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Delegates meet to set priorities for bargaining The Central Demand setting meeting Dec. 1-2 was an exciting kick-off to this round of bargaining.
Delegates came to the meeting with a clear sense of members’ needs and priorities, and with the feeling that this is a critical round of central bargaining for OPSEU Hospital Professionals.
Debate was strategic and focused on issues where there is great need for improvement, both to keep pace with trends in the sector and to address situations of inequity, unfairness and hardship. Wages, the structure of the wage grid, insured benefits, job security issues, premium payments, vacation and leave
provisions, and health and safety, stand out as priorities.
Mobilization
Katie FitzRandolph, Communications Officer for OPSEU provided delegates with an introduction to media relations. Delegates began to identify the messages they want to communicate to their members and to the public during this round of bargaining. Barb Linds, Campaigns Officer for OPSEU presented the mobilization
plan.
Locals have already begun to identify coordinators and contacts for their internal “mapping of the workplace”. You should complete and send in all surveys to OPSEU head office by December 17. Once we can collect and analyze this information, we will plan week by week campaign actions and communicate these to
members.
We have also asked locals to choose members for the community mobilizing teams. Barb will tour the province in January to do community mobilizing and media training workshops.
Experienced team elected to bargain new contract
Delegates elected a bargaining team that has strong union experience and is representative of OPSEU’s regions. They bring a strong commitment to bargaining a collective agreement we can all be proud of and to addressing the concerns of all the classifications, whether they are represented on the bargaining team
or not.
Aimee Axler, Local 444
Aimee was re-elected chair of the bargaining team. She has been president of her local for 10 years and a member of the Central Bargaining Team for the last three rounds. Aimee works as a Senior Technologist in the Microbiology Lab at Kingston General Hospital.
David Hancock, Local 571
David has been an active OPSEU member since 1982. He works as a Medical Laboratory Technologist in the Blood Bank at the University Health Network in Toronto.
Robby Hersh, Local 583
Robby has been President of her local for five years. She works as a Speech-Language Pathologist at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto.
James O’Leary, Local 106
Jim has been president of his local 14 years and was a steward for six years before that. He has served on the Hospital Professionals Division Sector Executive for nine years, five terms on the OPSEU Constitution Committee and was on two previous Central Bargaining Teams. He is a Medical Laboratory
Technologist at London Health Sciences Centre in the area of Laboratory Systems.
Patty Rout, Local 348
Patty, a member of OPSEU for 26 years, has served on the executive of her local and was recently elected for a second term as Chair – OPSEU Hospital Professionals Division. She is active in her Labour Council and the Ontario Health Coalition. Patty works in the Histopathology department at Lakeridge Health Corporation in Oshawa.
Leslie Sanders, Local 348
Leslie has been President of her local for seven years. She is a Medical Laboratory Technologist at Lakeridge Health Corporation, in Oshawa.
Yves Shank, Local 659
Yves has been a member of his local executive for 10 years. He is also Alternate Trustee for the HOOPP plan. Yves is a Medical Laboratory Technologist in the department of Haematology-Blood Bank at Sudbury Regional Hospital.
Hospital Table Talk is the bargaining bulletin for OPSEU’s Hospital Professionals Division
Authorized for Distribution:
Leah Casselman, President
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