Budget

Introduction The Ontario Public Service Employes Union (OPSEU/SEFPO) represents 180,000 public sector workers in Ontario. OPSEU/SEFPO members work in the Ontario Public Service; in Ontario’s colleges, universities, and public schools; in Ontario’s hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulance services and public health units; in developmental services, child treatment centres, mental health agencies; in laboratories and blood...

TORONTO, March 26, 2024 – The Ford Government’s 2024 Budget, released this afternoon, fails to meet the moment and does nothing to help Ontarians struggling with the current cost of living crisis. OPSEU/SEFPO, the union representing Ontario’s public service workers, says the budget is just the latest in a series of bad choices made by...

This morning at Queen’s Park, OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick addressed the members of the Ontario legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs as part of the 2023/24 Pre-Budget Consultations. Hornick presented OPSEU/SEFPO’s pre-budget submission and spoke about the cost of living crisis while urging the government to address the major staffing and retention crisis...

For Immediate Release TORONTO – Following the Ford government’s Fall Economic Update which provided no new funding for a health care system falling apart at the seams, OPSEU/SEFPO leaders had a message for Premier Doug Ford and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy: “Do your job. Fix the health care crisis now.” “The Ford government sat on...

Toronto – OPSEU/SEFPO’s leaders say public sector heroes and front-line workers who helped Ontario through the pandemic should be rewarded, not robbed by the Ford government. OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick says the budget is filled with public money giveaways to private sector CEOs while the public sector continues to be starved for funding. In last...

The Toronto Star is reporting that newly elected OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick has “come out swinging against the Ford government,” saying it has “let us down for the last time.” “Public sector workers have spoken, and they have a message – the Ford government has lost our support,” said JP Hornick Wednesday morning at Queen’s...

From your Mental Health & Addictions Division leaders: thank you! We salute the members who provide mental health and addictions services across the province for their work and continued dedication throughout the pandemic. You provided essential and life-saving services at a time when the demand for mental health and addictions services skyrocketed. You rose to...

Toronto – OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas commends the Ford Conservatives for rejecting austerity and says they must stay the course and continue to focus on rebuilding Ontario in the long-term. Thomas is calling today’s budget a positive step toward health and economic recovery saying that support for job creation and public services is the...

To emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever, OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas is urging the Minister of Finance to invest billions more in public services in the 2021/22 budget. “Decades of cuts have left Ontario defenceless against COVID-19. Those cuts have already cost 5,000 lives,” Thomas told Peter Bethlenfalvy during a virtual presentation on...

After decades of budgets that portrayed public services and public service workers as a problem to be solved through deep cuts, privatization, and austerity, OPSEU/SEFPO is deeply relieved that the budget contained within Bill 229 finally treats us with some of the respect we deserve. It is a welcome change and the union commends the...

Toronto – OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas is calling on the Ford government to make major investments into public services in this week’s budget to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and address decades of neglect of successive governments. “In a word, it has to be about a collective investment in the heart and soul of...

Toronto – Conservative members who dominate an Ontario legislative committee had nothing to say to OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas when he presented a submission on the upcoming provincial budget. Thomas appeared on Friday before the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs at Queen’s Park to deliver the views of frontline workers on what...