NOTICE

You asked for more info in French – OPSEU is delivering! Help yourself to the results!

Dear Francophone members:

I want to update all of you on progress OPSEU is making to expand the areas we are addressing in French. This work is consistent with our goal to remove barriers to participation in OPSEU - Ontario’s Union.

While OPSEU has many bilingual staff serving members through various units (Grievance, Human Rights, Communications, Negotiations, etc.) our three translators, Paul Lau, Christiane Devaud and Éric Capelle, are important contributors to our progress in this area.

The translators are assigned to the Communications Division. They work to improve the scope and depth of the OPSEU’s French Language Services. We know that it is not enough just to offer greater services. It is equally important that these services prove useful to members. This can best be measured by the number of members that use OPSEU’s French language resources. And that’s the reason for this memo. We need you to get involved!

Currently, documents like news releases, articles pertaining to current events and issues, training guides, policy manuals, bargaining newsletters, collective agreements, meetings minutes, convention newsletters and conference programs are translated to French. We are also increasing this scope with the introduction of two additional items. We think that these additions will help you to stay informed… in French!

One new item is a posting we call Diablogue FR. We want you to subscribe! Together with OPSEU Campaigns Officer Rick Janson, this posting is the French language equivalent of Diablogue. Subscribers will receive email notification of all new articles published. Once you are part of the service we also want your comments on the various issues in Diablogue FR. While this publication is directed at members in the health care sector, the articles have proven to be of interest to a wide audience. After all, health matters affect us all!

OPSEU is now also on Twitter in French ! All items published on sefpo.org will have a link on Twitter. As with Diablogue FR, by subscribing, you can quickly and easily keep up with what is happening in your union.

Twitter was tested and found very useful during OPSEU’s Convention 2012 - UNITED WE WIN. We know that it can be just as helpful during the fast paced events ahead this year, like upcoming rounds of collective bargaining.

We are also constantly improving our website, with more articles in French than ever, as well as bilingual mini-sites which make it easy to access specific information in the language of your choice!

Finally, we should not forget our electronic newsletter, SEFPO Cette semaine. This e-newsletter is sent to you by email each week.

Each of these electronic forums, as well as our website www.sefpo.org, provides us with a remarkable set of statistics, which will better analyze the priorities of those connecting to these resources. We also measure the overall traffic on the French website and which areas are most accessed. This applies to both French and English language features.

Diablogue FR and Twitter in French are currently on a trial period so the key to whether these services continue is the level of your involvement and interest. Support for these initiatives will ensure their success. If these services are not a priority however, other initiatives will be tested. Practice makes perfect!

This is why I can safely say that when our members requested more information in French we responded by providing it! Now, please use it!

We have a lot to be proud of as OPSEU members. One of our latest achievements is our collective commitment to building a union where accessibility is a constant imperative. Whenever we eliminate a barrier to participation, we get a little stronger. Expanded service in both of Canada’s official languages is another part of this continuing work.

In solidarity,

Warren (Smokey) Thomas

OPSEU President

Si vous recevez actuellement SEFPO Cette semaine en anglais mais aimeriez le recevoir en français, envoyez un courriel à languagechange@opseu.org.

Pour être ajouté à la liste d'envoi de SEFPO Cette semaine et des autres communications du SEFPO, veuillez remplir le formulaire en français qui se trouve à la page http://www.sefpo.org/notices/connect-with-sefpo.htm  ou le formulaire en anglais, à la page http://www.opseu.org/notices/connect-with-opseu.htm .