Mental Health Division
Index
April 5, 2013 Thanks to the assistance of OPSEU members and staff, Local 720, Canadian Mental Health Association - Thunder Bay Branch has ratified their first collective agreement. more...
January 31, 2013 Cuts to Providence Care Mental Health Services are
impacting the safety of both staff and patients in their care. Staff who provide
care to patients are marching outside their workplace on Friday, February 1 from
11 am to 1 pm to demand both management and area politicians begin to address
the deteriorating conditions at the hospital. more..
October 31, 2012 The Durham Labour Council has honoured OPSEU’s campaign
for workplace safety at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences with
two awards. more...
October 19, 2012
Norma Gunn has been the victim of 16 assaults at Ontario Shores Centre for
Mental Health Sciences. An award-winning nurse, she is now struggling to recover
from the last, which has left her with both physical injuries and post-traumatic
stress disorder. more...
October 5, 2012 By a near-unanimous margin, staff of the Canadian Mental
Health Association-Oxford have ratified details of their new, three-year
contract more...
October
3, 2012 The Canadian Mental Health Association-Oxford has reached a
tentative contract deal with members of OPSEU Local 133, thereby avoiding
possible job action later this week
more...
September 27, 2012 With an Oct. 6 strike deadline looming members
of Local 133 representing mental health workers in Woodstock will stage an
information picket Oct. 3
more...
September 13, 2012 Local 133 at the Canadian Mental
Health Association-Oxford (CMHA-Oxford) will be in a strike or lockout position
on Saturday, October 6 at 12:01 a.m.
more…
September 11, 2012 Dietary staff failed to get the joke
when their Ontario Shores manager showed them a clip from the 2000 film “Meet
The Parents” during a staff meeting earlier this year.
more...
September 5, 2012 On August 22, 2012, the 50 employees of
the Canadian Mental Health Association-Thunder Bay voted to choose OPSEU as
their bargaining agent. more...
March 22, 2012 The OPSEU Healthcare Divisional Council (HCDC)
is asking member RPNs to fill out a quick on-line survey to help us identify
specific issues for future campaigns. more…
February 1 2012 The OPSEU Mental Health Division is looking for a new
logo. Design it and submit an accompanying essay, and you could win $1,000
towards studies leading to a future in Ontario’s mental health system..
more...
November 30, 2011 Effective 2012, it is law for all members of a Regulated Health Profession to carry Professional Liability Insurance. OPSEU has, in consultation with CG&B Insurance Group, arranged for our affected members an opportunity to get insurance at a discounted rate.
more..
October 17, 2011 Over 1600 members of OPSEU Local 500
employed by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) overwhelmingly
ratified a new 3 year contract on Friday October 14th, 2011.
More…
October 6, 2011 TORONTO - More than 1700 professional,
clinical and support staff at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
reached a tentative agreement with the hospital yesterday.
The Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU) bargaining
team is unanimously recommending their members vote to accept the deal, the
details to be released at the ratification votes October 12 and 14.
CAMH is among the largest health care locals in OPSEU. Their
last collective agreement with the employer expired March 31, 2011.
August 19, 2011 The outcome of this election may
determine your future workload, your family’s access to health care, the hours
you work, who you work for, or whether you will have a job at all. The Mental
Health Division election primer looks at the party promises, the issues, offers
helpful suggestions on what you can do, and gives sample questions for
all-candidate meetings.
Printed copies of the 11” x 17” Election Primer are being sent
to each local. You can also download it here.
more...
May 19, 2011 Voice of Reason - A newsletter for
OPSEU Members working in the Mental Health Division, Spring 2011: For the past
two and a half years, the Liberal government has been talking about how to
improve mental health services across the province while simultaneously cutting
budgets . more...
May 19, 2011 Voice of Reason - A newsletter for
OPSEU Members working in the Mental Health Division, Spring 2011: For the past
two and a half years, the Liberal government has been talking about how to
improve mental health services across the province while simultaneously cutting
budgets . more...
May 5, 2011 Workers are fed up waiting for a contract at the Cochrane
Temiskaming Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
more...
March 29, 2011 Contrary to claims by management for the
Canadian Mental Health Association, mergers in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton
are fattening the ranks of managers while doing little to reduce wait times.
more...
March 11, 2011
Dalton McGuinty personally received more than 600 postcards in the legislature
Tuesday signed by OPSEU members asking him to “walk the talk on mental health.”
The stack of cards was walked across the legislature floor from the desk of NDP
Leader Andrea Horwath.
more...
February 18, 2011 LONDON - Words are not enough. OPSEU
members in London and St. Thomas are calling upon the community to help “walk
the talk on mental health” in front of Local Health Integration Network (LHIN)
offices on Wednesday, March 9 beginning at 1 pm.
more...
February 17, 2011 .The Ontario government has spent the
last two-and-a-half years developing their 10-year strategy for improving mental
health. This has been against a backdrop of fiscal restraint that has resulted
in cuts to front line jobs caring for Ontarians with mental illness.
Instead of making every door the right
door, front line workers are telling us that the doors
are simply closing. Their ability to provide real care,
comfort and assistance to adults, youth and children
with mental illness has been seriously jeopardized
This week postcards are being
distributed to OPSEU’s regional offices. The postcards ask Dalton McGuinty to
"walk the talk” on mental health. Visit OPSEU diaBlogue to
read
more...
February 4, 2011 In a budget-cutting measure, a
hairdresser is among 20 staff members laid off at the Regional Mental Health
Centre in London and St. Thomas
more...
January 18, 2011 Frustration is mounting for
employees of the Brockville Mental Health Centre as they watch the transfer of
services to Brockville General Hospital without any job guarantees
more...
January 13, 2011 LONDON -- Mental health
services at Regional Mental Health Centre – London and St. Thomas have been
placed in jeopardy as a result of 20 layoffs announced yesterday.
more...
January 10, 2011 WHITBY - Changes to Ontario Shores’
adolescent program are 30 years out-of-date says Dr. Gabrielle Ledger, a
Bowmanville psychiatrist who quit her job last month at the Whitby psychiatric
hospital. more...
December 13, 2010 Twenty-eight full and
part-time child and youth workers are facing layoff at Ontario Shores (formerly
Whitby Mental Health Centre) despite four decades of success with some of the
province’s most difficult to place youth.
more...
November 18, 2010 More and more mental health
patients accused of criminal offences are finding themselves incarcerated in
police jail cells and corrections facilities. OPSEU says the provincial
government must find the funding to ensure these patients are held and treated
in mental health facilities more...
September 20, 2010 Its time to stop cutting
beds and do an updated mental health care needs assessment in the London
area says the Ontario Public Service Employees Union in a new report
released today. .more...
May 12, 2010 News Release Patients at London Mental Health Centre face an uncertain future as the region realigns services they rely on
more....
April 29, 2010 News Release Today’s decision by
the North East Local Health Integration Network (NE-LHIN) to remove 31
specialized mental health beds from North Bay will result in the direct loss of
64 jobs and cost the local economy an estimated $4.8 million
more...
March 19, 2010 Staff at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
(formerly Whitby Mental Health) will hold a march and rally to protest recent
cuts to the hospital.
more...
March 19, 2010 News Release Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Services (former
Whitby Mental Health) is the latest provincial hospital to make significant cuts
to service in order to meet the government’s legislative requirement to balance
its budget. more...
OPSEU calls on McGuinty government to save Kingston mental health
services
February 17, 2010 KINGSTON The Ontario Public Service
Emplsoyees Union is calling on the McGuinty government to take steps to protect
mental health services after a minimum of 10 layoffs was announced last week at
Providence Care hospital. The layoffs follow a pattern of similar cuts across
the province in the run-up to this spring's provincial budget.
more…
OPSEU asks for moratorium on job loss in North Bay
January 28, 2010 A proposal to transfer 31 psychiatric
rehabilitation beds out of the city of North Bay will mean the loss of dozens of
jobs, warns the union representing staff at North East Mental Health Centre (NEMHC).
more…
OPSEU calls for moratorium on job cuts in Brockville
January 22, 2010 Diablogue OPSEU is calling upon the health minister
to place a moratorium on jobs cuts at the Brockville Mental Health Centre
until the future of the facility has been determined.
MPP Bob Runciman made headlines in the Brockville area this
week after bringing a series of new proposals to Health Minister Deborah
Matthews January 13th
more... Caplan’s Report “Every Door is the Right Door” is Seriously Flawed
December 2, 2009 Patty Rout, First Vice President
Treasurer of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union told an
all-party committee in Toronto that the methodology proposed in the
Caplan report is seriously flawed.
more...
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BROCKVILLE MENTAL HEALTH CENTRE
Local 439 reaches agreement
November 12, 2009 Local 439
Newsletter The members of OPSEU Local 439 have obtained
an agreement regarding Human Resources Labour Adjustment
Plan Arbitration.
more…
A cry for help…but is Ontario listening?
November 4, 2009 OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas offers
a solution to the ill planned transfer of services from the
Brockville Mental Health Centre, and the maintenance of quality
jobs, and services in Brockville more...
Town Hall meeting Oct. 1 to "Save the Brockville Mental Health
Centre"
September 22, 2009 OPSEU announces plans for a Town
Hall meeting Oct. 1 in Brockville to stop the closure of the BMHC
more...
OPSEU files application with Labour Board to save
mental health jobs
September 10, 2009
NEWS RELEASE The union representing over 200 skilled professionals at the
Brockville Mental Health Centre (BMHC) has filed an application with the
Ontario Relations Labour Board (OLRB) in order to keep trained professionals
working in the mental health care field.
more...

OPSEU president Smokey Thomas, right, and David
MacDougall, president of Local 439 representing workers at the
Brockville Mental Health Center, speak to MPPs on the legislative
select committee on mental health and addictions at a hearing in
Ottawa on Sept. 9. They were joined by more than a dozen OPSEU
activists (background) who attended the hearing to protest the
planned closure of the BMHC.
OPSEU president tells legislative committee to stop closure of
Brockville Mental Health Centre
September 9, 2009 OPSEU president Smokey Thomas told
an all-party legislative committee today that closing the BMHC will destroy
250 jobs and cut badly-needed health services to local residents
more...
"Sad but predictable."
September 4, 2009 Local 439 President David McDougall submits a letter to the editor in response the economic impact of the closure of the Brockville Mental Health Centre.
more...
Brockville Mental Health Centre: "Turning up the heat"
August 28, 2009 Brockville Recorder and Times: OPSEU is turning up the heat in its campaign to reverse bed closures at the Brockville Mental Health Centre (BMHC), with its local president suggesting the head of Royal Ottawa should resign.
Read the article...
(PDF version)

Local 439 to CEO "Step down now."
August 26, 2009 Local 439 President David McDougall submits a letter to the editor in response to the Brockville Mental Health bed closures.
more...
Thomas to Local 439 members: “We will not back down.”
August 20, 2009 On Tuesday, August 18, 2009, OPSEU President Smokey Thomas met with members of Local 439 at Brockville Mental Health Centre to deliver a clear message from their union: OPSEU will not back down from the fight to save mental health jobs in Brockville.
more...
"The battle for excellence in mental health services will never be
conceded"
July 20, 2009 OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas
responds to arguments against saving beds at Brockville Mental Health
Centre. more...
Newsletters
August 18, 2009 Local 439 News: Your team and the employer met July 24, 2009 for the Preliminary Redeployment Meeting.
more…
 July 16, 2009
Local 439 News: Announcement leaves
many unanswered questions.
more…

News Releases
July 2, 2009 Bed closures at Brockville mental health facility “outrageous”The closure of 90 beds at Brockville Mental
Health Centre and the resulting layoff of over 240 mental health workers is a
stunning blow to both the community and the economy in the area.
more…
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$2.6 million pay equity for members at Centre For Addiction and Mental
Health
February 26, 2009 Men and women who work in 12 female job
classes will see a significant wage increase and will receive settlement dollars
totaling 2.6 million retroactive settlement dollars.
more…
Employees of Canadian Mental Health
Association-Oxford vote to accept new contract
February 12, 2009 Just days before a Feb. 14
strike deadline, employees have voted 83 per cent in favour of their
employer’s latest contract offer.
more...
CMHA workers picket over contract offer
February 6, 2009 Workers at the Canadian Mental Health
Association picket the Woodstock office to protest what
they say is an unfair contract offer from their
employers
more...
CAMH charges send powerful signal to
other health care facilities: OPSEU
president
November 26, 2008 Warren (Smokey) Thomas says the
decision to charge the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health sends a signal to
other hospitals to crack down on workplace violence against workers and patients
more...
Nine charges laid against CAMH over 2007 incidents
November 26, 2008 Nine charges have been laid
against the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health by the Ministry of
Labour for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. more…
OPSEU welcomes CAMH's commitment to work towards a violence-free
workplace
November 13, 2008 The Ontario Public
Service Employees Union welcomes a renewed commitment by the
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to work towards a
violence-free environment.
more...
OPSEU takes down shelter ads, asks for community support
November 12, 2008 The Ontario Public
Service Employees Union has taken down its three bus shelter ads
that asked the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to protect
its staff from violence. .more...
President Thomas attends picket at
Whitby Mental Health Centre
September 3, 2008
President Warren (Smokey) Thomas attended a
lunch-hour demonstration today as staff at
Whitby Mental Health Centre facing extreme
staff shortages and high patient occupancy
rates expressed their frustration.
more... Whitby Mental Health Centre short more
than 50 nurses amid high patient occupancy
rates
August 29, 2008
Frustration is growing among staff at the
Whitby Mental Health Centre who are facing
extreme nursing shortages and high patient
occupancy rates.
more... President Thomas to visit North Bay Aug 5
July 30, 2008 With North Bay's new
hospital moving closer to completion, OPSEU is extending its
appreciation to dozens of its members who officially changed
employer June 30.
more... Members ratify tentative agreement at COTA Health
July 14, 2008 A tentative agreement with COTA Health was
ratified by the Local membership today with 79 per cent acceptance.
more...
COTA Health: Ratification vote July 10
July 2, 2008 The members of Local 548 at COTA Health in
Toronto have a ratification vote scheduled July 10 after a
tentative agreement was reached in negotiations.
more.. COTA Health: Local files for conciliation
June 16, 2008 The members of Local 548 at
COTA Health in Toronto have filed for conciliation after the employer demanded
significant concessions. more...
Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office celebrates 25th
anniversary
June 6, 2008 The Psychiatric Patient
Advocate Office (PPAO) - the first and largest provincial mental health advocacy
program in Canada - was established in 1983 as an arm’s length program of the
Ministry of Health to protect the legal and civil rights of inpatients in
provincial psychiatric hospitals.
more...
National Mental
Health Week
May 5 - May 11, 2008 more...
Pay up now! Local 152 plans
picket April 17-18 in London
May April 3, 2008 Members of Local 152 at St.
Joseph’s Healthcare in London and St. Thomas will picket April 17-18
after three years fighting for justice and fair pay for MSW staff.
more...
Staff shortages at Northeast Mental Health Centre could put patients at
risk
December 13, 2007
There will be no clinical supervision of night shifts at the Northeast Mental
Health Centre in North Bay this weekend due to a staffing shortage, says Local
636. More…
NEWSLETTER
Voice of Reason
October 22, 2007 Your new Executive Team,
President Smokey Thomas speaks at mental health forums, Mental Health Division
Shares Experiences, more...
September 27, 2007 OPSEU’s symposium on mental health reform will be held
in Toronto. More…
May 14, 2007Action needed now to address critical issues facing mental
health services in Ontario: OPSEU president
more...
Provincial Forums - May 7 - 12, 2007
May 1, 2007
During Mental Health Week, May 7-12, OPSEU will hold three public forums
across the province on mental health restructuring. OPSEU President, Warren
(Smokey) Thomas will be speaking on the panel in all three communities.
Whitby Mental Health
April 4, 2007 Whitby Mental
Health: bargaining report – talks stall; team requests no-board report.
News Releases
February 15, 2007 Cuts to mental health jobs in Southwestern Ontario
will put patients and staff at risk
Archive
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