Convention drives
Social Mapping Project
forward
again!
May 13, 2010
In 2008, Convention passed a
resolution to begin a Social Mapping Project. An effort to
begin tracking membership participation and developing
knowledge-based policies and programs, this resolution was
ground-breaking within the labour sector. Overall, the project
is aimed at ensuring a higher level of access and participation
of equity-seeking groups.
The resolution called on OPSEU as both a union
and employer. In addition, the resolution required two distinct
phases:
-
Survey - Collection of statistics on
social demographics (quantitative facts);
-
Systems Review - An examination of
the statistics in Phase I to properly assess what gaps and
barriers exist in our policies, programs and services
(qualitative facts).
Based on the data from both Phases, the Union
will have a set of informed and insightful recommendations.
Phase I was a success. We reached almost 27,000
members over a six-week period ending in December 2009.
Remarkably, one-in-four members took the time to complete this
voluntary survey, a clear sign that the membership embraced this
initiative. We now have information and facts upon which we can
assess trends, gaps and potential barriers to access within our
membership.
In March 2010, the Executive Board passed a
motion that the Social Mapping Project be referred to the 2010
Convention. After the presentation on the Social Mapping Project
at Convention, members overwhelmingly voted to complete Phase II
of the project.
Click here for the Executive summary of the
Membership Survey Report.
Stay tuned to the website to access the full
report and to hear about next steps in the Social Mapping
Project.
