Ontario public service workers vote on contract

More than 800 Sault Ste. Marie members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) will vote later this month on a contract offer from the Ontario Government.

The workers, members of eight Soo locals of OPSEU, are employed at places including the Courthouse, the Sault Jail, Community and Social Services, Northern Treatment Centre and the Ministry of the Environment.

The vote, announced Tuesday by OPSEU president Leah Casselman, will take place province-wide on Feb. 26, 27 and 28. Disappointed by what it termed the "snail-like" progress of negotiations, OPSEU called on the government on Tuesday to deliver an offer.

The province has 48 hours to respond.

The agreement for 45,000 OPSEU members province-wide expired at the end of last year.

Union bargaining teams will decide on Feb. 14 whether to recommend acceptance or rejection of the province's offer.

The earliest date on which OPSEU could find itself in a legal strike position is March 13.

Casselman emphasized, however, that the union has not yet established a strike mandate.

"If and when OPSEU members reject the government's offer, we fully intend to go back and negotiate a collective agreement in the early part of March," she said. To receive free, real-time updates of SooToday.com's exclusive coverage of local news, just send an Email with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line to [email protected].