A Message from your Local President . . . .
You should have already received the Demand Setting Survey which were being distributed the week of April 28, 2008. Please ensure the surveys are completed as soon as you receive them and returned to your Local Floor Steward promptly.
Thank you for completing the Survey, it is with your preferences that we will go forward to the Bargaining Table to negotiate a strong and more substantial Contract for you.
Next steps …
On May 21st, 2008, 12 to 1 pm on M4 at 5700 Yonge St. there will be a General Membership meeting to present the results of the survey, set local priorities and elect delegates for the upcoming regional bargaining conference to be held sometime in June.
Released April 28th, 2008
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 12, 2008OPSEU endorses Earth Hour:
Union pledges one-hour shutdown March 29TORONTO:
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has joined a growing list of organizations worldwide to endorse “Earth Hour.”As part of the union’s commitment to run a greener organization, OPSEU will turn off all the lights within the union’s control in its 20 Ontario offices for one hour at 8:00 p.m., March 29, 2008. OPSEU already turns off all non-essential lighting.
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said the union wants to do its part and reduce its environmental footprint. “We encourage our members, staff, employers, suppliers, communities and other networks to do the same.
“Earth Hour 2008 will give OPSEU and its members a chance to make a difference and to show we care about our planet.”
The Earth Hour concept began in Sydney, Australia, where, on March 31 last year, two million households and businesses turned their lights off for one hour. This resulted in the reduction of 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide (equivalent to getting 48, 613 cars off the road for one hour). This year, the project has been adopted worldwide, with 17 major cities including Toronto, and many organizations and individuals committing to the shutdown.
OPSEU represents 130,000 members, roughly five per cent of the population of Sydney, Australia. “If Sydney could accomplish this much, how much could OPSEU members accomplish if the lights were turned off for an hour in each OPSEU household across Ontario?” asked Thomas.
FRONTlines
Information for OPSEU members in the Ontario Public Service
December 21, 2006Grievance backlog still not dealt with
OPSEU members in the OPS who are waiting for a resolution to their classification grievance won’t get it before the New Year.
The collective agreement signed in 2005 gave the Joint System Subcommittee the job of clearing up a backlog of over 6,000 OPSEU classification grievances in the OPS. Appendix 34 of the contract appointed a mediator “to assist in expediting consideration of the outstanding disputes and in resolving them.”
The committee’s work was supposed to take 12 months from the time of its first meeting in November 2005.
OPSEU members Moira Cowan and Lynda Ferguson have been working on the backlog, assisted by OPSEU Job Security Officer Marg Simmons.“We are disappointed that the process is not yet complete,” said Ferguson. “OPSEU members have been waiting for years, and they deserve to know where their grievances stand.
“In the last year, we have examined all the evidence submitted by grievors and presented the case for every grievance. By now we hoped we would be notifying grievors of outcomes, but unfortunately the process has not gone as smoothly as we hoped.”
“We would love to be able to tell OPSEU members what is happening, but we don’t want to jeopardize the progress we have made,” said Cowan. “We’re committed to doing everything we can to bring this project to a conclusion. It has been very frustrating. Hopefully, we will be able to communicate soon with members about their grievances, the way this process unfolded, and what we need to do next.”
Life insurance protected past age 65
OPSEU members in the OPS who work past age 65 will keep their life insurance coverage under a new agreement between the union and the Ontario government on Dec. 11.
The agreement modifies four articles in the OPSEU collective agreement. It became necessary after the McGuinty government passed legislation ending mandatory retirement for Ontario workers who reach the age of 65.
Supplementary health and dental benefits will also continue past the age of 65, but the collective agreement did not have to be changed to make this happen. The collective agreement says that plan coverage ends on the date of termination of employment, not at age 65.
The employer has refused to provide continued coverage for Long Term Income Protection or Workers Safety and Insurance Board benefits.
The employer’s rationale is that sick or injured workers past the age of 65 are eligible for pension income and do not need LTIP or WSIB benefits to live.
“The employer’s argument is begging for a legal challenge,” says Terry Baxter, OPSEU’s outgoing Supervisor for the OPS. “There is a strong argument to be made that this is a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code.”
The employer’s policy will have to be challenged on the facts of individual cases, Baxter said.
It won’t be challenged by him, however. Thirty-six years after taking his first OPS job as a dairy products inspector with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Brother Baxter is retiring, effective Dec. 22.All of OPSEU thanks Terry for his years of service and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours.
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.
FRONTlines
Information for OPSEU members in the Ontario Public Service
December 1, 2006New MERCs must accept the "challenge to lead," CERC chair says
OPSEU members elected to sit on Ministry Enforcement and Renewal Committees must accept the "challenge to lead," Eric Morin says.
The OPSEU chair of the Central Enforcement and Renewal Committee made the comments last weekend at the OPS Divisional meetings in Toronto."We can influence the direction in the OPS over the next two years and beyond," Morin told delegates. "We can be the masters of our own destiny. But this can only be accomplished if we accept the challenge and seize control to lead."
Held every two years, "the Divisionals" offer union training to over 500 OPSEU activists in the OPS. Delegates get a chance to meet with co-workers from across the province.
The election of MERC members is a key purpose of the Divisionals. Most MERCs have three or four members, depending on the ministry. They typically meet four times a year with employer representatives from their ministry.
MERCs are responsible for monitoring changes in their ministries that impact on OPSEU members and working with the employer to solve workplace problems as they arise. Enforcing the collective agreement and defending the work members do are also key to the work of MERC members.
The new MERCs elected on Saturday need to be more pro-active in dealing with the employer, Morin said. "We spend far too much time responding to their unilateral disclosures (about workplace changes) when we should be in bilateral talks or bargaining to reduce the need for disclosures," he said.
"We spend too much time dealing with process and procedure while important issues lay in waiting.""We need to support our demands at the MERC tables with campaigns, political action, and creative bargaining," Morin said. He pointed to the "Same rights" campaign to restore successor rights to Crown employees and the "Save the MNR" campaign to restore funding to the Ministry of Natural Resources as two areas where member action was making a difference.
OPSEU president Leah Casselman agreed. "The MNR campaign is having an impact. It is gaining support. Member morale is rising. Even managers are onside with the campaign," she said.
She urged the leadership in other ministries to fight budget cuts in the same way.
"Cuts are happening in all ministries," Casselman said. "If we had the same kind of campaign in every ministry of the OPS, in an election year, this government would be tripping over itself trying to figure out how to get us to stop. Without the pressure of our opposition, though, the Liberals are just going to keep doing what they're doing."
Ending Mandatory Retirement
This communication is to ensure that all staff are aware that, starting December 2006, mandatory retirement will be eliminated in the Ontario Public Service (OPS).
In December 2005, the Ontario legislature passed the Ending Mandatory Retirement Statute Law Amendment Act. The legislation comes into effect on December 12, 2006, one year after it received royal assent. This past transition year was provided to give employers throughout Ontario the opportunity to make any necessary changes to their policies and/or information they provide to their employees.
What this change means is that, starting December 12, 2006, OPS employees will no longer be required to retire at age 65. Staff will be able to decide when to retire based on their lifestyles, circumstances and personal priorities.
The OPS is committed to diversity and providing inclusive workplaces for all its employees.
Work is continuing on updating benefits for employees working beyond age 65 and we will provide further information about this as it becomes available.Information about lifting mandatory retirement is available for employees on the INTRANET Site MyOPS <http://intra.myops.gov.on.ca/> .
If you have questions, please contact either your manager, or your Human Resources Consultant.
FRONTlines
Information for OPSEU members in the Ontario Public Service
August 25, 2006Members, managers will test new job evaluation system
200 OPSEU members to take partFor the last six months, a joint OPSEU/employer committee has been working away on a new job evaluation system for OPSEU jobs in the OPS. The committee is now asking for help to test its draft plan.
Beginning today, a selection of OPSEU members and their managers will receive letters by e-mail asking them to take part in a two-part exercise. The first part will be a three-hour questionnaire, to be completed during working hours. The second part will be a three-hour focus- group discussion, also during working hours.
Participation is voluntary. The union is urging all OPSEU members to take part if invited.
"This is not a test of anyone's job, and it will not affect how anyone's job is rated in the final job evaluation system," said John Watson, an OPSEU member on the joint committee. "This is a test of our draft system. We need to gather facts to plug into the system to see what works, what doesn't work, and what needs to be fixed."It is in the interest of all OPSEU members to have the best classification system possible, and we can only create that if we have good information to work with."
The focus groups will be held in seven cities (one per OPSEU region), beginning in September. The cities are London, Hamilton, Peterborough, Kingston, Toronto, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay. The goal is to have 200 OPSEU members and their managers take part.
Both the questionnaire and the focus groups will be completed during work time.
About the Job Evaluation Project
The Job Evaluation Project grows out of Apppendix 34 of the OPSEU collective agreement in the OPS, in which the union and the employer agreed to fix a hopelessly outdated job classification system.
The Job Evaluation Project will not create new pay rates. Pay rates will be negotiated during the next round of contract talks.
The current collective agreement expires at the end of December 2008.
No pay adjustments will happen before then unless required to maintain pay equity.
For a full explanation of the Job Evaluation Project, read the Question-and-Answer document athttp://www.opseu.org/ops/frontlines/frontlinesfeb142006attach.htm
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.