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OPSEU Our History In the early 1970s, the hospital as a workplace was changing fast. Labs were run like assembly lines, blood banks were cramped. There was no career advancement, high turnover, low morale, low wages and low prestige for staff. To meet these challenges, professionals looked to OPSEU. In 1976, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled that all “paramedical” employees were to be organized in bargaining units made up of technologists, respiratory therapists, technicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, speech pathologists, social workers and other professions. By the end of the 1970s, OPSEU had organized more than 45 paramed units. Since 1996, hospital restructuring has allowed the union to grow rapidly as workers chose to join unions to protect them through hospital mergers. In 1999, the Association of Allied Health Professionals: Ontario, (AAHP:O) with its 2,500 members merged with OPSEU. AAHP:O hospital-based units merged with OPSEU’s medical division units to form a new the Hospital Professionals Division (HPD). Today, the HPD represents paramedical bargaining units in more than 100 public hospitals. Regulated health professionals form the majority its 12,000 members. Together, OPSEU represents about 26,000 health care workers across the province. A division for hospital professionals The Hospital Professionals Division exists to provide a strong voice for health care professionals. The HPD is one of the largest and highest-profile sections of OPSEU. It has its own executive dedicated to assisting members to achieve the best collective agreements possible. Under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act (HLDAA), unionized hospital employees do not have the legal right to strike in Ontario. A strike by other parts of the union would not affect hospital professionals. If hospitals and their employees cannot negotiate a collective agreement, the matter is referred to third-party arbitration. Although there is no right to strike, OPSEU has shown it is ready to fully support hospital professionals in creative ways to gain a better contract. What is Central Bargaining? OPSEU is the only union that does province-wide bargaining for hospital paramedical professionals. “Central Bargaining” for hospital professionals has existed since the 1970s. HPD bargaining units can choose to negotiate directly with their own hospital, or as part of a province-wide or “central” group, with the Ontario Hospital Association. Join OPSEU. Call our Organizing Department at 1-800-268-7376.
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Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 100 Lesmill Rd. Toronto, ON M3B 3P8 (416) 443-8888 www.opseu.org |
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