February 2011 - Issue 1
Message from the Chair
Dear Community Services Division
Members,
The launching of a Community Services
Division newsletter is long overdue. At the Nov. 2009 Divisional meeting
held at the bi-annual BPS Conference, 264 delegates representing over
16,700 OPSEU members in our division joined together to create our
“Community DNA” (Developing, Networking, Advocating). We strengthened
our connections and solidarity through sharing our stories and our
challenges. We resolved to work toward a future in which our membership
and the communities we work in thrive and prosper.
The CSD represents OPSEU members
working in Developmental Services (Sector 2), Children’s Aid Societies
(Sector 4), Youth Corrections (Sector 7), Children’s Treatment (Sector
15) and the newly created Sector 5 (representing workers in Childcare,
Children and Family Services, Community Agencies and Legal Services).
The CSDC Executive want this
quarterly newsletter to be a resource to you, the membership. You will
see in this inaugural edition that we are setting the bar high. We want
this newsletter to be interactive, so if you have any ideas about what
you want to see, let us know! And what better way to launch than with a
“Name the Newsletter” contest! Please keep reading for details.
Lets work together to build our
solidarity while we continue to provide services to the many diverse
communities we live and work in! As the saying goes: “many hands make
light work.” I think creating positive change and making a contribution
is in our ‘DNA’ – don’t you?
In Solidarity,
Deborah Gordon, CSDC Chair
Legislation News
Select Committee on Mental Health and
Addiction
The government Select Committee on
Mental Health and Addictions released its final report this year.
Sector chairs in Child Treatment, Children’s Aid Societies, Youth
Corrections and Developmental Services met with Health Sector chairs in
November to discuss the 18 recommendations made in the final report. The
chairs are pursuing greater coordination between the sectors on the
issue of mental health. A proposal will be going to the Executive Board
in the New Year requesting funding to produce a report summarizing
concerns in each sector accompanied by a survey. The Minister of Health
and Long Term Care announced a 10 year mental health strategy in
December. For more information go to:
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ministry_
reports/mental_health/mentalhealth_rep.pdf
Public Sector Wage Restraint Policy
OPSEU has mounted a province-wide
campaign against the wage freeze policy. In November and December
mobilizers in every region met with locals, lobbied MPPs, leafleted in
target ridings and organized local media events to expose how public
sector wage cuts are being used to fund McGuinty’s corporate tax cut.
All OPSEU members are asked to send a message to their MPP and complete
the wage calculator. Please take action:
http://www.opseu.org/campaign/stopthewagefreeze/index.htm
Social Assistance Review Advisory
Council
On June 14 the Council produced its
report recommending that the government appoint commissioners to review
social assistance in Ontario. On November 30 the government appointed
Frances Lankin and Dr. Munir Sheikh as commissioners and called for a
review of the special diet program. The Income Security Advocacy Centre
welcomed this announcement as a step forward on the road to improved
income security for Ontarians. The review will begin January 2011 and
finish in June 2012.
For more information go to the Income
Security Advocacy Centre website:
http://sareview.ca/
Pensions
TOPPS fund
This is a brand-new pension plan for
OPSEU members working in the Broader Public
Sector. TOPPS fund is a target benefit
plan which is available to provide pensions for BPS members without
pension coverage. Please visit:
www.opseu.org/benefits/toppsfund for features of the TOPPS fund.
If you're not currently a member of a
registered pension plan email:
toppsfund@opseu.org to have a presentation with your bargaining unit
today.
Health and Safety Bill 168
Workplace violence and workplace
harassment are now recognized in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Employers must:
-
Prepare policies to address
workplace violence and harassment, perform an assessment of the
risks of workplace violence to workers and report back to the Joint
Health and Safety Committee or Health and Safety representative
-
Develop and maintain a workplace
violence program
-
Provide information and instruction
to workers on workplace violence and harassment policies and
programs
-
Both policies must be reviewed
annually and reassess the risks of violence to protect workers.
For more information visit our website:
http://www.opseu.org/hands/OPSEU-guide-to-bill-168.htm
Sector Updates
Developmental
Services
Central Bargaining News
Units will be receiving the latest
information on the central bargaining process through their staff
representatives. It is vital that members have the opportunity to
discuss this process at a members’ meeting. A Central Bargaining
Newsletter will be circulated in January with the latest details.
Appointed central bargaining team
members: Sue Walker (c), Karen McKinnon (a), and
Silvana-Cacciatore-Roy (b). As per the
by-laws, the sector executive has appointed the team for this round of
central bargaining with each sub-sector being represented.
Fifth Annual
Developmental Services
Appreciation Day,
January 19, 2011
All units will be receiving packages in
the first week of January highlighting the importance of decent jobs.
Children’s Aid
Societies
Ontario’s most vulnerable children and
youth – are they ready for change?
2010 has been another year of
instability across the sector and 2011 is set to be a year for child
welfare reform. Agencies received letters to pursue amalgamations,
judicial reviews of previous year funding failures continue, and 22
agencies filed section 14 reviews. In 2010 agency deficits were at $22.5
million with the greatest debts in the central east region.
Great lobby efforts and mobilizing
across the sector has brought the issue of an outdated funding formula
to the forefront. The Minister’s office heard loud and clear that, “CAS
staff spend large amounts of time on process and paperwork – time that
could be better spent with kids and families,” Minister
Laurel Broten, MCYS Communique Dec 16,
2010. It will be a challenging year ahead, stay strong and continue to
have your voices heard.
Commission to Promote Sustainable
Child Welfare
Elected sector representatives and
bargaining council members had the opportunity to represent the workers
across the sector at two meetings this past year with the
Commissioners. Information collected in the OPSEU-CUPE joint survey
“Having our Voices Heard,” provided a background for delegates. Front
line staff delivered a message of sector instability caused by the
paperwork burden, workload issues, and concerns about the effects of
changes on children and families.
Please continue to review the
recommendations and discussion papers on the Commission’s website at:
http://www.sustainingchildwelfare.ca/ and send a comment to
the Commissioners through the contact us page. The sector also asks
that you send your
concerns/questions to the sector chair
Rick Pybus at
rbpybus@yahoo.com.
Central Bargaining Discussions
The Ministry of Labour hosted a meeting
of Employer, CUPE, OPSEU, and Ministry of Children and Youth Services
representatives on Tuesday December 14th to discuss potential mechanisms
that could provide a forum to discuss and possibly resolve some of the
systemic issues affecting bargaining tables and to increase stability
from a labour perspective in the child welfare sector.
The meeting was exploratory in nature
for the purpose of information gathering. It was in no way a commitment
of the parties to any process or mechanism. We discussed the issues
affecting the child welfare sector and models of bargaining that other
sectors have developed. The meeting was informative. The parties have
agreed to meet again in mid-January to continue to explore an
alternative bargaining model for the sector. There will be a full
report back to the sector by the end of January 2011.
Pink Shirt Day
Feb 23, 2011
In 2008, members of L.668, Sudbury
Children’s Aid Society, marked the beginning of a sector wide initiative
to support National Pink Shirt Day to stop bullying. This year we
encourage each bargaining unit to mobilize its members to mark this
day.
A variety of oversized pink t-shirts
will arrive in the new year. Be creative with your event! Join the
partnership to stand up against bullying. For more information on this
sector initiative please contact
Jane Kaija at:
kaija@bell.blackberry.net
Child
Treatment
“Child Treatment is like shuffling deck
chairs on the titanic while the Ministry of Children and Youth
Services holds the life jackets.” Deb Gordon
As a result of continued lack of
investment in children’s mental health and
treatment services by government, our
sector is increasingly witnessing the
closure of residential group homes, wrap
around programs, section classrooms and 0-6 programs. We have also seen
reductions in service capacity for the provision of assessment and
treatment services. The unraveling of programs that are sensitive to
community needs continues as a result of increased use of contracts and
the loss of control of budgets. Lay offs have occurred in: Sarnia,
Kingston, Niagara, Sudbury, Oshawa and Algoma.
Our members are fighting to protect the
integrity of services in children’s mental health and treatment
services. The CTS coordinated bargaining conference held in November
was one opportunity for members to fight back through preparation for
the 2011 round of bargaining. We have become ‘experts’ in the field in
bargaining in hard times. With core budgets frozen in all but two of
the last 17 years, our resolve has been strengthened to ensure that
publicly funded children’s mental health and children’s treatment
services remain available for children, youth and their families. It’s
time that children and youth treatment services became a government
funding priority.
In the coming months, we will be closely
following Bill 117, Children’s Mental Health Act 2010. This is “an
Act to amend the Child and Family Services Act and the Ministry of
Health and Long-Term Care Act to transfer the administration of certain
children’s mental health services to the Minister of Health and
Long-Term Care.” This bill was introduced as one of the outcomes of the
Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions report released in
August 2010. For further details on this bill check out the following
link:
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet=&BillID=2415
Child Treatment and Children’s Aid
Societies chairs met with the provincial Child Advocate’s office on
December 17 to discuss the impact that funding cuts and freezes have had
on children and youth and the services our members provide in our
communities.
Community
Services
Local 426, unit members on strike
Workers at Maisons de famille have been
on strike since Nov. 17. Child care workers are fighting against the
employer’s wish to move workers to different communities. Please go to
the OPSEU website to get the latest update and see ways you can offer
your solidarity.
Sector 5 Leadership development
The Community Services Divisional
Council is working on a plan to support the development of a Sector
Executive to be elected at the BPS conference.
Bargaining News
In 2010 over 15 units settled. Youth
Employment Services, Local 512 (YES) and Homes First Society, Local 540,
ratified collective agreements with wage increases and no major
concessions.
Members of Homes First, Local 540 at
their ratification meeting.
Youth
Corrections
Sector executive members continue to
look at the regulations and will begin lobbying for changes to the
legislation for mandatory WSIB for its members across the sector. Other
areas of interest are recommendations from the Select Committee on
Mental Health and Addictions and strengthening coordination across the
justice sector.
At the table in 2011
The following sectors will be in
bargaining:
Child Treatment 22
units
Developmental Services 50 units
Youth Justice 16
units
Children’s Aid Societies 12 units
Community Agencies 31 units
Name this Newsletter Contest
Submit a name for this newsletter and
your local could win a gift certificate for $100 from OPSEU
enterprises.
Email your submission to
dagordon@rivernet.net
by February 14 (include name & local).
Newsletter Index
