OPSEU, staff
union ratify
contract
TORONTO — The Ontario
Public Service Employees' Union
(OPSEU) and the Ontario Pub-
lic Service Staff Union (OPSSU)
have ratified a new three-year
collective agreement.
The agreement, reached after a
strike deadline set for 12:01 a.m.,
Aug. 25, was ratified by OPSSU
members on Aug. 28 and by the
OPSEU executive board Aug. 29.
OPSEU staff work at 20 re-
gional offices around Ontario
and at two head office sites.
First Nations
police service
set to strike
THUNDER BAY, Ont. — A
strike could soon hit Northern
Ontario communities served by
the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Ser-
vice (NAPS).
The Public Service Alliance of
Canada's (PSAC) negotiators re-
cently met with a conciliator to
work out an agreement.
A deal could not be reached
and PSAC asked the Ontario La-
bour Relations Board to file a no-
board report, allowing for a legal
strike or lock-out within 17 days,
according to the union.
Several key issues remain in-
cluding the safety of officers who
often work alone in remote loca-
tions of the province, often with-
out backup.
"Low staffing levels and out-
dated equipment put officers in
danger, along with the commu-
nities they service", said Jason
Storkson, a police officer and lo-
cal union president.
NAPS officers have been try-
ing to enforce an arbitrator's 2015
decision, so salaries would come
in line with OPP counterparts.
NAPS officers are calling for in-
creased staffing and want health
and safety issues addressed.
The police officers provide
culturally sensitive policing ser-
vices in 35 First Nation commu-
nities from Thunder Bay to Hud-
son's Bay.
Legal Aid
Ontario agrees
to bargain
TORONTO — Following a pres-
sure campaign, Legal Aid On-
tario (LAO) agreed to negotiate
with the public lawyers' union of
choice, the Society of Energy Pro-
fessionals.
The union and LAO will dis-
cuss recognition of the society
as bargaining agent for Legal Aid
lawyers, and to establish a frame-
work for collective bargaining.
"Thirty-nine months of show-
ing our employer and the pro-
vincial government how com-
mitted we are to forming a union
is finally paying off," said Dana
Fisher, a Legal Aid Ontario staff
lawyer.
In recent weeks, Legal Aid
lawyers and the society in-
creased pressure on premier
Kathleen Wynne's government
to stop discrimination against
these lawyers, according to the
union.
A series of protests at Liberal
fundraisers and outside key min-
isters' Liberal constituency of-
fices generated public awareness
and media coverage.
LABOUR BRIEFS
2
Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2016
FORMERLY CLV REPORTS
Serving labour relations professionals
since 1956
www.labour-reporter.com
Published weekly by omson Reuters
Canada Ltd.
Subscription rate: $595 per year
Customer Service
Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto)
(800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto)
Fax: (416) 298-5106
Email: carswell.customerrelations@
thomsonreuters.com
Website: www.carswell.com
Director, Carswell Media
Karen Lorimer
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Todd Humber
Editor/Supervisor
Sarah Dobson | (416) 649-7896
sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com
News Editor
John Dujay | (416) 298-5129
john.dujay@thomsonreuters.com
Contributing Editor
Jeff rey R. Smith
Marketing Co-ordinator
Keith Fulford | (416) 649-9585
keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com
© 2016 Carswell, a division of omson
Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No
part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise without the written permission of
the publisher.
e publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,
accounting or other professional advice. If legal
or other expert assistance is required, the
services of a competent professional should be
sought. e analysis contained herein
represents the opinion of the authors and
should in no way be construed as being either
offi cial or unoffi cial policy of any governmental
body.
ISSN 0045-5113
Publications Registration 2089
Canadian Labour Reporter is part of the
Canadian HR Reporter group of publications.
Visit www.hrreporter.com for more
information.
Labour Reporter
Canadian
www.labour-reporter.com
Photo:
Guillermo
Granja
(Reuters)
LABOUR LENS
A demonstrator blows a horn in Quito, Ecuador, as teachers and students stage a protest on Aug. 25
against the government's decision to dissolve Ecuador's National Union of Educators.
