OPSEU LOCAL 318

New to OPSEU/SEFPO?

History

OPSEU SEFPO has been representing Civil Servants for the Province of Ontario for over 100 years in different forms. Founded in 1911 under the name Civil Servants Assosiation for Ontario, it began as a humble social club of Ontario civil servants looking for ways to improve their work. Now, it represents nearly 200,000 Ontario workers from what Local 318 does in Museums and Parks, to Road workers, Educators, Nurses, Corrections Officer, Liquor Sales, and hundreds more. Lear more about OPSEU history HERE

How OPSEU/SEFPO is structured

Ontario is the most populated province in Canada, and as such has one of the largest Public Service Sectors. OPSEU/SEFPO represents nearly 200,000 public employees. To help make this more manageable, the province is divided into smaller regions numbered 1 through 7; we are located in Region 3. Numbers are issued to Locals in the order that they are created. Our local was the Eighteenth to be founded in region 3, and as such our number 318.

Everyone in OPSEU/SEFPO belongs to a local, and that is the first point of contact for members in the union. OPSEU/SEFPO has more than 500 locals across the province.

OPSEU/SEFPO has seven regions, which support their locals by geographic areas. Each region elects three Regional Executive Board Members to represent their region on the OPSEU/SEFPO Executive Board.

OPSEU/SEFPO has nine Committees and Caucuses which represent members from equity-deserving groups. Members from seven of these equity-deserving groups elect one Equity Executive Board Member to represent their equity group on the OPSEU/SEFPO Executive Board.

OPSEU/SEFPO workers are also grouped into divisions and sectors, based on the type of work they do. Sectors allow locals to work together on issues of concern in their sect or, and to coordinate their activities across the province.

This model of governance balances local autonomy and equity representation with strong regional and central co-ordination.

The governance structures of our union, along with its policies and procedures, are laid out in the OPSEU/SEFPO Constitution, Policy Manual and Procedures Manual.

OPSEU/SEFPO Locals

Our union local is the basic structure in OPSEU/SEFPO that connects workers together in the workplace and connects all of us to the rest of the union. Our union is committed to developing healthy, active, and functional locals that include all members in the decision-making process by removing barriers to participation- and, more specifically, to removing barriers faced by Indigenous, Black and racialized members. We are stronger when our union, our workplaces and our province are more equitable places that work for everyone.

There are several types of locals:

  • Single unit local – where all members in the local work for the same employer, in the same location, with one collective agreement.
  • Multi-unit local – where all members in the local work for the same employer, at different locations, with one collective agreement.
  • Composite local – where members in the local work for more than one employer, in different locations, under more than one collective agreement.

Your union local is where you and your co-workers will:

  • Decide on the issues you will pursue in bargaining with your employer(s), and how you want to bargain.
  • Work through your local to enforce the gains in your collective agreement through filing grievances or taking direct workplace action.
  • Decide what committees you need in your workplace to resolve local issues, and which of you will participate in them.
  • Create a safe and healthy workplace by knowing your legal rights and enforcing them.
  • Find allies for your issues in other workplaces, unions and community groups, and work with them to create a strategy to win.