May 6-8, 2010 at the Sheraton Centre, Toronto.
Minutes of 2010
Convention 
Covering Memo for Minutes
of 2010 Convention
Faces of Convention
Budget debate continues
Day 2 of the 35th Annual OPSEU
Convention began with the presentation of the Stanley Knowles Award.
 Mary
Robinson, former president of Ireland and a tireless champion of
human rights around the world, was this year’s winner of the award.
Addressing the Convention members, Ms. Robinson said she was humbled
to be among previous Knowles Award winners Stephen Lewis, Nelson
Mandela and Louise Arbour. She urged members to continue to fight
for decent jobs, saying that strong unions are needed now more than
ever.
Debate on the budget continued from
Thursday with delegates voting on amendments that added a total of
$577,000 to the 2010 budget. The additional money will fund
campaigns, member activities and staffing. After vigorous debate,
the budget was approved by the delegates.
Friday morning continued with debate on
resolutions and constitutional amendments that had been submitted to
Convention. Most notably, a constitutional amendment to increase the
term for elected positions from two years to three years was
defeated by the delegates.
Floor debates dominate Friday afternoon
Day 2, p.m.
Friday afternoon at the OPSEU
Convention was spent debating issues on a variety of subjects.
OPSEU’s Social Mapping Project was
the first item delegates discussed. Convention voted in favour
for the union to move forward on dealing with the gaps and areas
needed for improvement that were identified in the survey.
Resolutions and constitutional
amendments were dealt with for the rest of the afternoon.
Delegates passed a constitutional amendment that will allow for
sanctions against members that harass and discriminate against
other members. They also passed a resolution to lobby the
Federal and Provincial governments to designate June 21 as a
statutory holiday to recognize National Aboriginal Day.
An emergency resolution for OPSEU
to immediately fund a campaign to lobby for full and complete
funding of the mental health service system was passed
unanimously by the delegates.
Day 1, May 6, 2010:
May 6 Rally
OPSEU Convention rallies to demand McGuinty Liberals count votes of
part-time college workers
May 6, 2010 Over 1000 marched to the Ministry of
Labour on the first day of OPSEU’s Convention.
more…
Convention 2010 opens with a
flourish
May 6, 2010 a.m. The 35th annual OPSEU Convention
opened with a flourish today with a rousing performance from
singer/songwriter Justin Hines. After singing the national anthem, 1,500
delegates, alternates and observers listened to Justin’s songs of
inspiration and hope.
Members were welcomed to Toronto by Ontario NDP leader
Andrea Horwath, Toronto and York Region Labour Council President John
Cartwright and representatives from UNITE HERE Local 75, representing
workers at the hotel. Mayor David Miller, who could not attend, also sent
greetings.
Smokey Thomas welcomed the members noting that the next
Convention, in 2011, marks 100 years that Ontario government employees came
together as the Civil Service Association of Ontario.
“It is up to each and every one of us to lead,” Thomas told
the members. “You’ve volunteered your time to help others. You’ve sacrificed
your time to help others. You’ve given up time that you could have spent on
things like family, friends, hobbies, exercise, education, or just plain
relaxing. You’ve volunteered your energy, and when you ran out of energy
you’ve volunteered your adrenalin. Most of all, you’ve volunteered your
labour, and next to your love, that’s the most important thing you can give
anybody. So first and foremost I just want to say thank you – for all your
work.”
“When the going gets tough, OPSEU members have the courage,
the commitment, and the brains to do anything they set out to do,” Thomas
said. “We don’t want Tim Hudak as the next Premier of Ontario, for the same
reason we don’t want Mike Harris as the next Premier. We have been there, we
have done that, and we’re finished with it. But at the same time, we don’t
want a Liberal Premier who, every time he makes a decision, makes things
worse for working people, worse for public services and a whole lot better
for the corporate fact cats who do not need our help in the slightest.
Brothers and sisters, with your leadership and inspiration, there is nothing
the members of this union cannot accomplish. It’s time to rise up!”
Convention adjourned at 11:45 a.m. for members to march to
the Ministry of Labour to protest the denial of democratic rights for
thousands of part-time post-secondary workers in Ontario. Part-time college
academic and support workers, and part-time Ryerson support workers, have
been waiting for months to have their votes to join OPSEU counted.
Huge crowd attends “Democracy Denied” rally
May 6, 2010 pm Hundreds of OPSEU Convention
attendees marched to the Ministry of Labour on University Avenue to protest
the denial of democratic rights for part-time post-secondary workers.
Speakers at the rally demanded that the government intervene in the
unreasonable delays in the counting of union certification ballots for
college part-time academic and support workers and part-time support workers
at Ryerson University. Chanting “Democracy Delayed is Democracy Denied!” and
“Count the Votes Now!” members were a noisy presence that drew a lot
of attention at the lunch-hour rally. Convention reconvened at 1:45 with the
presentation on the OPSEU budget. Debate on the budget continued until 4:30,
where debate was suspended for the presentation of the annual OPSEU Awards.
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Convention Day 1
Daily Updates
Brought to you by the OPSEU In Solidarity Editorial
Committee.
Day
3: Social Mapping Project enters Phase II
Day
2: Robinson receives OPSEU’s humanitarian honour
Day
1: 2010 Rise Up
Convention 2009 Archive
Daily Updates, Minutes, Photo, and
more..
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