OPSEU in the News

As wildfires across Ontario continue to burn, OPSEU/SEFPO members in aviation and forest fire services have been on the front lines keeping our communities safe. In the last few weeks, dozens of wildfires have been tearing through Northern Ontario, forcing several First Nations communities to evacuate and leaving OPSEU/SEFPO members working around the clock in a...

OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick was in Thunder Bay last weekend for the Region 7 Leadership Conference, just a few days after the snap provincial election was called. Reporters from TBnewswatch.com and Global TV’s TBT Newshour caught up with Hornick and several other OPSEU/SEFPO leaders at Confederation College, where they were meeting with OPSEU/SEFPO’s College Part-Time...

More than 100 Providence Care Hospital workers in Kingston, Ontario, represented by OPSEU/SEFPO Local 4104, held an information picket on January 27th, demanding that their employer address the workplace violence they experience on the job every day due to short-staffing. Kingstonist.com reported on the info picket here: ‘Afraid to come to work’: Providence Care workers...

Jonathan Guider, OPSEU/SEFPO Local 166 President and BPS Corrections Chair, spoke with The Middlesex Banner regarding chronic short-staffing, low wages, heavy workloads and insufficient safety equipment at Craigwood Youth Services. Their employer’s response has consistently been that there is insufficient funding from the Ministry to resolve these issues. This puts both workers and youth at...

During the first weekend of our historic, first LCBO workers’ strike, the power of OPSEU/SEFPO members and their allies in the community and broader labour movement has attracted massive media coverage across the province. In many stories, we hear directly from frontline LCBO workers who are determined to fight for the future of the LCBO,...

Immediately following the surprise closure of the Ontario Science Centre to the public last Friday, there has been an outpouring of public support to re-open the building immediately, fix the roof, and keep the Science Centre in its current location for good. On June 21, when the rushed closure was announced and carried out, OPSEU/SEFPO...

Workers in the Ottawa region are sounding the alarm on the crisis in children’s aid and calling for urgent interministerial action on funding for Children’s Aid Societies. In the last year alone, a record number of children in care have slipped through the cracks created by resource pressures flowing from chronic financial deficits, soaring inflation,...

On Wednesday, April 24th, Fleming College announced the suspension of 29 programs across its campuses – over 1/5 of programs offered – framing the decision as a response to declining fall enrolment after federal caps to international student visas. Union, sector, and student leaders quickly mobilized to push back on this narrative, arguing the case for financial...

LifeLabs workers in Local 389 have been on strike for a week. They’re holding the line until they get a fair deal that prioritizes patient care and workers over profits. After over a year of bargaining, the employer failed to offer a fair deal that would meet these workers’ needs. The employer wants to claw...

OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick and members working at Public Health Ontario (PHO) Labs were at Queen’s Park this week to sound the alarm about the potential closure of six (6) out of 11 PHO labs in Ontario, and the risk it poses for all Ontarians – especially rural families and communities. In the morning, JP...

LCBO workers across Ontario held an incredibly successful LCBO Day of Action on March 12th, the day before their first bargaining date for their next contract on March 13th. They put the Ford government and their employer on notice that LCBO workers are fighting back against the government’s sell-off of the LCBO. The workers certainly...

With no wage offer on the table, more than 400 cultural workers at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) are facing an imminent strike. These workers, members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 535, ensure there is art and programming for public access. They literally keep the gallery lights on and doors open. As public sector workers, AGO staffers were left behind during...