OPSEU Correctional staff in the Ontario Public Service would rather have their own stand-alone bargaining unit, the results of a province-wide consultation say.
In balloting December 16-17, OPSEU members in the current Correctional Bargaining Unit voted 98 per cent in favour of having their own bargaining unit to negotiate all issues. Seventy-eight (78) per cent of members in the current Unified Bargaining Unit who work in Correctional workplaces said they would join a stand-alone Correctional unit, given the choice.
The vote was part of a consultation set up by the OPSEU Executive Board to examine the union’s bargaining structures. The results are non-binding.
Under the current Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act (CECBA), OPSEU members in the OPS bargain certain issues, like benefits and severance pay, at a Central table. They bargain other issues, like wages and training, at either the Correctional table or the Unified table. Any changes to this arrangement would require changes to CECBA. Such changes could only be made by the Ontario legislature.
The union’s consultation process is separate and apart from the bargaining currently under way between OPSEU’s Correctional bargaining team and the government.
All vote results, including a breakdown by job classification, are available here.