OPSEU reaches close to 27,000 members in one-month!

Congratulations to everyone for making the OPSEU Census a success. A special thanks to the mobilizers and the Executive Board for leading this challenging campaign –  a bold first for any union in Canada, and likely the world. With your support we reached nearly 27,000 members! That is almost 1/4 of our entire membership!

For a detailed breakdown of the results, please click here.

The Membership and Staff Committees will be meeting with the external consultants to finalize the census report soon. We hope to release the census report by May 2010, in time for OPSEU’s Annual Convention.  The report will aim to highlight trends, gaps or barriers to access for members and staff.  For instance, we might see trends around elder care or commuting issues that affect the daily lives of our members. Or we will be better able to identify who has access to our educational and training programs. Where gaps are identified, they will be followed up on in our Membership and Employment Systems Review. This is “Phase II” of the project. 

The beginning of Phase II  - the Membership and Employment Systems Review - awaits the Executive Board decision on the 2010 budget.  It will involve best practices research, focus groups and interviews that explore “why” the gaps and trends exist. At the end of the second phase, we hope to develop concrete recommendations about how to improve services, programs and policies at OPSEU.  For example, if we know that 25% of our members have elder care responsibilities, maybe it’s time to look at our policy on family care; or maybe it’s time to re-examine what priorities we’re bringing to the bargaining table.

Stay tuned for more information about the census results and Phase II of this project.