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.
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