Wednesday, May 04, 2022
The union representing more than 14,500 professionals in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) will begin mediation with the OPS Employer this weekend in hopes of making progress on negotiations, AMAPCEO President Dave Bulmer announced today.
Bulmer informed the union’s members in the OPS during province-wide town halls held Monday and Tuesday. More than 5,000 members took part between both events.
While the union and the OPS Employer have reached agreement on a few items of mutual importance, the AMAPCEO Bargaining Team has found its management counterparts reticent to engage on the union’s priorities—particularly on increased access to hybrid work.
Increased flexibility for remote work is one of AMAPCEO members’ top priorities for their next contract.
The OPS Employer’s stubbornness on the issue saw the union request mediation after a month at the bargaining table.
“It’s a serious step,” Bulmer said, “but one that we believe is warranted.”
Bulmer reported that the Employer agreed, and so starting Saturday, a neutral third-party mediator will join representatives from both parties to help them try to reach an agreement. Mediation is different from arbitration in that mediators do not decide an issue. Mediators are most often used to assist parties when they are far apart on certain issues and can help them develop ways forward.
The union’s President said he expects the mediation period to be “intense” but that he is optimistic.
“We maintain confidence that we can reach a fair deal,” Bulmer said. “We simply need the Employer to recognize that what is good for us is good for them and is good for Ontario.”
During the town halls, Bulmer pointed to the critical role AMAPCEO members have played in keeping public services running during the pandemic. “We’ve brought calm to the chaos these past two years,” he said. “We have proven a hybrid workplace works.”
In addition to the town halls, the union stepped up its bargaining campaign even further this week. The OPS Employer’s plans to return more employees to the workplaces took effect Monday, and AMAPCEO used the opportunity to get desk flags, buttons, flyers, and other materials into members’ hands to boost union visibility in the workplace, starting at key buildings in the Toronto area. More buildings will be included in the weeks to come.
Thousands of AMAPCEO members are already using bargaining-related virtual backgrounds for their online work meetings and taking their full 45-minute lunch breaks. These workplace actions help send the OPS Employer a message that AMAPCEO members demand fairness and flexibility from their employer.
The union is encouraging all of its members to keep taking these actions over the next few weeks.
The AMAPCEO-OPS Collective Agreement expired March 31, 2022. The current terms and conditions of the agreement remain frozen in place until a new agreement is approved by both parties.
