Tag: OPSEU in the News

• On talk radio, Thomas calls again for paid sick days

  OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas reiterated his challenge to Doug Ford to rethink his opposition to paid sick days during a wide-ranging interview with CityNews Ottawa radio talk-show host Rob Snow. “I’m asking the Premier to cast the ideology of his party aside and seriously think about paid sick days,” Thomas told Snow. “Consult with…

  April 20, 2021

  Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• Thomas: Message to the OHA — recovery will take action, not just talk

  The following Op Ed by OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was published in the Toronto Sun on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Thomas: Message to the OHA — recovery will take action, not just talk The third wave of COVID-19 has arrived and many folks are scratching their heads wondering how Ontario’s entire health-care system —…

  April 13, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• ‘A massive insult to front-line heroes’

  CTV News is reporting on OPSEU/SEFPO’s calls for the province to step in after it was revealed that the Grey Bruce public health CEO and Medical Officer of Health made a whopping $630,000 in 2020. “Ian Arra may be working hard during the pandemic, but this is a massive insult to all the front-line heroes…

  March 29, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• Want paid sick days? Join a union.

  The following piece by OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was published in the Toronto Sun on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Click here to view the print-friendly PDF version. Want paid sick days? Join a union. It’s been a heck of a year; for many, it’s been the worst year. But from the trials and tribulations…

  March 22, 2021

  Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News, Provincial

• Jail union president hopeful after province plans to issue request for proposals for new jail by spring

  Correctional officer and president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 737, Bill Hayes, says the announcement by the province planning to issue a request for proposals for the construction of the new Thunder Bay correctional facility by this spring is “positive and reassuring”. Read the full article on the website of Thunder Bay News.

  March 10, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Crisis in Corrections, OPSEU in the News

• Mass coverage of Thomas’s 7-Eleven alcohol objection

  The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, CP24, The Toronto Sun, and Global News are among the major media covering OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas’s formal objection to 7-Eleven’s 61 liquor license applications across the province. “7-Eleven says it’s trying to make its stores into restaurants where alcohol can be served, but we all know…

  March 9, 2021

  Media

  OPSEU in the News

• ‘We’re still not being seen as frontline workers,’ Most Simcoe County paramedics not vaccinated

  In a recent interview with CTV Barrie, Cory Schepers, paramedic with Simcoe County paramedics and President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 303, discussed the widespread frustration that paramedics are feeling over not being prioritized in stage one of Ontario’s vaccine rollout. Ontario’s paramedics are on the frontlines of the fight against the pandemic, treating patients and transporting…

  February 12, 2021

  Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• Union calls for firing of manager at The Royal over alleged holiday travel abroad

  The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is calling for the firing of a manager at The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre after it was revealed that she travelled abroad over the holidays, unnecessarily. OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas is demanding that Joan Garrow be fired and has penned a letter to The Royal’s president and…

  February 8, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• Ion scanners: ‘an investment that will save lives’

  OPSEU/SEFPO leaders are applauding government for installing fentanyl-detecting “ion scanners” at 10 jails across the province, according to The Midland Mirror. “Plain and simple, this is an investment that will save lives,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas in The Mirror. “I’m grateful the members of my union kept urging government to provide these scanners,…

  February 8, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  OPSEU in the News

• The Saturday Debate: Should private long-term care be abolished? Yes.  

  The following Op-Ed by OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was published today in the Toronto Star. The Saturday Debate: Should private long-term care be abolished? Yes. Warren (Smokey) Thomas Ontario Public Service Employees Union This pandemic has taught us a lesson of epic proportions: it’s time to end our toxic relationship with private, for-profit long-term…

  February 6, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, Fighting Privatization, OPSEU in the News

• Ministry of Labour issues nine unsafe work orders to Milton prison combatting COVID-19 outbreak

  Milton – The Ministry of Labour has issued nine orders for unsafe work conditions at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, following a massive COVID-19 outbreak at the facility. “Management and union [need] to sit down and work together to make sure every precaution possible is being taken,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. The union…

  February 6, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  Corrsolid, COVID-19, Crisis in Corrections, OPSEU in the News

• Thomas: Time to put confrontation aside as we emerge from the pandemic

  The following Op-Ed by OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was published today in the Toronto Sun. Thomas: Time to put confrontation aside as we emerge from the pandemic “Come with open minds and open hearts because nobody has the market cornered on good ideas,” says Warren One thing I’ve learned from a lifetime in the…

  February 5, 2021

  Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News, Provincial

• Correctional Centre managing COVID-19 outbreak says OPSEU/SEFPO president

  The union representing the nearly 120 correctional officers at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre says few inmates are showing symptoms of COVID-19 and the staff infection rate remains low. “When you look at it, we are approximately 94 per cent inmate infection rate, but about three to four per cent staff rate,” said Shawn Bradshaw,…

  February 1, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  Corrsolid, COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• ‘Every day there’s a horrible story’: respiratory therapist opens up about mental trauma during COVID-19

  Leigh-Anne Erwin is a respiratory therapist for Windsor Regional Hospital, a career she’s loved for 22 years. She says the best part of her job is getting to know her patients. Now, it’s the worst part. Ms. Erwin is a member of OPSEU/SEFPO. Read her full story on the CTV website.

  February 1, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• Milton, Ont. jail won’t accept new inmates due to COVID-19 outbreak

  The Ontario government has decided that a provincial jail in Milton, Ont. will not accept new inmates while it continues to fight a major COVID-19 outbreak. This decision comes after the union that represents correctional officers called for a halt to new admissions last week. Peter Figliola, president of Local 234 of the Ontario Public…

  January 25, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• Union says that there are at least 90 positive cases of COVID-19 at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton

  A COVID-19 outbreak at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton has resulted in at least 90 positive cases and the union that represents workers at the jail is now calling for a pause on the admission of new inmates. OPSEU/SEFPO Local 234 President Peter Figliola, whose union represents correctional workers at the jail, tells CP24 that…

  January 25, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• Five guards at the Thunder Bay District Jail now have COVID-19

  Thunder Bay — Five correctional officers at the Thunder Bay District Jail have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while others wait for the results of their tests to come back from the lab. Bill Hayes, president of OPSEU/SEPFO Local 737, says the number of inmates who’ve tested positive currently stands at 20. The outbreak began after…

  January 21, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, Crisis in Corrections, OPSEU in the News

• Niagara Health workers ‘disrespected, disappointed’ by boss’s Caribbean vacation

  Shortly after the media began reporting on the OPSEU/SEFPO calls for the resignation of Niagara and Hamilton hospital CEO Tom Stewart for his Caribbean holiday, both hospitals have effectively ousted him. “OPSEU members at Niagara Health have lost faith and have called for his resignation,” OPSEU/SEFPO Local 215 president Brenda Allan told The St. Catherines…

  January 7, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• President Thomas in Toronto Sun: Stop the pillaging and invest in our health-care system

  The following Opinion Editorial by OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas was published in the Toronto Sun on January 6, 2021. Thomas: Stop the pillaging and invest in our health-care system We are at crossroads in this crisis. And why? Because of a generation of cost-cutting, retail politicians who savaged our health care system, a system…

  January 6, 2021

  Health and Safety, Media

  COVID-19, OPSEU in the News

• New staff coming to Sarnia Jail

  The jail in Sarnia is about to get a boost in staffing. Two full-time correctional officers, a mental-health nurse, a social worker, two rehab officers and a recreation officer will be hired in the coming months, said the president of the union that represents staff at the facility. A part-time volunteer co-ordinator is also being…

  January 4, 2021

  Bargaining, Campaigns, Media

  Crisis in Corrections, OPSEU in the News