FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2005
OPSEU will bring strike message to provincial parks this holiday weekend
ONTARIO - Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union will leaflet those entering Ontario's provincial parks this weekend with a strong but simple message: Enjoy your May long weekend, but prepare for the park to close this summer.
Bargaining team representatives have recommended that OPSEU members reject an employer contract offer in a vote on May 25, 26, and 27. A rejection will give the union a strike mandate. The previous contract expired Dec. 31, 2004. No strike deadline has yet been set.
OPSEU President Leah Casselman said that if there is a strike, Ontario's provincial parks, as well as Ontario Place, will be closed.
"Our members ensure the safety of the public when they enter a provincial park," Casselman said. "They are the conservation officers, wardens, canoe rangers, planners, support staff, maintenance staff and the resource and compliance technicians. Without our members, the parks will have to close."
Casselman said that there will be no delays for those entering the parks this weekend, but her members will be handing out leaflets to inform park users what the issues are at the bargaining table. "The last thing we want to do is deny the people of Ontario the ability to enjoy the beauty of Ontario's provincial parks,"
Casselman said. "Dalton McGuinty has direct control over that. It's time the public told him to get serious at the bargaining table."
The government has offered two per cent a year in a three-year deal that would also eliminate early retirement provisions, termination pay and separation pay - concessions designed to make it cheaper for the government to proceed with its planned 6,000 layoffs over the next few years.
-30-
For further information:
OPSEU Communications: Don Ford, (416) 788-9104
For a list of those parks affected this weekend, and local contacts, see attached:
The Pinery (Grand Bend)
Contact: Ron Elliot, OPSEU Regional Vice President (519) 646-3252
Bronte Creek Provincial Park, Campground Portion (Burlington)
Contact: Jay Jackson, OPSEU Regional Vice President (905) 536-6476
Algonquin Provincial Park
Contact: Doris Middleton, OPSEU Regional Vice President (705) 238-8003
Charleston Lake Provincial Park (between Kingston and Brockville)
Contact: Bob Eaton, OPSEU Regional Vice President (613) 340-2521
Ontario Place (Toronto)
Contact: Terry Downey, OPSEU Regional Vice President (416) 254-7146
Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park (near Mattawa)
Contact: Sue Brown, OPSEU Regional Vice President (705) 499-5129
Fairbank Provincial Park (near Sudbury)
Contact: Sue Brown, OPSEU Regional Vice President (705) 499-5129
Restoule Provincial Park (Restoule)
Contact: Sue Brown, OPSEU Regional Vice President (705) 499-5129
Blue Lake Provincial Park (near Vermillion Bay)
Contact: John O'Brien, OPSEU Regional Vice President (807) 628-4364
Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park (Kakabeka Falls, near Thunder Bay)
Contact: John O'Brien, OPSEU Regional Vice President (807) 628-4364
