Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

- June 15, 2017
The provincial government has signed another quick deal giving thousands of civil servants a 7.5-per-cent raise over four years, prompting accusations the Liberals are buying labour peace for next June’s election. Read the full story on the website of the Toronto Star. Related: OPSEU in the News
- May 27, 2017
The two-step election process to elect the 2017 OPS bargaining teams began on Saturday, May 27. As a result of amendments to the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, OPSEU bargaining teams negotiate two separate, stand-alone collective agreements: one for the Unified bargaining unit and one for the Correctional bargaining unit. Accordingly, two separate regional bargaining...
- February 23, 2017
The OPSEU collective agreement in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) expires on December 31, 2017. In preparation for bargaining, all OPSEU members in the OPS are invited to complete one of two 2017 demand-set surveys online. The survey will be live from February 23 to March 13, 2017. As a result of recent amendments to...
- February 15, 2017
Thousands of OPSEU members took part in four recent telephone town halls for workers in the Ontario Public Service (OPS). Two were held on February 9 for members of the Correctional Bargaining Unit. It will be bargaining for a new standalone collective agreement, to be effective January 1, 2018. Two more town halls took place...
- October 31, 2016
On Saturday, October 29, OPSEU delegates to the 2016 Ontario Public Service divisional meetings elected the members of their Ministry Employee-Employer Relations Committees (MERCs) for the 2016‑18 term. The following 163 members were elected by delegates from their ministries: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs ERC Mélanie Bégin, co-chair, Local 506 Marcus Rangai, vice...
- October 30, 2016
Some 600 OPSEU members from 27 ministries were in Toronto this weekend to elect leadership teams and chart the way forward for the union in the Ontario Public Service (OPS). 600 members of the Ontario Public Service meet for their 2016 divisionals President Warren (Smokey) Thomas got the ball rolling with a firebrand talk focused...
- October 25, 2016
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas has sent the letter below to all OPSEU members in the OPSEU Pension Trust pension plan. Action memo To: All OPSEU members in the OPSEU Pension Trust pension plan From: Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President Date: October 25, 2016 Re: OPSEU to file for interim relief from retiree benefit changes if...
- March 21, 2014
A submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs regarding the 2014-15 Ontario Budget Download PDF Introduction: The Age of Anxiety Planning for the 2014 Ontario budget is taking place in an uncertain environment. First of all, no one can say whether the process will produce an actual budget; under the current circumstances,...