PDFOur Vision
A more just Ontario for all workers.
Our Mission
Building public service worker power to advance social and economic justice for all workers. Our strength is in our members, rooted in solidarity with each other, the labour movement, and our communities.
Our Values
- Accountability
- Inclusive
- Integrity
- Member-driven
- Worker-centered
- Transparency
- Diversity – anti-oppressive & anti-racist
Our Goals
- Workers challenging bosses and anti-worker legislation at a greater scale
- Collective bargaining leading to better and more inclusive contracts
- Healthy, active and functional locals
- Increase meaningful member engagement
- Creating a culture that supports strategic risk-taking
- Removal of barriers to members becoming leaders at every level of the union
- Members seeing clear actions to advance equity, combating anti-Black racism and anti-Indigeneity at every level of the organization
What is a Strategic Plan?
A strategic plan is developed by a Board of Directors to define the purpose and direction of the organization. A strategic plan provides the Board with context for their deliberations, offering principles to underpin the decisions they make. A strategic plan offers a framework for the organization’s leadership to assess operational programs and plan new initiatives. A strategic plan forms the basis for the Board to assess the organization’s functioning, ensuring the operations of the organization are consistent with the direction the Board has set.A strategic plan is developed at a specific time and for a specific period: it responds to the moment in which it is created and it is regularly evaluated and revised to ensure it continues to reflect the needs of the organization.A union’s strategic plan looks very different from a corporate strategic plan: a union is values-driven and is directed by its members at Convention, by the Board of Directors, and through Constitution, policy and procedure.A union operates based on financial resources that come from members’ dues: the union owes fiduciary duty to their members, ensuring its funds are used to reflect the needs and aspirations of the membership. These needs and aspirations are foundational to a union’s strategic plan.OPSEU/SEFPO’s Strategic Plan includes the vision, mission, values and goals of the union and was developed by the OPSEU/SEFPO Executive Board in early March 2023.
What process did OPSEU/SEFPO follow to create the Strategic Plan?
OPSEU/SEFPO’s Strategic Plan arises from the Executive Board’s work over the last few years on governance. In May 2022, the current Executive Board elected the following Board members to their Strategic Planning Committee:
- Lucy Morton, Regional Vice President – Region 2
- Julius Arscott, Executive Board Member – Region 5
- Melissa Coenraad, Regional Vice President – Region 4
In October 2022, the Executive Board participated in training to ground themselves in governance best practices. Following governance training, the Executive Board’s Strategic Planning Committee met in late October 2022 to consider the purpose and scope of a strategic plan and to discuss next steps in its development.In January 2023, the Strategic Planning Committee began planning a Retreat to be held in March 2023 at which the OPSEU/SEFPO Executive Board together with OPSEU/SEFPO senior leadership would discuss the strategic direction of the organization. Paul Taylor and the team from Evenings and Weekends Consulting worked with the Strategic Planning Committee to identify key outcomes for the Retreat and to plan an agenda that would support a collaborative and inclusive process.In March 2023, the Retreat began with the Executive Board gathering on their own to consider the values that underpin and inform OPSEU/SEFPO. Senior divisional leaders then joined the Executive Board to discuss the vision, mission, values and goals of the union. At the end of the Retreat, the Executive Board had developed the Strategic Plan that is presented here.
What happens now that the Strategic Plan has been developed by the Executive Board?
Following Convention 2023, senior leaders will review the Strategic Plan and will set divisional objectives in line with Strategic Plan for the coming year. These objectives will be approved by the President. Each senior leader will also provide an outcome framework that will be used by the President to assess the achievement of the divisional objectives at key intervals. The President will monitor operational objectives and will regularly report on their progress to the Executive Board as part of the President’s Report to the Board. At the end of the first year of the Strategic Plan, the President will present a report on the Strategic Plan and its implementation to Convention 2024.
When will the Strategic Plan be reviewed?
The Strategic Plan will be evaluated annually by the OPSEU/SEFPO Executive Board under the direction of the Executive Board’s Strategic Planning Committee.As part of the yearly evaluation, the Strategic Planning Committee will determine when and how the union will engage again in a broad strategic planning process to produce a new Strategic Plan.
