Bargaining information for OPSEU members
at the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
Issue 6 • March 29, 2010
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Employer files for No Board
The time to stand up is NOW
After two days of meetings with the employer, talks ended
Wednesday night with the announcement that the employer has filed for a No
Board Report.
What does this mean? It means that the employer has started
the clock ticking towards a legal strike/lockout deadline. At this point the
union assumes that the Report will be officially released on April 1. That
results in a strike/lockout deadline of 12:01 a.m. on April 18.
So what happened at the table? Here’s what transpired over
two days of bargaining.
First and foremost, the part-time issue is now OFF the
table. Thanks to the 92 per cent strike mandate you gave us, the employer
has abandoned their plans to create part-time jobs at MPAC. That was a huge
victory, and it was due solely to your support. Unfortunately, that was the
only good news we got.
· We have received NO improvements
to the benefit
plan. We have tried to work with the employer on tweaking certain parts of
our benefits, but they refuse to actually increase our benefit coverage.
· We have a slight increase to the wage offer (a total
of 6.5 per cent over four years) which pales in comparison to the money MPAC
has wasted on outside consultants.
· With respect to hiring practices and assignment of
acting positions, the employer openly admitted that there were problems…then
they refused to negotiate any changes to improve the situation.
To be clear, all your bargaining team has really achieved so
far is to eliminate some of the employer’s takeaways. The employer will not
entertain any improvements to the issues you have identified as priorities.
In the words of John Saunders, MPAC’s lawyer, “On the union’s major issues,
you’re not going to get there.
This is all bad enough. But the biggest issue we now face is
one that could now threaten the majority of our members. Here’s a bit of
background.
In MPAC we don’t trust
On February 19, MPAC President Carl Isenburg issued a memo
to all staff regarding the Organizational Review. In that letter, Isenburg
said, and we quote, “I must emphasize that there will be no job loss as a
result of this new realignment.”
Those were the words from the top. So at the bargaining
table, we asked the employer for language in our contract that said there
would be no job loss. Seemed simple. Apparently, it’s not.
The employer is now telling us that the only positions that
Isenburg was referring to were the positions that will be in the two
“streams.” The employer completely refuses to give us any language in the
contract that says there will be no job loss. When pressed, the employer
said that they could not make this commitment because of the impending
Auditor General’s Report (which will likely be very bad news for MPAC
management) and because there will be a new MPAC Board chair in June (“who
might have a different vision for the Corporation,” the employer says). We
can’t even get a clear definition from the employer which employees the
re-org is going to affect.
It appears that Isenburg’s promises are at best misleading.
While he says “no job loss” in a letter to you, employer reps at the table
are telling us “no one knows what the future holds” and that “no one today
has job security.”
We have been here before. This is the same employer who made
lots of promises during the “Futures” debacle then proceeded to layoff staff
and downgrade positions. The same employer who stumbles from one failed
management plan to another and the employees always wind up paying for it.
‘Not much stock in strike votes’
Your bargaining team asked the employer to meet again next
week to continue bargaining. They have refused. In fact, the employer will
only return to the table on April 16…two days before the strike deadline.
Obviously, MPAC wants to see if the members are committed to
supporting the bargaining team and getting a fair contract. “We don’t put
much stock in strike votes,” they told us at the table.
MPAC is giving you a test. They want to see if you will
crumble in the next few weeks. They want to know if you will accept their
re-org plan without any enhancements to your job security. That is totally
unacceptable to us. We will not gamble with our members’ jobs when MPAC
themselves refuse to reveal which members their re-org plans will affect.
So get ready. Over the next three weeks, we have to show
this employer we are very serious about our mandate. We must show them we
will not be fooled by their tactics again. We have learned our lessons after
all the years of broken promises and failed plans.
Strike preparations are beginning now, and we will let you
know as events unfold.
Ramp it up
Workplaces are already letting us know that they will
continue to show their support in the workplace with “black clothing” days
and other displays of support.
We ask that EVERY workplace demonstrate some type of visible
and vocal support. It’s time to make some noise – the employer IS listening!
Take a photo of what you are doing at your worksite, and send it to Ivan
Herrington at
iherrington@cogeco.ca.
Attend the session – ask the questions
The employer has scheduled Employee Information Sessions to
discuss their plans for the re-org. We expect you to get little in the way
of substance, because even the employer doesn’t seem to know what is
happening. Since your bargaining team can’t get a straight answer at the
bargaining table, here are some questions for you to ask:
-
Will there by any layoffs in MPAC?
-
Will there be any more positions downgraded?
-
Will there be any contracting out?
-
How will employees be distributed?
-
How many employees will be in each stream?
-
Why won’t the employer work with the union to fix
the flawed hiring process?
-
How can you implement a re-org plan with knowing
what the plan is?
We encourage ALL members to go to these information
sessions. If you actually get an answer to your questions, please let your
bargaining team know.
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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