Bringing OPSEU To Your Workplace

If you think it’s time to have a stronger voice in your workplace, then you owe it to yourself and your colleagues to contact OPSEU. Our friendly staff will lay out the process for you in easy-to-understand terms. And we’ll be right there to help every step of the way. Here’s how to get started:

1. Contact us by email, phone or use our online chat. Describe your situation, and we’ll see if we can help. Remember, any contact is held in the strictest confidentiality.
2. If we think OPSEU would be a good fit for your workplace, then we’ll begin what’s called an organizing campaign. Our experienced organizers will discuss the many benefits of joining OPSEU with your co-workers and encourage them to sign a union card.
3. OPSEU will try to get a majority of your co-workers to sign cards. To do this, the campaign may take from a few weeks to several months, depending on the size of your workplace.
4. The identity of those who sign union cards is kept absolutely confidential. Your workplace management will never know who signed cards. Furthermore, it is illegal for management to take any action whatsoever against workers solely because they wish to unionize their workplace.
5. Once a majority of eligible workers have signed cards, the Ontario Labour Relations Board calls a secret vote on whether to make OPSEU the workplace’s sole “bargaining agent” (union).
6. If more than 50 per cent of workers vote to join OPSEU, then OPSEU organizes elections for your bargaining team. During that time, you will participate in meetings to determine what you want to see in your first collective agreement (the rules or contract by which the workplace will be run).

As you can see, it’s easy to get the process started. And we do all the heavy lifting! But it takes just one concerned individual to make the first move.

So what are you waiting for? You’ve got nothing to lose – and potentially a whole lot to win. Take that first step and contact us now. We’re here to listen and we’re here to help.