Bargaining information for OPSEU members
at the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
Issue 1 - December 23, 2009
Seasonal and part-time employment? Temporary layoffs?
Employer offer is “97%” bad
Your bargaining team met with employer reps Gerry Stuart, Jack Julien, Greg Volkes, Greg Martino, Sharon Dunn, Jim Petrin and Candice Foster on December 17 to exchange proposals for your next collective agreement. What we received from the employer wasn’t as bad as we expected...it was a whole lot worse.
Our employer has been making a lot of noise with their “97 by 2011” plan. What they forgot to mention was that their bargaining position would fall into that same model – meaning that it was 97 per cent bad, or more.
The employer has been extremely vague over the past few months about the impending re-org coming down in MPAC. After seeing the proposals they have put on the table, it has become crystal clear to us what they have in store.
The employer wants to “discuss” the following:
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Seasonal and part-time employment
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Temporary lay-off language
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Introducing a “probationary period” for current employees who are successful in job competitions
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Takeaways in benefits, including dental, orthotics and paramedical
And the list goes on.
This spells one thing, and one thing only: This employer wants a workforce that is disposable, changeable and non-permanent.
The employer is looking for, in their words, “Workforce flexibility” – meaning the ability to lay off and shuffle staff around at will. They also want to create a larger part-time workforce, specifically targeting property inspectors and employees at the Milner site for “seasonal and part-time employment.”
This is, of course, the same employer who is desperately seeking a “Top 100” designation of best employers in Canada. With these types of proposals on the table, that’s hardly likely. Your team has presented the employer our demands on the issues you want addressed in your next collective agreement, including a wage increase, benefit improvements, post-retirement benefits, compressed work-week and flex time arrangements, and especially job security provisions with the pending re-org.
We are scheduled to meet with the employer again Jan. 6-8, 2010. At that time, we will try to get the employer to be a lot more clear on their so-called bargaining position. In the meantime, stay tuned for further updates.
Keep in touch!
To ensure a speedy response to your questions, your leadership team has divided up all MPAC offices in the province. If you have a question or a comment, please contact the bargaining team member responsible for your office. Contact us by e-mail at work or at home, as follows:
Ivan Herrington, Chair: Barrie, Kitchener,
London, Milner (CCC, CPF, LPU),
Mississauga, Trenton.
E-mail: iherrington@cogeco.ca; herriniv@mpac.ca
Gary Cooper: Brantford, Chatham, Goderich, Hamilton, Owen Sound, Sarnia, Windsor.
Email: gcooper@iaw.com; cooperga@mpac.ca
Everett Kelly: Oshawa, Peterborough,
Pickering, Richmond Hill, Toronto.
E-mail: evkelly@rogers.com; kellyev@mpac.ca
David Lynch: Bracebridge, Dryden, Fort
Frances, Kenora, North Bay, Ottawa, Parry
Sound, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins.
E-mail: opseu409@yahoo.ca; lynchda@mpac.ca
Bill Robertson: Bancroft, Brockville, Cornwall, Kingston, Pembroke.
E-mail: robertson2@cogeco.ca; robertbi@mpac.ca
Rob Field, OPSEU Staff Negotiator
E-mail: rfield@opseu.org
ImpacT At the Table
is produced by the bargaining team for the Property Assessment Division of
the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and authorized for distribution
by Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president.
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