My name is Marco Lizotte, I am a Crew Leader in Sudbury as well as a Union Steward. On June 19th we had Union meeting that lasted over 2 hours to straighten out all of the kinks that have been ongoing in the AFFES. To be frank, there are a lot of unhappy fire staff and the best way to make change is to unite and use our union to fight for us. They are finally hearing us out and we all need to show that we’re on board by sending an email to campaigns@opseu.org 

We need to spread this message like wildfire. If you want to be paid more and see a positive change in our workplace please send a simple email saying who you are where you work and that you’re buying into OPSEU. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out, I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner. 

Our time is now. The most common question I’ve received has been “What do I write?”.  So here’s a simple example. 

My name is (insert name here) and I’m a (insert job here) at (insert base here) and I support OPSEU. Doing this will give OPSEU the leverage it needs to force the Ontario Government’s hand to fairly compensate us. According to OPSEU, they are currently sitting on 22 Billion Dollars of unspent budget. This is how we unite as an organization and when they have 80% of our workforces’ emails (roughly ~700 of the ~900 employees) OPSEU will now have a way to make the demands we all need. 

They also want to hear your stories to paint a vivid picture of what it’s like to work for the AFFES and our concerns with the program. They will use this as ammo to get public on our side with their social media campaign. 

Again, email campaigns@opseu.org and if there are anymore questions don’t hesitate to ask. 

⁃ Marco Lizotte