The story so far

• Nov 2, 2000: Government introduces Bill 137, the Road User Customer Service Improvement Act. If passed, it would allow for the privatization of virtually the whole Ministry. For a critique of the bill, see Road User Beware.
• Nov 17, 2000: Ministry releases a Request for Qualifications for the delivery of Driver Examination services. This would affect about 900 members.
• On Dec. 5, 2000: Government announces Request for Proposals for Licensing Service Program work would come in the next few months. This would affect about 120 members.

OPSEU’s response

OPSEU immediately launched a campaign against the bill. Our aim was to defeat it if we could, and delay it so we could combat its worst features.

The government wanted to pass the bill by Christmas, and we were successful in pushing that back. How did we achieve that?

• We talked to the news media. MERC Chair Paul Dunseith held a news conference at Queen’s Park with Liberal critic Pat Hoy and NDP critic Peter Kormos.
• We held conference calls with members and staff.
• We urged locals to hold meetings to tell members about the bill and its impact.
• We called on members to form fight back committees to lobby Tory MPPs and hold information pickets and demonstrations.
• We asked them to e-mail and write letters to their MPPs.
• We drafted lobby notes to support this activity.
• We produced a leaflet aimed at the general public.
• We booked off members in December to support locals in this work.

It had an effect

We met with both the Liberals and the NDP at Queen’s Park to seek their support. Both are very much on side. Both parties asked questions in the house on the issue. Both held media events at Queen’s Park and in their ridings.

We have done research on other jurisdictions in Canada and the states where similar services are private. We have contacted other components of our National Union of Public and General Employees for information on their campaigns on the same issue.

All of this work led to our success in delaying the bill.

What comes next?

The fight is by no means over.

The legislation is scheduled to resume March 21. The government will want to pass the bill at that time. We have from now until March 21 to organize to kill the bill and the government's plans to privatize MTO.

OPSEU is looking at all possibilities to protect the jobs and futures of members working for the ministry, and to enhance the safety of the public who use our roads.

What can you do?

Get involved.

The Tories are taking heat over Walkerton. The public is starting to understand the role of government in public safety. We need to make the link that Bill 137 will jeopardize their safety on the roads.

We need to point to the other problems outlined in Road Users Beware.

We are developing an information kit which we will mail to all MTO Local Executive Committee members. It will include revised lobby notes, campaign ideas, a petition and a model letter addressed to the premier, the Minister of Transportation and to other Tory MPPs.

We are working on new flyers, which you can get from mdiadamo@opseu.org.

All MTO locals should form Fight Back Committees to lobby their Tory MPPs, hold information pickets, demonstrations at Tory MPPs’ offices, and arrange media events. The best media is generated by an event, not by ads in newspapers. Demonstrations tend to get coverage. If you want to kill this bill and save your jobs, get active!

All regional offices have e-mail addresses for the Tories; if you have access to secure e-mail, and want tell a Tory MPP what you think about the bill, call your regional office.

Looking ahead

We’re doing more research toward a document that proves the dangers of privatization of road safety.

We remain in constant contact with the NDP and Liberals on this issue.

If you holding a public event, please e-mail Carol Whitehead, the Campaigns Officer assigned to this campaign (cwhitehead@opseu.org), and she’ll see if opposition MPPS can attend as well.

We will continue to contact other potential allies. If you have any ideas, please e-mail them to cwhitehead@opseu.org, or call her at 1-800-268-7376 or 416-443-8888 ext. 356.

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Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 100 Lesmill Rd. Toronto, ON M3B 3P8  (416) 443-8888  www.opseu.org