Unified is preparing for an important round of bargaining – and in order to build the power we need at the table we need every OPS Unified member to get involved! That’s why your OPS Unified Mobilizing team is calling on members to complete their Demand Set Surveys, attend our upcoming Unifiers Meeting and…
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Workers at Canadian Mental Health Association York Region and South Simcoe vote YES to join OPSEU/SEFPO
More than 300 workers at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) York Region and South Simcoe have voted to join OPSEU/SEFPO following a successful certification vote earlier this month. These workers came together to unionize because they wanted a stronger voice on the job, greater transparency in their workplace, and the ability to push for…
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Sector 1 – Ambulance – Paramedic Bargaining Conference – October 7 – 8, 2025
Dear Members, This is to advise you that the Sector 1 – Ambulance – Paramedic Bargaining Conference has been scheduled. The conference will promote the achievement and maintenance of the highest province-wide standards in the Sector. Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2025 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Wednesday, October 8, 2025 …
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Over 23,000 Ontario college support staff take coordinated step towards strike action on Labour Day: “The future of our work is the future of student support.”
(Toronto, ON) – Support staff across Ontario’s 24 colleges, represented by OPSEU/SEFPO, united this Labour Day to take a coordinated step forward in the fight for the future of student support. 10,000 full-time college support staff will officially be on strike as of 12:01 a.m. on September 11, 2025 if a deal is not reached…
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College Full-Time Support Staff Bargaining Update #17: On September 11th, we’re ready to hold the line to save jobs and student supports.
Happy Labour Day! This one feels extra meaningful, because we’re getting ready to hold the line for the future of our work and the future of college student supports. Should a deal fail to be reached in the lead up to our deadline, we’re announcing today that all 10,000 full-time college support staff will be…
Andy Pedersen
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College Part-Time Support Staff Bargaining Update #13: Part-time college support staff will take strike vote this fall: bargaining update
Happy Labour Day! This one feels extra meaningful, because today we break the news that your bargaining team has filed for a strike vote. For over 19 months, Part-Time Support Staff have been forced to work under an expired collective agreement by an employer that is refusing to bargain. When we say “no” to that…
Andy Pedersen
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College Full-Time Support Staff Bargaining Update #16: The future of our work is the future of student support.
As we get closer to the expiry of our collective agreement – 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 31, 2025 – your bargaining team has been hard at work back in negotiations this week. Our collective pressure is working. We’ve been able to push off some concessions, such as doubling on-call time and threats to vacation…
Andy Pedersen
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Urgent action is needed to improve courthouse safety in northern and remote communities – OPSEU/SEFPO
OPSEU/SEFPO members are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting that took place during court proceedings at the Wapekeka First Nation in July, and we send our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Tyresse Roundsky. This tragic incident has exposed long-standing and serious deficiencies in courthouse security across Ontario. In northern and fly-in…
Andy Pedersen
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Keep Hybrid Work in the Ontario Public Service (OPS)
Call to Action – How Members can Ensure their Voices are Heard. On August 14, the Ford government announced it will eliminate hybrid work options across the Ontario Public Service. This decision was made without consultation with OPSEU/SEFPO and without any evidence to support the government’s claims that eliminating hybrid work will improve service to…
Andy Pedersen
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PETITION: Keep hybrid work in the Ontario Public Service (OPS)
Add your name: sign the petition to keep hybrid work in the Ontario Public Service We call on the Ontario government to: Immediately halt the decision to end hybrid work in January 2026, and the decision to require 4-days a week in office starting October 2025. Commit to meeting with unions representing Ontario Public Service…
Andy Pedersen
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College Full-Time Support Staff Bargaining Update #15: “No board” issued: FAQs & the future of our fight
On Monday, August 25th, 2025, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development issued the ‘no board’ report requested by your bargaining team last Friday. After months of negotiations, the employer has not agreed to any language around job security while our members stare down one of the largest lay-offs in provincial history. A…
Andy Pedersen
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Labour Day 2025: Workers united to protect our public services!
This Labour Day, we celebrate workers fighting back. The Ford government’s attacks on colleges, hospitals, social services, and all public institutions are growing. The rich continue to get richer, while the majority of Ontarians face an affordability crisis; a housing crisis; stagnant wages and rampant privatization that destroys our public services. Our strength as workers…
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Join OPS Unified Members Hybrid Phone Banking Power Hours on Thursday, August 28
Our strength lies in our unity, and it starts with every member being informed about the changes to hybrid work and filling out the Demand Set Survey. Let’s back our Bargaining Team as they go head-to-head with the Employer for the fair and just contract, we deserve! Date: Thursday, August 28, 2025 (in person or on…
Andy Pedersen
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Sector 18 Mental Health and Addictions Bargaining Conference and Lobby Day
Dear Members, The leadership of the OPSEU/SEFPO Mental Health and Addictions Division would like to invite you to participate in our Bargaining Conference and Lobby Day. The Bargaining Conference offers a valuable opportunity to discuss and share the best language in the sector for collective bargaining. This includes sharing collective agreements and strategies to support…
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LockTalk #16: Bargaining Team Directive – Acting Managers, Step Down.
Click here for PDF. Due to the Employer’s insistence on maintaining a concessionary bargaining agenda and refusal to address the Correctional Bargaining Unit’s ever-deteriorating working conditions, the Bargaining Team is issuing the following directive to all bargaining unit members: The Bargaining Team is directing all members in acting management positions to return to a bargaining…
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Worth Fighting For: Rally and March for Community and Social Services
On September 4, join the Worth Fighting For campaign rally and march for workers in the community and social services. Workers in community and social services – working as social workers, child therapists, addictions counsellors, shelter workers, legal aid staff, and many other roles – are some of the lowest paid workers in the public…
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Full-time support staff at Ontario’s 24 colleges will enter legal strike position in the fall – “Our kids deserve the same opportunities college grads did 10 years ago.”
TORONTO, ON – The bargaining team representing over 10,000 full-time college support workers at all 24 of Ontario’s public colleges has requested a “no board” report this morning – putting workers in a legal strike position come the Fall 2025 semester. “This fight is bigger than our contract. This is foremost a fight for college…
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College Full-Time Support Staff Bargaining Update #14: ‘No board’ report requested – our future can’t wait.
This morning, your College Support Full-Time Bargaining Team requested a ‘no board’ report. After months of bargaining with a party stone-walling us, the employer has not agreed to any language we’ve tabled around job security. During one of the largest crises our union and our college system have ever faced, that is unconscionable. The ‘no…
Andy Pedersen