TORONTO – Ontario paramedics and their unions have won a major victory in their fight for fair access to early retirement after a decades-long campaign for pension fairness. The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS), which is the defined benefit pension plan for paramedics, has finally amended the rules to provide paramedics the option of…
Brockville, ON – Child protection workers and support staff at Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville (FCSLLG) have been stretched thin by mounting workloads and have decided to walk the picket line to pressure their employer to invest in services for vulnerable children. After more than a year of bargaining between the…
Toronto, ON – The union that represents 4,000 workers who deliver vital public services to Peel-area residents expressed deep dismay and misgivings that the best qualified advocates for public services have not been given a seat on the transition board overseeing the dissolution of the Regional Municipality of Peel. On Monday, the Conservative government released…
Bradford West Gwillimbury, ON – Negotiations at the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library have reached an impasse leaving workers no choice but to set the clock ticking toward a work stoppage. Today, the Ministry of Labour issued its report starting the 17-day countdown to a strike or lockout. “It’s been nearly two years and Bradford…
TORONTO, ON – Educational assistant Laura Walton, grocery store clerk Ahmad Gaied, and union educator and community worker Jackie Taylor announced, on Thursday, that they are running to be the next executive officers of the one-million-member Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL). Putting their team forward with the full support of the Canadian Union of Public…
COCHRANE, ON – On Monday the members of the Town of Cochrane Local 71 voted against ratification, as the Town of Cochrane has continued to offer subpar wage increases, and improvements on scheduling and work-family balance. On Wednesday, the employer filed a ‘no-board report’ with the Ministry of Labour. In May, members of CUPE Local…
Today Toronto woke up to the hope and promise that Olivia Chow’s election victory has brought to the people of this city. Thanks to her own tireless efforts and the hard work, dedication, and relentless optimism of her amazing team, we have, for the first time in years, a mayor who cares about everyone in…
KITCHENER, ON – Front-line hospital workers delivered a petition to the St. Mary’s General Hospital management staff on Monday afternoon, calling on the hospital president to take a stand against the provincial government’s plan to privatize hospital services. The action was part of a demonstration of about 100 healthcare workers organized by a coalition of…
TORONTO – In an important act of solidarity, delegates to CUPE Ontario’s annual convention voted unanimously to support Toronto residents struggling with skyrocketing rents: they passed a resolution directing their union to make a financial contribution to a tenants’ group that is coordinating a rent strike against unreasonable rent increases in their buildings. In response,…
TORONTO, ON – On Tuesday, Arbitrator Kaplan’s Bill 124 reopener award recognized the extent to which Doug Ford’s Bill 124 unconstitutionally suppressed union member wages — particularly given the combined effects of the pandemic, the healthcare worker recruitment and retention crisis and inflation — and determined that these factors must be reflected in compensation increases…
