Monday, April 11, 2022
The following was sent to all AMAPCEO-represented members in the Ontario Public Service earlier today.
We have just concluded two days of intense mediation with the Ontario Public Service (OPS) Employer and are frustrated to report that our Employer counterparts remain intransigent on our demands to increase equitable access to hybrid work.
Over the last six weeks, they have been negotiating as though the last two years—when AMAPCEO members rose to the occasion and kept government working against all odds—had never happened.
We have been able to reach agreement, in principle, on many other important issues on the table. This makes the Employer’s position—that they be able to unilaterally design what the “workplace of the future” looks like—even more disappointing.
We will not be dragged back to the workplace of the 1990s. Our future is Ontario’s future. It needs to be fair and flexible. And those most affected by change—those capable of hybrid work—must be permitted a voice. AMAPCEO members must be afforded equitable access to a fair and standardized process, which is what we have advocated for from day one.
Our bargaining team and the Employer’s representatives will now step away from negotiations. The Employer cannot bargain during the election process.
However, our work as a collective has just begun. It will be imperative that we continue to demonstrate to the Employer how important the issue of hybrid work and alternative work arrangements are to us.
➔ Starting this week, we are asking you to add the AMAPCEO logo to your work email signature.
And please continue to:
➔ Take your full 45-minute lunch break. Set your online status to "Away" and your status message to "AMAPCEO Break". Schedule your lunch break in your work calendar.
➔ Use an updated AMAPCEO virtual background and turn your camera on for all of your virtual work meetings.
Both actions will have a positive impact on union visibility in the workplace. Not only do they help send the Employer a message, but they also encourage your fellow AMAPCEO members to participate.
Next week, the OPS Employer will invite all staff to complete its Employee Experience Survey. Every AMAPCEO member should answer the survey honestly and not hold back on how they feel on the many topics the survey will cover. The survey is also an opportunity to show the Employer that we are united on our shared priorities, and so we will have some suggested guidelines you can use to help answer a couple of specific survey questions. Watch for more information next week.
Thank you for the support you’ve shown us thus far. We will press on in the coming days, weeks and months, engaging you and all our members in our common cause.
Stronger together,
Dave Bulmer (President/CEO)
Paula Wallingford (OPS Bargaining Team Chair)
Deryck Albarus
Kezia Picard
David Wilkins
Maureen Wraight