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.