OPSEU is Smokin’ in Ontario

Untitled Documentby P.D. Lesko Just like the lyric from the “West Side Story” song, it’s “alarming how charming” Smokey Thomas is. He has a strong Canadian accent, speaks rapidly and with a folksy warmth. Thomas laughs easily, and doesn’t hesitate when he calls the democratic process in his own union a “pain in the ass”— or backtrack and ask that the comment be striken from the interview. In fact, his demeanor makes it difficult to believe that Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members sometimes refer the Toronto-based organization as the “Lebanon of the labour movement” thanks to vicious political […]