Tag: OPSEU in the News

• CTV London: OPSEU picket

  Staff at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Elgin branch held an info picket on Wednesday in response to harassment by upper management in their workplace. CTV London News was there to cover the event. To watch the full CTV London News video, click here. 

  October 5, 2017

  Health and Safety, Media

  OPSEU in the News

• OPSEU pickets CMHA Elgin over harassment

  Ontario Public Service Employees Union President Warren (Smokey) Thomas traveled to St. Thomas on October 4 to support staff members at Canadian Mental Health Association, Elgin County at an information picket against local management. Thomas said staff in St. Thomas are working in an environment of “fear and intimidation" where they feel bullied by management.…

  October 5, 2017

  Health and Safety, Media

  OPSEU in the News

• We Own It town hall draws a crowd

  OPSEU Region 3 We Own It mobilizers and Executive Board Members hosted a We Own It town hall meeting in Barrie on Tuesday, October 3. As reported by CTV News (at the 13:20 mark), the meeting drew a crowd of people interested in stopping the sell-off of our public services and assets. For more details…

  October 5, 2017

  Campaigns, Media

  Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• Confidential memo details NPCA talks with region

  Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority chair Sandy Annunziata met with regional staff in September to get Niagara Region to take on more of the planning portion of its watershed management responsibilities. Both the union representing workers at the NPCA and two of Niagara's MPPs have expressed serious concerns with the agency's plans. To read the whole…

  Andy Pedersen

  September 29, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Job cuts, OPSEU in the News

• NPCA axes eight frontline staffers

  Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority has cut eight frontline staff in a move that has angered the union, stunned local MPPs and incensed local environmental activists.  To read the story in the St. Catharines Standard, click here. Ontario public sector union leader slams Niagara Conservation Authority for gutting watershed department In an interview with Niagara at…

  Andy Pedersen

  September 28, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Job cuts, OPSEU in the News

• NPCA approves 2018 operating budget

  Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board’s approval of its 2018 operating budget is being applauded by the agency’s CAO and panned by the union. OPSEU, the union that represents the workers, said the operating budget will result in almost $1 million in cuts to staff in the watershed and corporate resources departments. To read the whole story…

  Andy Pedersen

  September 21, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  Job cuts, OPSEU in the News

• MPP grills Liberals over contract faculty in colleges

  London West MPP Peggy Sattler put Liberal cabinet ministers on the spot Wednesday when she asked about government plans to help improve job security and bring in "equal pay for equal work" for contract faculty in Ontario's public colleges. Advanced Education Minister Deb Matthews and Labour Minister Kevin Flynn were noncommital but thoughtful in their…

  Andy Pedersen

  September 20, 2017

  Bargaining, Media

  Collective Agreement, OPSEU in the News

• Forster slams NPCA at Legislative Assembly

  Welland NDP MPP Cindy Forster delivered a comprehensive and blistering critique of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority in the Ontario legislature this week, and received cross-party support from fellow Niagara-area MPPs in the process. She ended up once again asking the government to appoint a supervisor to oversee the activities of the NPCA. To read the…

  Andy Pedersen

  September 18, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  OPSEU in the News

• Scott Thompson: Other unions could learn a lot from Smokey

  OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was on Hamilton talk radio this week to chat with CHML-AM's Scott Thompson about how selling cannabis through the LCBO will affect cannabis retail workers. Click here to read the online story, then scroll down to hear the interview, which starts at 18:31 of Thompson's podcast.

  Andy Pedersen

  September 12, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• OPSEU talks about Ontario pot shop employees and NPCA toxic workplace

  OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas appeared on the Larry Fedoruk radio show on Newstalk 610 CKTB in the Niagara region to discuss the sale of cannabis through the LCBO, and the toxic workplace at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. To listen to the audio clip, click here.

  Andy Pedersen

  September 12, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• Loitering bylaw discussion raises racism concerns

  Concerned about the racist overtones of a proposed anti-loitering bylaw in Leamington, a group of activists held a rally on Sunday, September 10. “I felt like you're discriminating against a specific group of workers which are the migrant workers," OPSEU Equity Mobilization Team member Elizabeth Ha told CTV News, adding that migrant farm workers contribute…

  September 11, 2017

  Equity and Human Rights, Media

  OPSEU in the News

• Ontario’s pot plan a blow to dispensaries, but a boon for the public-service union

  The president of the public sector union expects the sale of recreational marijuana to create about 2,000 new public sector jobs in Ontario in the next three or four years. Read the entire article in the National Post. Related: OPSEU in the News

  September 8, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Cannabis, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• Fentanyl overdoses in jail endanger corrections staff: union

  Correctional officers at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ontario say they're concerned about an increase in the amount of fentanyl getting inside the facility. In the past week, there have been two cases that sent five people to hospital. To read the full article on Global News, click here.

  Andy Pedersen

  September 8, 2017

  Campaigns, Media

  Crisis in Corrections, OPSEU in the News

• Employees say NPCA workplace culture is “toxic”

  Various media outlets reported on the results of the workplace stress survey completed by Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority employees earlier this year. NPCA toxic workplace – damning report OPSEU Health and Safety Officer Terri Aversa is interviewed by Larry Fedoruk on September 6, 2017 about the results of a workplace stress survey at the NPCA. To…

  Andy Pedersen

  September 7, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  OPSEU in the News

• College faculty strike vote set for September 14

  Media outlets reported last week on the upcoming strike vote at Ontario colleges. OPSEU sets Sept. 14 strike vote for Ontario college teachers, instructors College teachers and other faculty at Ontario’s 24 colleges will hold a strike vote on September 14. Today is the last scheduled day of talks before the start of the school…

  Andy Pedersen

  August 28, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  OPSEU in the News, Strike

• Thomas to speak to Roy Green on Royal Ottawa fine

  Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of OPSEU, will be on the Roy Green radio show on Sunday, August 27 at approximately 4:05 p.m. to discuss a fine imposed on the Royal Ottawa Hospital. On August 16, the hospital was fined $75,000 – three years after a patient attacked and repeatedly stabbed a nurse at its Brockville…

  August 25, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Grievances, Media

  Legal decisions, OPSEU in the News

• Paramedics on Ontario First Nations reserve unanimously agree to unionize

  Paramedics on Beausoleil First Nation voted to join OPSEU in June. Read news coverage of the union's successful organizing drive here on Rabble.ca. Related: OPSEU in the News

  August 21, 2017

  Media

  OPSEU in the News

• Help on the way for ailing miners

  Former OPSEU Local 604 member-activist Janice Martell has spent years fighting for justice for miners whose health has been harmed by exposure to aluminum-based McIntyre powder. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has now reversed a policy that prevented workers from seeking compensation for neurological diseases they may have acquired by inhaling the powder. To…

  Andy Pedersen

  August 18, 2017

  Media, Pensions and Benefits

  OPSEU in the News, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)

• Remembering Beck’s dream of public hydro at cost

  Sir Adam Beck spent his political career fighting for affordable hydro. On Aug. 15, several dozen Londoners gathered to pay tribute to Beck on the 92nd anniversary of his death. As We Own It mobilizer Amanda Picott told Newstalk 1290 host Al Coombs: "Beck had a dream, and his dream was hydro at cost. Today,…

  August 16, 2017

  Campaigns, Media

  Fighting Privatization, Hydro One Not For Sale, OPSEU in the News, We Own It

• OPSEU trying to be proactive in opioid battle

  Opioid overdoses are on the rise in Ontario prisons, and correctional officers are doing what they can to protect themselves. According to Ontario Public Service Employees Union Correctional Division Chair Monte Vieselmeyer most prisons across Canada are dealing with a rise in opioids and opioid-related deaths, and the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre is no different. Read…

  August 16, 2017

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Crisis in Corrections, OPSEU in the News