On May 31, 2017, Anishinabek Police Service (APS) officers who are represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) voted down the employer’s final offer vote conducted by the Ministry of Labour over three days (May 29-31).
“We were surprised that the employer, instead of negotiating with us, went to the members with an offer that had even more cuts then what they had last agreed to at the bargaining table”, states Sharon DeSousa, PSAC Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President.
The tabled offer was seeking significant cuts to: Pregnancy and parental leave, sick leave, benefits, severance pay and seniority rights. This is in light of the recent announcement by the provincial government of additional funding to establish OPP parity for First Nations police officers.
“PSAC represents officers at Treaty Three and Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service, who have made significant gains to their working conditions and safety, including ending the practice of officers working alone in remote communities”, says Sharon DeSousa. “Officers didn’t want an agreement that would put their police service even further behind other First Nations Police services”.
PSAC has made several attempts to get the employer to agree to binding arbitration to achieve a fair contract, however, they continue to deny this path. PSAC filed for conciliation in June of 2016. The parties have met on January 24, March 1, 2, 27, 28 and May 10, 2017 with the Conciliation Officer before the employer forced this vote.
For more information or to book interviews, please contact:
Lino Vieira, Political Communications Officer, vieiral@psac-afpc.com or 416-577-0238