Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Over the past few months, the AMAPCEO Supply Ontario Bargaining Team has been hard at work preparing for their first round of collective bargaining—from administering a priority survey to analyzing the results to meeting to set priorities for the table. Sean Hurdle and Joe Wood are both seasoned union activists who have taken on a variety of roles at AMAPCEO and other unions.
Until recently, as a divestment unit, Supply Ontario was covered by the former Ontario Public Service (OPS) Collective Agreement. This round of bargaining will be Supply Ontario members’ opportunity to create a strong, fair contract that represents their priorities and values.
“This is our first collective agreement, and I am heavily invested in making Supply Ontario a great place to work with a great contract!” says Hurdle, a Workplace Representative and Delegate. “I left the OPS voluntarily for this opportunity, and I’m honoured to be chosen for this important role by my fellow members—it's time to push for a strong collective agreement that represents our workplace needs.”
Wood, who has held numerous activist positions with AMAPCEO and volunteered on previous rounds of OPS bargaining, agrees: “We're a fast-growing unit with lots of folks who are in their first unionized job ever. This is exciting and great for the labour movement, but it also means that we need to grow union capacity organically within the bargaining unit,” he says.
“We have a good collective agreement that we brought with us from the OPS, but we need to negotiate our bargaining unit's first independent agreement—that means going line by line through the entire contract.”
Divested from the OPS in 2020, Supply Ontario was created with the mission of modernizing and strengthening the procurement process for Ontario’s public sector. Supply Ontario’s AMAPCEO members ensure high quality, reliable, and good value products for ministries, provincial agencies, hospitals, school boards, children’s aid societies across the province.
“Supply Ontario helps Ontario buy goods and services responsibly, fairly, and efficiently. We ensure that public funds are spent getting the best and most cost-effective public services. This is why the mandate for Supply Ontario is to centralize this procurement to reduce duplication and waste, forcing suppliers to be more competitive,” says Hurdle.
Procurement is a growing industry, especially in the Ontario government, and attracting talent is competitive.
“To succeed, Supply Ontario needs to attract great talent by being an employer of choice, not just with words but with competitive compensation and solid opportunities for growth,” says Wood.
“AMAPCEO has already helped with this and we are positioned to do it through our collective agreement.”
Bargaining for the Supply Ontario unit begins this Thursday, January 15, and the Hurdle and Wood are encouraging all Supply Ontario members to wear blue to show their support for the bargaining team!
Wood and Hurdle also urge their colleagues to stay tuned for information on how they can support bargaining by ensuring they’re receiving AMAPCEO emails and checking amapceo.ca/bargaining/supply-ontario.
“We encourage all Supply Ontario members to support Sean and Joe, knowing that our almost 18,000 members have their backs as well,” added President Dave Bulmer.