FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2002
OPS to government: NO!
DATELINE – Members of the Ontario Public Service have voted 88 per cent to reject a contract offer from the provincial government and to give their bargaining team a strike mandate.
In a province-wide vote held Feb. 26 to 28, OPSEU members committed themselves to a contract that will start rebuilding the public service in Ontario. The turnout was 71 per cent of the bargaining unit.
“This mandate gives us the strength to return to the bargaining table and start real negotiations,” said OPSEU President Leah Casselman. “I have never seen our members so determined.
“They have seen the impact of cuts to important programs. There used to be 20 people inspecting fruit and vegetables for pesticides and other poisons. They are all gone. There used to be 150 permanent full-time provincial meat inspectors. Now there are eight,” she said.
“It’s not just Walkerton. There are gaping holes in the services that protect us everywhere you turn. Our 700 probation officers have only 15 minutes a month to counsel and support more than 70,000 probationers and parolees serving their time in the community. It’s 30 minutes a month for sex offenders. It’s the highest
caseload in the country.
“We have to turn it around,” Casselman said. “We need to create public service jobs that attract and retain good people, because the work they do is what makes our communities safe and livable.”
At issue are wages, a government demand to clamp down on the union pension plan, the second-class status of a quarter of the bargaining unit who live from contract to contract, job security and benefits. The union has not set a strike deadline. The earliest legal date for a strike is March 13.
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For further information:
www.opseu.org
Katie FitzRandolph: 416-448-7440 or cell 416-788-9057 or kfitzrandolph@opseu.org
Randy Robinson: 416-448-7441 or cell 416-788-9134 or rrobinson@opseu.org
David Cox: 416-443-8888 (ext 314) or cell 416-788-9197 or dcox@opseu.org
