1990s

1997

• A host of arbitration awards on “reasonable efforts” thwart the Conservatives' plans for privatization.

• OPSEU regional meetings elect a smaller executive board, following a decision made at the previous year's Convention. There are now three members from each region rather than four. In part, the smaller 21-member board is a reflection of the financial strain of the huge OPS strike.

• The union endorses a strong visible presence in Toronto's annual Gay Pride parade.

• The Humanitarian Award is presented, posthumously, to Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian who was executed for his efforts to protect the Ogoni people.

1998

• A nine-week strike at Earlscourt Child and Family Centre in Toronto preserves quality care and allows the centre to attract new employees. The growth of the Broader Public Service (BPS) means more bargaining situations end up with picket lines as the union tries to achieve decent contracts with underfunded community agencies.

• OPSEU backs a recommendation of the Chief Coroner to study the workload eat Children's Aid Societies. CAS members have been demanding this for years.

• OPSEU's website becomes a vital tool for keeping members linked to the union.

• The Queen Street Mental Health Centre, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Donwood Institute and Addiction Research Foundation are merged into a new Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. OPSEU, which had represented staff at all but the Clarke, wins the vote to represent everyone but the nursing staff at the new operation. Local 500 becomes OPSEU's largest single local.

• The Whatever It Takes campaign wins changes to Bill 136, the Tory bill on municipal and hospital amalgamations. The bill would have taken away the right to strike or arbitration on first contracts, but those issues are taken out before it is passed. Over the next six years, OPSEU and other unions engage in many Bill 136 runoff votes in hospital and ambulance sectors.

1999

• Staff of the Ontario Property Assessment Corporation, carved out of the Ministry of Finance, vote to keep OPSEU as their union. The organization later changes to the Municipal Property Assessment Corp., run by a board appointed by municipalities.

• A strike vote is required to reach an OPS settlement that wins early retirement for surplused workers, speedier justice for grievances, a 50-per-cent increase in paid time off for local presidents and the first wage increase in six years.

• The 2,100 members of the Association of Allied Health Professionals: Ontario join OPSEU to form the leading health care union in Ontario. This is the first time another union has merged with OPSEU.

• OPSEU launches the Network for Better Contracts, which has a focus on bargaining, contract enforcement and public policy work to support members' workplace needs. It includes a staff realignment along sectoral lines to better serve the union's increasingly diversified membership.

• OPSEU spends $1 million on the provincial election in an effort to defeat the provincial Conservatives through “strategic voting.” The Tories are reelected, but OPSEU-supported candidates win in 16 of 24 target ridings.

• The Conservatives start talking about a private mega-jail for Penetanguishene and the fight is on as OPSEU organizes to stop the privatization at the community level, within the corrections ministry and through a wide range of public events.

• A first contract is bargained for Local 274 at the Hamilton-Wentworth Community Care Access Centre as OPSEU moves into a new area of organizing. The CCACs are at the centre of an emerging crisis in home care as the government mandates them to contract work to the lowest bidder. This puts non-profit agencies with decent staff relations at a disadvantage compared to profitmaking corporations that cut pay to gain contracts.

• The Provincial Ombudsman agrees with OPSEU that Tory downsizing and cost-cutting is burning out staff, leaving them stressed and helpless to deal with endless lineups. The Tories have cut 18,000 civil service jobs in four years.

• Staff at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario strike for a first contract.

• The security staff at Metro Toronto Housing Authority strike for a week and achieve breakthroughs in working conditions and quality of life. Their local website is a major mobilizer and the group has terrific support from housing authority tenants. They do well in the settlement.

Next  >> 2000s