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Ontario Public Service Employees Union

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The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU; French: Syndicat des employés de la fonction publique de l'Ontario [SEFPO]) is a trade union representing public sector employees in the province of Ontario, Canada. It claims a membership of approximately 180,000 members.[1] OPSEU was established in 1975 as the successor union to the former Civil Service Association of Ontario, which was founded in 1911.[2] In 1979, OPSEU affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress, the National Union of Public and General Employees, and the Ontario Federation of Labour. OPSEU is affiliated to several labour councils across Ontario.

Ontario Public Service
Employees Union
Founded1975
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Location
  • Canada
Members
~180,000
Key people
JP Hornick, president. Laurie Nancekivell, First-VP/Treasurer
AffiliationsCLC, NUPGE
Websiteopseu.org Edit this at Wikidata
An OPSEU union hall in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood of Toronto.

The current President is JP Hornick, who was elected to the position in April 2022.[3] The labour expertise of President Hornick is recognized by their long-term role as a coordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown College.[4] Hornick won election by beating out three other candidates for the position at the 2022 OPSEU/SEFPO Convention.[5] Laurie Nancekivell is the union's First Vice-President/Treasurer and was also first elected at the 2022 Convention.[3]

Membership and structure

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The union is structured into local occupational groups, units or locals.[6] Most members of OPSEU work for the Ontario Public Service, municipal governments and services, and the public college system. Additionally, some members work for private companies or organizations that are contracted to provide a public service such as hospitals and medical laboratories. The list of bargaining units includes Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology - Academic (CAAT-A) with about 12,000 members, just under 10% of OPSEU's total membership, Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology - Support (CAAT-S), Hospital Professionals Division Central Provisions (HPD), Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), Ontario Public Service (OPS). Other members include ambulance, developmental services, boards of education, children's aid societies, community agencies, long-term care, universities, hospital professionals, hospital support, municipalities, child treatment centres, municipal property assessment, mental health, Canadian Blood Services and Diagnostics. "OPSEU also represents members in many boards, Crown agencies, and tribunals, such as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, the Ontario Pension Board, the Ontario New Democratic Party Caucus, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario."[7]

In June, 2016, part-time support staff at all Ontario colleges held a vote on whether to join OPSEU. The College Employer Council blocked the counting of the ballots for more than a year, eventually losing. When the ballots were counted in January, 2018, 84% were in favour, leading to approximately 20,000 part-time support staff joining the union.[8] OPSEU called this "the largest union organizing drive in Canadian history."[9]

In October, 2017, part-time college faculty held a vote to join the union, but the results are not known because the College Employer Council is attempting to block the counting of the ballots.[10]

Strike history

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Ontario Public Service strikes

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The First Strike: 1996

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In 1993, Ontario's first NDP government altered the legislation governing Ontario Public Service employees to allow them to strike. In 1996, Ontario Public Service employees struck legally (Correctional Officers struck illegally in 1979[11]) for the first time in their history.[12] The strike was deeply political; OPSEU rallied against the Mike Harris government's proposed job cuts. The tension between the Government and OPSEU culminated on March 18, 1996 in a confrontation between the OPP and OPSEU strikers at Queen's Park in Toronto. Ontario Provincial Police riot control officers were called in to escort members of parliament who were being prevented from entering the legislature. MPPs were pelted with rocks and paper cups when they tried to cross the line. The confrontation escalated when police began to push through the line of protesters and violence erupted. At least half a dozen protesters were injured.[13]

2002

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The second strike between OPSEU and the provincial government lasted 54 days (March 13 to May 5) in 2002.[14] Again, tensions between managers and the union were strong. Although there was no bloody confrontation between the union and the government during this strike, there was a strong division between union members and management.

College strikes, CAAT-A

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1984

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College faculty were on strike from Oct. 16 until November 9, when they were legislated back to work.[15]

1989

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8,800 faculty members at Ontario's 22 community colleges went on strike on October 19, 1989.[16] The strike ended on November 14 when OPSEU and the Ontario Council of Regents agreed to binding arbitration after back-to-work legislation was threatened.[17] At the time, the average earnings of a teacher was about $47,000, and salaries ranged from $22,800 to $52,250.[18]

2006

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On March 7, 2006, roughly 9,100 faculty at Ontario's 24 colleges went on strike.[19] Faculty returned to work on March 27 after 18 days on strike. At the time, full-time faculty had "a starting salary of about $32,000, an average pay of about $75,000 and a 16-year progression to reach top wage levels in their collective agreement, according to the union. The colleges offered a package that would have increased salaries by 12.6 per cent by the end of four years, taking the maximum pay to about $94,000. The union had proposed 12 per cent over three years."[20]

2017

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On October 16, 2017, roughly 12,000 full-time faculty, partial load faculty, counsellors and librarians at the province's 24 Colleges went out on strike.[21] The OPSEU collective bargaining team for the teachers was led by J.P. Hornick, Coordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown College.[22][23] Bill 178, the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Labour Dispute Resolution Act, 2017 was successfully passed on Sunday, November 19, 2017, ending the strike and sending the parties to mediation and binding arbitration.[24] Faculty members returned to work on November 20. Students resumed classes on November 21, 2017.[25] The parties agreed to employ William Kaplan as mediator-arbitrator under the legislation. He published his decision[26] on Dec. 20, 2017, and both sides appeared to be pleased with the result.[27] The decision included a 7.75 increase in wages over four years and a one time lump sum payment for full and part-time staff.[28]

Controversies

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In May 2021, allegations of systemic racism and harassment were made against OPSEU and were documented widely in Canadian media, alleging that leadership from the Executive Board, through to then-President Warren (Smokey) Thomas were creating and supporting environments which were toxic to Black members.[29][30][31] Specifically, previous leaders in Algonquin College's OPSEU Local 415 harassed, surveilled and excluded the new Local president, who was a Black woman. Despite investigations substantiating those events, OPSEU was sluggish to enact remedies, in effect emboldening the perpetrators. The events received political attention from New Democrat MPP Joel Harden and Laura Mae Lindo, MPP chair of the Ontario NDP Black Caucus, who wrote to Thomas regarding the issue.

In April 2021, Thomas' leadership style began being questioned and openly discussed in the media.

Thomas retired in April 2022, after 15 years a president, and a new board was elected. In January 2023, OPSEU launched a lawsuit against Thomas and two executives who served under him alleging that they had misappropriated just under $6 million in union funds.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "About Us". opseu.org. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  2. ^ "The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)". December 2016.
  3. ^ a b Union (OPSEU/SEFPO), Ontario Public Service Employees. "OPSEU/SEFPO welcomes new leadership: JP Hornick and Laurie Nancekivell". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  4. ^ "Staff Profiles". George Brown College. 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  5. ^ "OPSEU Convention President Ballot #1". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  6. ^ "Ontario Public Service Employees Union Constitution 2015". OPSEU.
  7. ^ "Owner's manual". OPSEU.
  8. ^ "Part-time staff at Ontario's 24 colleges vote to unionize, OPSEU says". CBC. The Canadian Press. 2018.
  9. ^ "Victory for precarious workers: Thousands of college part-time support staff join OPSEU after mammoth organizing drive". Cision. OPSEU. 2018.
  10. ^ "'Magnificent victory' after part-time staff at Ontario's 24 colleges vote to unionize: OPSEU". 11 January 2018.
  11. ^ OPSEU History, 1970's - Page 2
  12. ^ OPSEU History, 1990's
  13. ^ "Logos Pathos Ethos - News & Opinions - Mismanaging During Storms: The Harris, Eves and Hudak Conservatives in Ontario". Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  14. ^ CBC News (May 6, 2002). "Ontario public workers vote to end strike". CBC. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  15. ^ Tedesco, Theresa (21 June 1985). "Formula on workload back of college strike, complaint hearing told". The Globe and Mail.
  16. ^ "FOR THE RECORD Strike talks at colleges to resume". Globe & Mail. 31 Oct 1989.
  17. ^ Brennan, Richard; Lajoie, Don (15 Nov 1989). "The Teachers Are Back: Truce brings swift end to college strike: [FINAL Edition]". The Windsor Star.
  18. ^ Brennan, Richard (28 Nov 1989). "College faculty suffers no loss: [FINAL Edition]". The Windsor Star.
  19. ^ Friesen, Joe; Alphonso, Caroline (7 Mar 2006). "College teachers go on strike". Globe & Mail.
  20. ^ Mittelstaedt, Martin (27 Mar 2006). "Ontario colleges to resume classes after bitter strike". Globe & Mail.
  21. ^ College, St. Clair. "Info About Potential Faculty Work Stoppage | St. Clair College". www.stclaircollege.ca. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  22. ^ Ghebreslassie, Makda (16 Oct 2017). "Why Ontario college faculty members are on strike". CBC News. Retrieved 21 Jan 2022.
  23. ^ "StackPath".
  24. ^ Rushowy, Kristin (2017-11-18). "College strike nears end as back-to-work bill passes second reading". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  25. ^ College, St. Clair. "Info About Faculty Work Stoppage | St. Clair College". www.stclaircollege.ca. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  26. ^ "PDF of OPSEU v. College Employer Council". December 20, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  27. ^ Kate McGillivray (December 20, 2017). "'If I was them I'd say I won too': both sides claim success after college arbitration results announced". Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  28. ^ "Mediation set for mid-December". OPSEU. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  29. ^ Ireton, Julie (5 May 2021). "Faculty union execs at Algonquin College accused of sexism, racism". CBC News. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  30. ^ Ireton, Julie (7 May 2021). "Systemic racism at the root of OPSEU's inclusivity problem, insiders say". CBC News. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  31. ^ Pritchard, Trevor (8 May 2021). "Racism allegations point to 'systemic flaws' in union, says president". CBC News. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  32. ^ "OPSEU suing Warren 'Smokey' Thomas, 2 other former execs for more than $6M in damages". CBC News. January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
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