From powerful posters to social posts that sing, more than a dozen OPSEU/SEFPO locals and groups were recognized for communications excellence during an awards ceremony at Editor’s Weekend 2024.
Congratulations to all the OPSEU/SEFPO members dedicating their time and energy to keeping their locals and teams informed, inspired, and solid!
Local 101
The first question anyone has when presented with a document is, “What is this thing?” With the Local 101 newsletter, you know right away. The flag—the banner at the top of page one—is clean and simple, identifies the document as a newsletter, and says whose newsletter it is.
This sounds pretty basic but it is absolutely crucial to any publication!
Using a different photo on the flag each month allows the reader to quickly identify whether they have seen this issue before, which is brilliant.
In terms of content, the newsletter is absolutely packed with information. Every issue of the newsletter shows a deliberate strategic focus that does several things:
- it educates members about the union by explaining aspects of union policy (for example, how the Hardship Fund works) and pointing members to resources like the OPSEU website, social media links, and educationals;
- it builds solidarity, especially through its “Meet a member” profiles. These profiles show strategic thinking as well, as they associate the union with likeable members who are quite obviously dedicated to their professions and the people they serve. These profiles highlight the connections between members and between members and the union. Lastly, the newsletter
- situates the union in the context of larger social issues and the local community. By highlighting events like Pride Month and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the newsletter reveals a union local that is aware of challenges beyond bread-and-butter issues and willing to take responsibility for righting wrongs. energy of retirees across the province.
Issues of The Voice:
- Local 101 OPSEU Frontlines September 2024
- Local 101 OPSEU Frontlines July/August 2024
- Local 101 OPSEU Frontlines June 2024
- Local 101 OPSEU Frontlines May 2024
Local 109
The Local 109 membership newsletter is visually exciting and clearly identified as a resource for Fanshawe College Support Staff.
This newsletter is laser-focused on telling members the benefits of union membership and what their union can do for them and their families, highlighting workplace benefits and available scholarships as well as union-negotiated discounts on cell phone service, train travel, hotels, and admission to attractions like Canada’s Wonderland and the Royal Ontario Museum. For the member who questions, “What has the union ever done for me?”, this newsletter says, “I’m glad you asked. Let me explain!”
In the midst of the excitement, the newsletter also takes time to educate members on college funding in Ontario (it’s terrible) and where to find union information (it’s easy and fast).
The local’s web page explains what the local does for members in simple terms and ties the union to members’ pride in their work. “We support you so you can support our students” is beautifully succinct.nergy of retirees across the province.
Local 109 membership newsletters:
Local 166
The flag of this local’s private Facebook page shows a local that is determined to stand up for its members and provide important information when members want it, which is to say, NOW.
Key postings are clear and direct, and the emphasis on kindness and courtesy in communications within the local is powerful.
Local 238
www.caatlocal238.com is a clean, elegant website that presents a lot of information very clearly.
There’s an overwhelming among of information that goes along with belonging to and participating in a union – collective agreements, benefits, local meetings and elections, and campaign info.
Local 238 takes a no-nonsense approach to making it easy for members to find the information they need, and maybe learn something new about their union as they do it.
It may not be the flashiest website you’ve ever seen, but members are never more than a click or two away from finding their collective agreement, their steward, or FAQ answers to any of the basic questions they might have about OPSEU/SEFPO and Local 238.
Local 241
Lively, lovely Instagram feed that mixes info and personality
@opseulocal241 is an Instagram account definitely worth a follow. It offers a colourful and engaging mix of information, personality, and news any worker can use.
Two great examples of many: the charming “Meet the Team” posts, which build camaraderie, trust, and solidarity within the local, and the clever “Union Busting Dialogue” slide, which is actually a lunch-and-learn invitation that’s a great tease of the kind of things you’ll learn if you attend.
Local 304
Direct, urgent and real: an email to members that builds solidarity
Pictures and clever layouts can help punctuate any message, but the President of Local 304 understands that, at the end of the day, it’s the words that matter.
Within hours of lay-offs at Simcoe Children’s Aid Services (CAS), the Local 304 President had composed and sent a stirring email to all members – sharing the kind of information and analysis upon which worker solidarity is built.
The sentences are short and direct. The information compelling and demanding action. Two examples:
- “These layoffs are not merely statistics; they represent a devastating blow to the essential services that our children and families rely on. With fewer hands on deck, the quality of care and support that children receive is at risk, creating a cascading effect that threatens the entire system.”
- “The placement crisis has now reached a breaking point. The fact that we are housing children and youth in hotels—and, in some cases, even in CAS offices—is nothing short of a failure of our system. These temporary and inadequate solutions are not acceptable. They expose children to further trauma and instability, which can have lasting impacts on their development and well-being.”
Local 365
Newsletter emails that look as good as they read. Best of all, they’re consistent.
Members of Local 365 are used to receiving The Voice every couple of months, and they know that when the click a new issue open, they’ll be treated to a thoughtful, and well laid-out compendium of information about their local and their workplace.
An easy-to-understand table of contents gives readers easy access to the information they want. Meanwhile, clearly defined sections sprinkled with beautiful pictures and subtle design cues also make for an interesting and sometimes even delightful scroll-down.
Special recognition to the local’s comms team for breaking format for breaking news: the special issue about the LBED strike is an inspiring example of OPSEU/SEFPO’s ability to build strength and solidarity among workers from across industries and sectors.
Local 373
Many amazing comms channels that all have one clear goal: engaging members.
If you don’t know what is happening in OPSEU Local 373 at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, you will after you read their latest newsletter.
This newsletter is jam-packed with information about local meetings, bargaining surveys, regional meetings and Convention, picnics, coffee breaks, and special events, as well as education about equity, the privatization threat in health care, reproductive rights, seniority, and (last but not least) how the Hospital Professionals Division and OPSEU itself work.
This is a local that is working hard to connect with members in multiple ways: through the newsletter, on bulletin boards, on Facebook, via email, and in person at membership meetings.
Local 373 newsletters:
Local 410
Like many OPSEU locals, members of OPSEU Local 410 work in a difficult environment, and the stories in their newsletter reflect that reality. As staff at the Ontario Disability Support Program, members face high caseloads, inadequate staffing, and a lack of support, as well as all the stresses that come with working with vulnerable populations—according to the newsletter, staff at the ODSP Ottawa office witnessed four clients overdose on one day in January 2021.
The newsletter does a good job of communicating the local’s compassion for its clients, its concern for the well-being of the world, and its determination to never stop fighting for its members.
Local 410 newsletters
Local 479
A clean, simple website that builds solidarity by sharing stories about members in the local, and also about other workers and community groups
opseu479.ca is a website that makes a great first impression, and then keeps on making great impressions with a varied mix of information and news that can’t help but leave Local 479 members feeling like they’re in a strong and solid union.
Good websites are easy to use and navigate, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy to create. But the comms folks in the local have clearly got an eye for details and the passion and dedication to make those details shine.
Local 605
The first thing you notice about the newsletter of Local 605 is not the design, which is good, not the content, which puts workplace issues into sharp focus.
No, the first thing you notice is just how much work goes into it. Typically several pages long with articles that go into extensive detail about collective bargaining, the newsletter is well laid out and it is easy to navigate from article to article.
Throw in some fascinating stories about the history of the local and the union, a few games, and an evident desire to challenge the boss, and you have a newsletter that’s worth printing out and reading front to back in one sitting. The local is also clearly committed to being accountable to its members; names and full contact info for the president, vice-president and treasurer are featured prominently on the front page of every issue.
Local 605 newsletters:
Local 715
The words that come to mind when looking at this series of posters and welcome cards are clean, airy, elegant and professional.
The graphic design is lovely and the text, which is limited because posters have limited text, says exactly what it needs to say and no more, for example: “Join us to discuss the 12 recommendations made by the HPD Executive and rank them according to the membership’s priorities.”
The “Happy Pride!” sticker is sweet, fun, and welcoming; the poster for the OPSEU-sponsored opening-night baseball game between the Thunder Bay Border Cats and the Minnesota Mud Puppies expertly uses illustration and shading to evoke the thrill of a dusty north county evening when friends get together to greet summer at last.
OPS Unified Bargaining Team and Area Coordinating Groups
Short, sharp bargaining emails and website posts that inform and engage, and organizing handouts that get to the point with pop and pizzazz – all with an eye to engaging and informing members
With tens of thousands of members in communities across the province, the OPS-Unified Bargaining Team needs to get the word out efficiently and effectively and have made excellent use of high and low tech.
The team is making excellent use of their union’s main communications channels: opseu.org and mass email.
Their “Table Talk” bargaining updates are packed with information broken up into manageable chunks and set apart with simple but very helpful graphics.
Meanwhile, the OPS Unified Area Coordinating Groups focus on billboards and handouts to make sure their info grabs attention in the workplace.
They say that, when designing posters and billboards, you need to communicate your message in eight words or less. In these posters, the OPS Unified Area Coordinating Groups get their message out in less.
By using QR codes, these posters let members know exactly where to go for the information they need. The Demand Set poster, featuring the iconic Rosie the Riveter, is especially powerful, with a nice design.
OPSEU/SEFPO Retired Members
Autumn View is the quarterly publication of the OPSEU/SEFPO Retired Members Division, and it consistently captures the spirit and energy of retirees across the province.
Like every good magazine, each issue of Autumn View brings readers a mix of useful news and information, along with a few surprises along the way.
In the latest issue, for example, you’ll find a touching tribute to former OPSEU/SEPFO and NUPGE President James Clancy alongside an interesting article about a life-long bicyclist making the jump to an ebike.
The publication perfectly captures the spirit that retiring from a job doesn’t mean retiring from union activism.