OPSEU Local 110

Let’s go #Middlesex-#LdnOnt, roll up those sleeves! Starting Tuesday, May 18 at 8AM, adults 18+ (born in 2003 and turning 18 in 2021) can book a COVID-19 vaccin...e appointment in London and Middlesex County at http://covidvaccinelm.ca. #GetVaxxed We expect there to be high demand for appointments. We encourage you to book online and keep checking each morning if you’re not able to book right away. . . NOTE: Some individuals aged 16 years of age and older continue to be eligible as part of the following eligible groups: Highest-risk, high-risk and at-risk health conditions and chronic home care recipients Essential Workers who cannot work from home (Groups 1 and 2 under Phase Two) Indigenous individuals and immediate household/family members of Indigenous people who themselves are not Indigenous Individuals who are pregnant Residents, primary essential caregivers and staff of high-risk congregate living settings Residents and staff of congregate settings with a history of outbreak at the discretion of public health Residents, staff and essential caregivers associated with long-term care, retirement homes and other congregate care settings

Please read this excellent interview.

Every Wednesday we highlight our solidarity with our community, and this week that's very close to home. Many of us are aware that our four librarians have been... summarily terminated as of June 2021. We are appalled at the callous way in which this is being handled by the admin, and t the attitude that our librarians could be replaced. Alex, Daniel, Marta and Victoria can NOT be replaced. They have been wizards at weaving together a university library with scanty resources. Their pedagogical contributions to our students are invaluable. And the process that was employed to enact this "restructuring" is deeply flawed and lacked meaningful consultation with our students and our academic staff and faculty colleagues. Letters of support are already poring in, because this is an event with a national profile. We look forward to sharing those with you soon. For now, please read and sign this position, and share to your networks. DON'T PUT THE HOOK TO OCADU PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS!

This is why the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development needs to continue and expand, not cancel, the CBIS (Collective Bargaining Information Service) data collection process.

When the party you bargain with isn't actually part of the community..... #CEC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 28, 2021 OPSEU/SEFPO calls public funding for PSW training to private career colleges wrong-headed... TORONTO OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas says the provincial government is moving in the wrong direction by pumping public money into private colleges to train new personal support workers (PSWs). Our public colleges are the best way to provide the kind of education and training for PSWs and other professions, said Thomas. We must keep a laser focus on public colleges, and today's announcement putting tens of millions of dollars toward private facilities is a real step back. As chair of OPSEU/SEFPO’s College Faculty Division, RM Kennedy expressed grave concerns around the government’s announcement of $86 million in public funding for private career colleges and public school boards to train PSWs. There is a critical and urgent need for more PSWs in Ontario, said Kennedy. The pandemic, low pay and poor working conditions have contributed to the crisis in personal support work we are now experiencing. Many years of government underfunding at the college level have exacerbated the situation. The obvious response is to invest in public colleges to immediately increase their capacity to educate more PSWs. The wrong reaction is to give public money to private colleges. When you give public money to a private college, a portion of that investment is immediately siphoned off for profit. In other words, right from the start less money goes to the classroom. That means fewer resources for students. It means less-qualified, less-experienced instructors. Together, that means inferior education, a less marketable diploma and poorer service to Ontarians. In sharp contrast, every single taxpayer dollar invested in our public college system goes to the classroom not to private shareholders. For-profit care homes have had significantly higher death rates during the pandemic, and that’s because not enough resources are poured into front-line services. The same goes for PSW education. I urge the government to reverse course on this highly flawed funding announcement. Put those funds into public colleges, just as was done in February, when the government allotted $115 million to colleges for accelerated PSW instruction. That will create the best-trained PSWs we need, within the timelines we need them. And that gives our graduates the public-college diploma that employers are looking for and the high-quality PSW services Ontarians deserve and rely on.