Tag: We Own It
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Public-private partnership circus spreading from Queen’s Park
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new "P3 bank" is set to make Canadians pay billions too much for big public infrastructure projects. It's the same thing that happened in Ontario, OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas writes in this article for the Toronto Sun. More…
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‘People are waking up’ to the scourge of privatization
On November 14, Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were both in downtown Toronto. They were meeting behind closed doors with some of the richest people in the world, scheming to privatize more of our public services. OPSEU members were there to raise the alarm, staging a highly visible and noisy “pop-up public…
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Public support for P3s plummets: Poll
On Monday, Nov. 14, OPSEU released polling data that shows the vast majority of Ontarians are opposed to the privatization of public services. Read the full Toronto Sun article here. Related: OPSEU in the News
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Poll: Given the facts, Ontarians want federal government to stay away from P3s
Toronto – When presented with the facts on cost overruns, Ontarians agree that governments should stay away from public-private partnerships (P3s), according to a new province-wide poll. The Ipsos poll finds that support for the use of P3s for infrastructure developments in Canada falls from 70 per cent to 25 per cent when respondents are aware…
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Understanding Trump
Dear friends: Donald Trump is about to become President of the United States. For progressives around the world, it’s a nightmare come true. How could a man who painted Muslims as terrorists and Mexicans as rapists get elected? How could a man who bragged about his own record of sexual harassment and assault win so…
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Pop-Up Public Meeting
You’re NOT Invited to the backroom meetings that Justin Trudeau and Kathleen Wynne are holding with private investors on Monday November 14, 2016. During those meetings, they’ll be discussing how to privatize public assets like highways, bridges, and hospitals, including through Public-Private Partnerships (P3s). Just like the P3s that the Ontario auditor general says have…
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Privatization threatens services, jobs: members
Alarmed about the continued sell-off of public services and assets, more than 15,000 OPSEU members tuned in November 9 to two telephone halls about the union’s campaign to fight privatization. “I urge everybody listening on this call to join in this fight,” said one Developmental Services worker who spoke up during the town hall. “It’s happening where…
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It’s time to stop using public dollars to line private pockets
Dear friends: Canada’s Minister of Finance and I have something in common. He has the same responsibility to Canadians that I have to OPSEU members. We’re both entrusted with other people’s money. And we’re both supposed to spend it wisely to meet the needs of those we work for. So I was shocked two days…
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1 pm We own it! telephone town hall
Date: Wednesday November 9, 2016 Time: 1 p.m. EST to 1:45 p.m. EST Dial-in: 1-877-229-8493 ID code: 112847 Privatization is one of the biggest threats facing us as OPSEU members and as Ontarians. Many of our services are under direct threat from privatization. Others could be soon. OPSEU is countering this threat with one of the most ambitious campaigns…
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Does Ed Clark understand working people?
I finally had the chance this week to ask Premier Kathleen Wynne’s business adviser, Ed Clark, if he loses sleep at night knowing his advice to sell off Hydro One is one of the most unpopular decisions in Ontario’s recent history. But someone beat me to it, in more polite language, after he delivered his…
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Member protest challenges privatization czar
“Don’t you dare privatize eHealth.” That was the message from close to 30 OPSEU members who protested outside a speech by ex-banker Ed Clark on October 17. Clark, the Bay Street brain behind beer in grocery stores and the selloff of Hydro One, is Premier Kathleen Wynne’s privatization czar. The government has asked him to…
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Toronto Sun: My turkey wishbone wish: Keep your private sector forks away
Our family’s annual Thanksgiving tradition is to stand and say what we’re thankful for, and no one can leave the table till they’ve had their say. For me, I’ll be showing gratitude to all of those people who built and maintain our public services. People like our parents and grandparents who built things like medicare…
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First i Run and Rock event a runaway rocking success!
It was a cool, wet Saturday, but nothing could put a damper on the fun as United by Trauma held its first annual i Run and Rock in Thunder Bay on September 17. Chair Mike Lundy and United by Trauma cofounder Nicole Taylor hold a future friend for someone with PTSD The day-long fundraiser included…
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Leaders of OPSEU and an Australian health care union sing the praises of the We Own It! campaign and its 28 member organizers
In a ceremony last night near Port Stanton, OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas and First Vice President/Treasurer Eduardo (Eddy) Almeida celebrated the talents and achievements of the 28 OPSEU member organizers who will soon be at the heart of the We Own It! Campaign. “Your board members wouldn’t have picked you if they didn’t think…
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“We Own It!” kicks off with intensive training
It is one of the most ambitious campaigns OPSEU has ever undertaken, and it’s getting under way this week. More than 50 members of OPSEU from across the province, including a number of Executive Board Members, have gathered north of Orillia to begin laying the foundations for We Own It! Approved unanimously during the convention…
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Hydro users roast premier at her own barbecue. Amiably, of course
Those dissatisfied with the privatisation of Hydro One expressed their opinion directly to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Sault MPP David Orazietti on Monday. Wynne and Orazietti held a barbecue and community meet and greet at Bellevue Park Monday evening. on the SooToday.com. Related: OPSEU in the News
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Thomas to unions Down Under: ‘Your fight is our fight’
Continuing his tour of the Australian labour landscape, OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas addressed members of 15 different union affiliates – somewhat equivalent to the Ontario Federation of Labour. Warren (Smokey) Thomas addresses union delegates in Australia Thomas spoke persuasively of the urgent need for a global response to the double threat of globalization and…
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Australians reject private health care: Thomas
SYDNEY, Australia – As the final votes are tallied in Australia’s general election, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appears on track to lose his majority – owing largely to his plan to privatize health care, says the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). Turnbull is leader of the right-wing Liberal Party of Australia.…
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OPSEU president backs global response to austerity and privatization
Sydney, Australia – Warren (Smokey) Thomas addressed hundreds of union activists in New South Wales, Australia, yesterday and urged unions the world over to redouble their efforts to fight austerity and privatization on an international scale. The president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) was speaking to some 300 delegates of the Health…
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Thomas: What Ontario can learn from Brexit
The “leave” campaign in the U.K. tapped into a sentiment with voters that the “little guy” is being left out, that the European Union was a huge let-down, and everyone’s public services are under threat. Voters such as the shopkeeper, nurse, teacher, farmer and the rest of the working class and disappearing middle class stuck…