State of Our Union: 30+ OPSEU Members Got Real About What's Broken At Our First Townhall
Be in the room on December 10 for the next State of Our Union town hall, where the conversation continues: Wednesday, December 10 at 7 p.m. ET.
Whether you’re a local president, steward, equity leader, retiree, or an everyday union member who has never spoken at a union meeting before, you’re invited to log in, listen, and add your voice.
You don’t have to commit to supporting Ram to take part; you just have to be willing to talk honestly about what needs to change and what you expect from OPSEU.
Townhall #1 Recap
On November 27, more than thirty OPSEU members logged in to talk frankly about what's working in our union—and what urgently isn't.
Attendees called in from all across Ontario, and included local presidents, equity leaders, stewards, mobilizers, frontline workers, retirees and even some everyday union members.
Ram opened by making one thing clear: this space isn't about speeches. It's about setting the agenda from the ground up. As he put it during the conversation: "Your struggles aren't just stories to me—they're my mandate as your union executive."
What members brought into the room
Across almost two hours, the same themes surfaced again and again.
Value for dues. People asked hard questions about the "activist budget," rising dues, long hotel stays for bargaining teams, expensive downtown conventions, and whether any of it is actually delivering results members can see.
Broken services. Claims that take months. Grievances that drag on for years. Staff-rep turnover that leaves locals abandoned just when they need help most.
Cross-sector fairness. Hospital workers, corrections, colleges, and retirees—sectors that carry some of the heaviest workloads and risks, but often feel like afterthoughts in big union decisions.
What Ram brought to the room
Members came with frustrations. Ram came with specifics.
When the conversation turned to the cyber attack, he didn't speak in generalities. He drew on his IT background and named what should have happened: immediate communication, members kept in the loop, systems that pay people back fast instead of leaving them waiting for months. "No member should have to max out a personal credit card and wonder when the union will make them whole."
When a hospital worker described constant staff-rep turnover—five reps in two years, no one who understood her sector—Ram agreed it was a failure and got concrete: stabilization requirements, proper orientation, sector-specific training before reps are assigned. The union can't keep learning on members.
When retirees raised feeling like afterthoughts, Ram reframed it: "Antique furniture is solid. Antique furniture is valuable." Then he laid out how retirees' experience could be systematically channeled into picket support and campaigns—instead of wasted.
Throughout, he kept returning to a simple test: does this deliver real value to the members paying the bills? Every campaign should have defined goals. Every dollar should be trackable. "We owe members proof that their money is working for them—not just for good optics."
A union that plans, not just reacts
Members raised how often OPSEU shows up late—on cost-of-living, college funding, system changes. Ram agreed that has to end.
His answer wasn't slogans. It was structure: bring bargaining team chairs together regularly so they see what each sector is facing. Push for common demands—like cost-of-living protections—so wins in one area get leveraged across the union instead of every group fighting alone. Anticipate cuts and attacks before they land, not after.
And for members who can't legally strike, Ram was direct: the union has to build public support long before contracts expire. Make the value of hospital workers, corrections officers, and others visible to communities—so politicians feel pressure before bargaining even starts, not just when members are already losing.
…Be in the room where it happens
These townhalls are designed as working sessions, not campaign rallies: a place where the reality of OPSEU members — on shop floors, in offices, hospitals, colleges, and community agencies — can directly shape what Ram pushes for at the executive table.
His experience gives him tools, but the point of being in the room together is to turn members’ day‑to‑day frustrations and ideas into concrete priorities on money, services, equity, and strategy.
You do not need a fully formed plan to show up—just a sense of what isn’t working and what “showing up” from your union would actually look like in your world.
Each town hall builds on the last, so the more often members come back, the sharper and more grounded that shared agenda becomes.
Be in the room on December 10 for the next State of Our Union town hall, where the conversation continues: Wednesday, December 10 at 7 p.m. ET.
Whether you’re a local president, steward, equity leader, retiree, or a member who has never spoken at a union meeting before, you’re invited to log in, listen, and add your voice. You don’t have to commit to supporting Ram to take part; you just have to be willing to talk honestly about what needs to change and what you expect from OPSEU.
If you’re ready to help shape what he fights for if successful in becoming your First VP/Treasurer, you can RSVP here: https://luma.com/9q873u90.
