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Our Future. Ontario's Future. Bargaining

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Ontario Arts Council

Collective Bargaining (OAC)

A member using a laptop at home with an AMAPCEO OAC background on the screen.

Take action

Send a message to the OAC Employer that you support your bargaining team and their work to negotiate a fair deal.

➔ Use an updated AMAPCEO virtual background and turn your camera on for all of your virtual work meetings:

  • Flexibility, equity, no concessions! 

  • Better access to remote work!

  • A more flexible workplace! 

  • No concessions! 

And send your screenshot selfies to bargaining@amapceo.on.ca.

How to change your virtual background: Microsoft Teams | Zoom

A member holding a smartphone displaying the AMAPCEO Collective Bargaining webpage

Latest updates

We’re now back at the bargaining table! We’ll be bargaining the afternoon of September 21, and all day on October 13.

Please let your Employer know you support the Bargaining Team by wearing blue on Wednesday, September 20, the day before our next bargaining session!

Last updated: September 18, 2023

  • Show your AMAPCEO swag in the workplace!
  • Learn more about how Bill 124 affects collective bargaining.
  • Make sure your personal email with AMAPCEO is up to date by visiting your Member Dashboard and clicking Edit Profile.

Since we joined AMAPCEO, we have worked hard to achieve fair working conditions, including critical job security provisions, and a constructive dispute resolution process that protects our workplace rights as professional public servants.

This time around, we will be confronted with an important, and potentially challenging, round of bargaining with the employer.

Our goal is to make fair and reasonable gains for all of us, fight any unfair concessions, and work creatively to help shape the workplace of the future.

The only way we can do this is by standing together and demonstrating our collective strength. It’s the only way we can protect the terms and conditions of employment that we have worked so hard to establish, and the only way we can in turn, protect the important services that we provide to our communities.

Hands of a member are placed over a number of AMAPCEO-branded papers. They are resting their glasses down with one hand and holding a pen with another.

About collective bargaining

Collective bargaining occurs when a group of people in a workplace band together to increase their negotiating power.

Learn more about the collective bargaining process.
The interior of the Ontario Legislature. It is empty.

Bill 124

This legislation limits public sector workers’ compensation increases to a maximum of one per cent a year for three years—including for unionized workers as their contracts expire.

Learn more about Bill 124 and how it affects us.

Your bargaining team


Member-driven bargaining teams are a crucial part of securing a strong collective agreement. Meet the members of your OAC Bargaining Team.

Loree Lawrence

Loree Lawrence is a Multi and Inter-Arts and Community-Engaged Arts Officer who has worked at the Ontario Arts Council for over 14 years. She is a passionate advocate for the arts as a catalyst of personal and social transformation.

“I want to represent our members at the bargaining table and work towards an agreement that supports increased benefits to members, and more respect and recognition for their contributions.”

Lawrence also has over five years of experience as an AMAPCEO activist, having previously been involved with the union as a District Delegate, Workplace Representative, Employee Relations Committee representative, and Joint Health and Safety Committee representative.

Colin Mattison

Colin Mattison

Colin Mattison is an Operations Assistant with OAC over five years of experience. He is also an active AMAPCEO member, serving as a Workplace Representative and Labour Relations Committee representative.

“I volunteered for the bargaining team because I believe you have to be part of the solution.”

Mattison is returning to the bargaining table for the second time, and he is looking forward to applying his prior experience to this round of negotiations.

Frequently asked questions

What is collective bargaining?

Collective bargaining occurs when a group of people in a workplace band together to increase their negotiating power. There is a greater likelihood of success together than there is apart, so it is also about demonstrating our collective will and resolve.

These negotiations between employees and management lead to a legally binding collective agreement that details many of the terms and conditions of our employment, including wages, working conditions, job security, and more.

This collective agreement also ensures the employer consults with us and that we work collaboratively to seek solutions on matters that affect us. It means our workplaces are governed with transparency and fairness.

Learn more about the collective bargaining process.

When does bargaining start?

Our current collective agreement expired on March 31, 2022.

The existing terms and conditions of the current collective agreement remain frozen in place until a new collective agreement comes into effect. The new agreement may have retroactive measures.

How will I get updates during bargaining?

Make sure your contact information with AMAPCEO is up-to-date, and that you are subscribed to receive our emails. Visit our Subscribe page if you haven’t opted-in to receive our emails.

Signed members also receive exclusive updates and event invitations. If you haven’t become a signed member of AMAPCEO, you can do so at no additional cost at amapceo.ca/membership.

We will also continually update this webpage with updates as they become available. And the union’s leadership will meet with members either virtually or in-person, as public health regulations permit, to update members on progress.

How were our bargaining goals set?

Every AMAPCEO member was able to take part in a survey asking us where we desire improvements to the current collective agreement.

The survey results were provided to the bargaining team, staff, and union leadership to draft the broad bargaining priorities.

These results, further informed by research, additional consultation, and legal advice, will be used to generate more specific bargaining plans. The Board of Directors is ultimately responsible for reviewing and approving this mandate.

Learn more about the collective bargaining process.

Why is it important to support my colleagues and union during bargaining?

We have worked hard to achieve the current terms and conditions of our employment. Supporting your colleagues, the bargaining team, and our union, helps demonstrate our collective strength and our resolve to securing a fair contract. We are stronger together.

Union leadership and local AMAPCEO activists may also ask you to take specific actions to demonstrate your solidarity. This could include displaying a flag on your desk, using a union background during a video call, or attending an event.

These actions serve as proof of member cohesion and support for AMAPCEO. This can speed up the bargaining process and result in improved collective agreements for all members.

Does collective bargaining lead to a strike?

The priority in our negotiations has always been to achieve a fair collective agreement without any unnecessary use of job action. AMAPCEO has always fought for alternatives to labour disruptions in the event of a bargaining impasse and has never had to go on strike.

However, if the employer creates issues during negotiations, a labour disruption remains an important tool in the union’s toolbox. Labour disruption is a broad term encompassing a spectrum of possibilities—small, such as a local lunch-time rally or a refusal to work overtime, to large, such as a province-wide walkout or strike.

Union-initiated labour disruptions are governed by a legal process that unfolds over several weeks. A union cannot call a strike without first having its members vote in favour of such an action. A positive vote does not guarantee that a job action will take place. It is a clear message to the employer side that AMAPCEO members are serious about achieving certain demands in bargaining.

Learn more about the collective bargaining process.

How are we affected by Bill 124?

Bill 124 is Ontario's unconstitutional wage-restraint legislation.

The legislation limits public sector workers’ compensation increases to a maximum of one per cent a year for three years—including for unionized workers as their contracts expire.

What this means is that when their contracts expire, unionized public sector workers’ compensation increases are capped at one per cent a year for the following three years, regardless of what workers may negotiate with employers through collective bargaining.

For AMAPCEO members at the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), this means the period is from April 1, 2022–March 31, 2025.

Increases based on merit or performance do not count towards the one per cent cap.

Learn more about Bill 124 and how it affects us.

Learn more

Hands of a member are placed over a number of AMAPCEO-branded papers. They are resting their glasses down with one hand and holding a pen with another.

About the Collective Bargaining process

A painter's brush against a palette
Ontario Arts Council

Our current Collective Agreement and fact sheets

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