On October 4, OPSEU President Smokey Thomas hosted a press conference in St. Catharines, attended by MPPs Cindy Forster (Welland), Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) and OPSEU Region 2 Vice President Lucy Morton in the wake of eight layoffs at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.
Niagara region media covered the issue extensively. Here are their stories.
NPCA, union and politicians duel in pressers
The first shots were fired Wednesday morning by Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union, who warned NPCA is trying to “break the union” that represents conservation authority staffers. Welland MPP Cindy Forster wants to amend provincial legislation to allow Queen’s Park to appoint a supervisor to run Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.
To read the whole article in the St. Catharines Standard, click here.
Politicians, union call for NPCA supervisor
At a news conference on Wednesday, NDP MPPs Cindy Forster and Wayne Gates, as well as Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) president Warren (Smokey) Thomas and regional vice-president Lucy Morton, urged residents to contact provincial Minister of Natural Resources Kathryn McGarry and tell her they want someone to oversee the authority and its board.
To read the whole article in Niagara This Week, click here.
Ontario public sector union vows to fight NPCA to the end over staff cuts
If those now managing the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority think they can continue getting away with laying off front-line employees and “destroying” the NPCA as an environmental protection body in the Niagara-Hamilton region, they have more than met their match, said Warren ‘Smokey’ Thomas, President of the Ontario Public Services Employees Union, during a news conference in St. Catharines this Wednesday, October 4th.
To read the whole article in Niagara At Large, click here.
OPSEU: Justice must be served at the NPCA
OPSEU is taking aim at the NPCA. The union hosted a news conference in St. Catharines today calling for recent layoffs at the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to be rescinded.
To read the whole article on 610 CKTB, click here.