SCOOP: Bureaucrats begin bargaining

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First in Queen’s Park Observer — BIG BARGAINING BEGINS: Contract talks have kicked off in earnest for Ontario’s biggest public service union, Queen’s Park Observer has learned. OPSEU’s Unified bargaining unit, which represents about 30,000 employees in the 60,000-large Ontario Public Service, began the early stages of negotiations with the Treasury Board this week, sources say.

While both sides typically keep hush-hush on the negotiations, rumour has it they’ve already traded initial proposals and laid out their positioning. Dates for the discussions are also being scheduled.

A potential sticking point: This round of negotiations is also covered by the wage-cap Bill 124, which several unions are challenging in court. It stipulates a one per cent cap on annual wage increases across the public sector for three years.

In an earlier memo to members signalling the talks, OPSEU’s bargaining team called out the Charter challenge as “this government’s attempt to destroy public …