Ontario union goes to war with its own workers
Union politics, like partisan politics, can be rough and tough, intimidating and debilitating.
But it is democratic at the best of times and, one expects, in the worst of times.
After all, elected labour leaders win a democratic mandate from their membership. Until that mandate runs out.
Now, time has run out for Warren (Smokey) Thomas. Two years after winning reelection as president of Ontario’s biggest public sector union for a two-year term, he will retain power for a third year — in overtime, past his democratic prime.
Thomas presided over a decision last December to postpone OPSEU’s annual convention, scheduled for this month, on top of last year’s postponement. He claimed it would be impractical in midpandemic to let members choose their leaders.
Thus for the second year in a row, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union will do things its own way, in its own time. Never mind that other big unions still do it the democratic way, by virtue of virtual conventions.
The Canadian Labour Congress is holding electronic elections in a few weeks, and some of Ontario’s major teachers’ unions have also held virtual conventions recently. The labour-affiliated New Democratic Party convened virtually last weekend, as did the federal Liberals.
But not OPSEU. Now, under cover of COVID-19, democracy delayed is democracy denied — at the very moment that Thomas and the union’s management team are locked in a fierce battle against their own support staff, who complained to the Ontario Labour Relations Board last month of “unfair labour practices” by OPSEU.
Days later, OPSEU filed its own counterclaim, accusing its own staff union of “harassment, coercion and intimidation.”
Without an open convention to thrash out their differences, some longtime members have accused Thomas of smothering dissent after OPSEU’s executive committee voted narrowly to suspend the scheduled April convention.
But in an interview, Thomas said he has no interest in becoming president for life, insisting he awaits retired life after an extra year in power. Delaying the vote was the democratic thing to do because a virtual convention would be a mirage, he argued.
Thomas noted that OPSEU hired a cybersecurity expert who concluded it could be a failed experiment. Why then are other unions and political parties still doing the democratic thing?
“They don’t work very well — look at the NDP one on the weekend,” he said. “The other problem we had was connectivity in the North … it’s not a stable connection — a lot of our delegates would be seriously disadvantaged.”
But there has been pushback from those who want to hold him to account for turmoil inside the union.
“I opposed taking away democracy,” said regional vicepresident Sara Labelle, who has previously run against Thomas. She voted against the postponement by the executive committee because “the play was that they wanted to extend their terms — they didn’t want a convention.”
Lois Boggs, president of the union that represents support staff working for OPSEU, said the delayed convention is symptomatic of the Thomas presidency: “This is the second year now that the convention has been cancelled — I think its unfortunate.”
Averting a convention allows Thomas to avoid the embarrassment of having to explain the bitter internal strife between OPSEU and its staff union, OPSSU (Ontario Public Service Staff Union), headed by Boggs.
In a fight infused with poetic irony, now being played out before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, staff at the public sector union have accused their OPSEU employer of “unfair labour practices.” Years of feuding (documented in previous columns) have culminated in a series of titfor-tat allegations and counterclaims:
OPSEU is accused of reprisal firings of workers who served as representatives of the staff union — the kind of tactic that the labour movement considers the ultimate heresy, if proven (the allegations are unproven and await the findings of a labour adjudicator).
A remarkable filing just days later by OPSEU (also unproven) accuses the staff union of spearheading a “social media smear campaign against OPSEU and its elected leadership” by a terminated employee. It calls the public criticisms “so outrageous in character, duration, and extreme in degree, that they are beyond all possible bounds of decency and tolerance.”
It is a David and Goliath battle pitting a small staff union against one of the province’s labour giants — OPSEU represents more than 130,000 dues-paying members in the public service. But Thomas and his fellow OPSEU managers see themselves as the underdog.
In its complaint, OPSEU claims that the staff union’s “executive intended to cause fear, anxiety, emotional upset and to impugn the good name and reputation of OPSEU and its elected leadership.” Moreover, “The conduct of … the Union Executive constitutes prolonged and profound harassment, coercion and intimidation.”
On social media, where many OPSEU members compare notes, fears are being expressed about the fallout from this internecine battle.
“If OPSEU wins this case, it sets a precedent for any employer to do the same to its unionized staff,” said Rob Field, a retired OPSEU negotiator and supervisor who is still active in the union — and whose Facebook critique has rallied many members. Any union member who complains publicly about their employers in future could be similarly muzzled, thanks to litigation by a major union akin to libel chill, he told me.
Boggs, who has watched the OPSEU management team fire some of her most dedicated employee representatives in OPSSU — her staff union — says their only recourse was the labour relations board. The response from Thomas and OPSEU — a counterclaim accusing the tiny staff union of “intimidation” — is bizarre, she argues.
“It’s very hurtful and disappointing that they’d take these actions,” she said in an interview. With mediation scheduled next week, she declined detailed comment except to say, “It’s never good when one union is fighting another.”
Thomas said he was also precluded from commenting on the dispute except to say, “I’m hoping we can resolve this issue.”
Whether or not there is a mediated settlement this month — allowing OPSEU and its staff union to cease the cycle of allegations and recriminations — one thing is certain: There will be no convention, no democratic elections, and no course corrections this month — not for another 12 months.