Savings Office fightback committee led by union, irate depositors, staff across Ontario
OPSEU is mobilizing its own resources, POSO staff, and depositors to fight back against the impending privatization of the Savings Office.
OPSEU members, union representatives and depositors met July 3 in Guelph.
“It’s time to get political and put the heat on MPPs in their ridings during the summer recess so they go back to their offices and tell Ernie Eves and Janet Ecker to back off,”members were told.
Conference call
Unionized POSO staff are invited to participate in an upcoming conference call about the next step in our fightback campaign. Please contact David Cox at OPSEU (see below) for details on the call. Each branch should have one member participate.
Be your MPP’s worst nightmare!
Call your MPP now and tell them what you think of the plan to sell the Savings Office. Ask friends and neighbours to help. Conservative members Ernie Hardeman, Dianne Cunningham, Helen Johns, Brenda Elliott and Bill Murdoch have Savings Office branches in their ridings. Go pay them a visit. Not sure what to say? Call
David Cox or Tim Little at OPSEU (1-800-268-7376). Ask your OPSEU local for help. See page 2 for more information.
OPSEU continues to stay in touch with the Liberals and NDP at Queen’s Park. Both parties have been active in the Legislature on our behalf.
Eves to banks: “Pay whatever you want for POSO”
On July 4, the government issued the Request for Expressions of Interest for potential buyers of the Savings Office. By now members will have read the terms and conditions of this sale.
One thing we don’t know is the asking price. Bay Street financiers can set the price themselves, apparently. We’re told the government wants between $20-million and $100 million. That’s a big gap.
Liberal MPP Gerry Phillips said the sale of assets was like “a household having to sell the furniture to buy the groceries.”
NDP MPP Tony Martin said the government was selling off the family silverware to balance the budget. “We noted in the last budget the government brought down, in their effort to buy an election, that they sold off Highway 407. Now they’re proposing to sell off half of Ontario Hydro. Not only that, but in this budget
bill we’re looking at here today, they’re proposing to sell off the Province of Ontario Savings Office, which provides for this government a vehicle of some significant income.”
Stay active - Keep in touch
Help us keep in touch with you by e-mail. Send your home e-mail address to lwilliams@opseu.org and mention you are from the Province of Ontario Savings Office. See the POSO anti-privatization campaign on the OPSEU web site for more things to do to
keep POSO public.
These MPPs have Savings Office branches/agencies in or near their ridings - Call today!
Windsor
Dwight Duncan - Lib - Windsor St Clair
Telephone: 519-251-5199
Sandra Pupatello - Lib - Windsor West
Telephone: 519-977-7191
Seaforth
Hon. Helen Johns - PC - Huron Bruce
Telephone: 519-524-2979
St. Mary’s
Bert Johnson - PC - Perth Middlesex
Telephone: 519-272-0660
London
Frank Mazzilli - PC - London Fanshawe
Telephone: 519-668-1104
Bob Wood - PC - London West
Telephone: 519-657-3120
Hon. Diane Cunningham
Tel : 519-432-7339
Aylmer
Steve Peters - Lib - Elgin Middlesex London
Telephone: 519-631-0666
Hamilton
Dominic Agostino Lib - Ham East
Telephone: 905-544-9644
David Christopherson- ND - Ham West
Telephone: 905-529-1277
Guelph
Brenda Elliott PC - Guelph
Telephone: 519-836-4190
St. Catharines
Jim Bradley - Lib - St Catharines
Telephone: 905-935-0018
Brantford
Dave Levac - Lib - Brant
Telephone: 519-759-0361
Owen Sound and Walkerton
Bill Murdoch - PC - Bruce Grey Owen Sound
Telephone: 519-371-2421
Pembroke
Sean Conway - Lib - Renfrew
Telephone: 613-735-6627
Ottawa
Dalton McGuinty - Lib - Ottawa South
Telephone: 613-736-9573
Richard Patten - Lib - Ottawa Centre
Telephone: 613-722-6414
Toronto
Michael Bryant - Lib - St Paul’s
Telephone: 416-656-0943
Marilyn Churley - ND - Toronto Danforth
Telephone: 416-461-0223
Rosario Marchese - ND- Trinity Spadina
Telephone: 416-603-9664
Michael Prue - ND - Beaches East York
Telephone: 416-690-1032
George Smitherman – Lib –Toronto Rosedale
Telephone: 416-972-7683
Sudbury (Gogama and Killarney)
Rick Bartolucci -Lib - Sudbury
Telephone: 705-675-1914
Michael Brown - Lib - Algoma Manitoulin
Telephone: 705-777-1213
Shelley Martel - ND - Nickel Belt
Telephone: 705-969-3621
Virginiatown
David Ramsay - Lib - Timiskaming Cochrane
Telephone: 705-567-4650
Thunder Bay (Pickle Lake and Armstrong)
Mike Gravelle - Lib - Thunder Bay Superior North
Telephone: 807-345-3647
Howard Hampton - ND - Kenora Rainy River
Telephone: 807-274-7619
Lyn McLeod- Lib - Thunder Bay Atikokan
Telephone: 807-623-9237
Email for all MPPs can be found at www.ontla.on.ca/Members/all_email/index.htm
The POSO Post is sent to keep you informed of news from your Union and issues of concern to you at your workplace. Please contact David Cox at 416-268-7376 x 314 or at dcox@opseu.org , or see OPSEU’s web site at http://www.opseu.org/campaign/posoindex.htm
Authorized for Distribution: Leah Casselman, President
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