We are proud to welcome our newest OPSEU members at Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) in the Hamilton/ Kitchener District, including staff at nine different District offices. These workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining more than 300 OPSEU members at LAO, as a rolling sweep of the LAO workforce across Ontario chooses OPSEU.
When workers at LAO Hamilton/Kitchener District saw the benefits that OPSEU workers were getting at other LAO worksites, they reached out to see how they too could join.
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas has no doubt that the dangers that Doug Ford poses are another reason LAO workers are stampeding to the union.
“Any Ontario public sector worker who is not unionized should realize how vulnerable they are with Ford’s reckless slash and burn agenda,” said Thomas. “Give us a call at OPSEU and make the same sensible choice that hundreds of legal aid staff have already made.”
OPSEU has achieved significant benefits for Legal Aid Ontario workers including annual wage increases of six per cent by 2022. In addition, OPSEU’s Legal Aid Ontario members have a far more cost-effective benefits plan than those who are not part of the union. “You simply wouldn’t get those gains without the union in Ford’s Ontario,” said Thomas. “Under the current political and economic climate, all workers must stand together so their voice is heard and their rights are protected.”