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Where to Vote

On October 26, Local 592 will elect its president, vice-president secretary and treasurer for 2001 - 2002, and two trustees. You can vote at: •12 noon -2 p.m., 365 Bloor St. E. Boardroom 15B • 4:30-9 p.m., OPSEU head office 100 Lesmill Road, in the Theatre Make sure you are available to vote.

Who can stand for nomination?

If you are an OPSEU member in good standing you can stand for election to the local executive. First you have to be elected by your unit as a Steward, as only stewards can stand for election to the Local Executive. If you want to run for trustee, you must not hold any other position in the local.

If you have been active on committees or in some other way in the union, or have wanted to be involved, it might be a good next step. Or, if you think the local is not doing enough, and you could do better, why not give it a try?

If you want to stand for election to the LEC, or for a trustee position, please fill in the attached nomination form. Nomination forms must be faxed to John Ford, OPSEU staff representative, at 416-593-9339 by 4 p.m. on October 24. Again, only members in good standing can be nominated.

Please ensure you have a membership card if you want to vote or stand for nomination. If you do not have a card, please contact a member of the Local 592 executive.

OPSEU - Your Union Fighting for Tenants and Workers

OPSEU recently joined with tenants and other unions to lobby Toronto City Council to make the new housing corporation responsive to the needs of tenants and workers.

The Toronto Community Housing Corporation comes into being as of January 1, 2002. It is the result of a merger of the Toronto Housing Corporation (THC) and the Metro Toronto Housing Corporation (MTHC).

The corporation will be an arms length agency of the city of Toronto. The city is considered the sole shareholder of the housing corporation. The company will be run directly by a 13-member Board of Directors.

OPSEU pushed for a ban on contracting-out and privatization of the housing corporation’s programs and services in a coalition of tenants and other labour groups. City Council refused to listen to workers and tenants on this issue. The new housing corporation will have the right to set up subsidiary corporations. The first one will likely be Toronto Social Housing Connections, the centralized waiting list currently managed by staff at THC and MTHC.

Consultations?

Members of the Local 592 executive attended “consultations” held by the employer over the summer about the new housing corporation. OPSEU made the point repeatedly that there must be no contracting-out of services and programs.

Local 592 president Suzanne Kelly told a press conference Sept. 17: “I think the citizens should demand that their public housing remain a public service administered by the public for the public.” The press conference was organized by the coalition of tenants and unions.

The union spoke out against privatization at a joint meeting of two committees of City Council Sept. 20. OPSEU Staff representative John Ford told councillors that staff at MTHC see their work as more than a job. Staff deliver programs that support some of the most vulnerable people in our city, people who can least afford to live under a private sector landlord and are most at risk for becoming homeless. Staff know the importance of public sector employees doing this work. Housing is a vital public service that must not be privatized or contracted out.

Tenants are Voters

Full Council debated the rules that the new housing corporation will have to live by at its meeting Oct. 3. As part of the coalition of tenants and labour, OPSEU contributed 1,000 stickers that read: “Tenants are voters”. They were distributed to tenants and labour activists who packed council chambers and to sympathetic councillors.

Progressive councillors such as Pam McConnell, David Miller, Howard Moscoe and Michael Walker attempted to get council to support protections for tenants and workers. These included a city-appointed ombudsperson for tenants and a no-contracting out policy for the housing corporation.

These and other worthy motions were defeated. In a blatantly anti-democratic move, many of these motions were ruled out of order and not permitted to be put on the council floor for a vote. This allowed right-wing councilors to avoid being put on the record about where they stand on a number of tenant and worker issues.

A report on employment matters will go to Council on or before Dec. 4. To date, the employer has been purposely vague about the effect of the merger on employees. OPSEU will continue to advocate for its members and report back any information we find out.

The new corporation will be the third-largest social housing authority in North America, housing 164,000 tenants in 60,000 units across Toronto and employing 1,500 staff.

Just what was said . . .

“I don't know what the province is doing. They're about to abdicate their entire responsibility because they're going to give it away to the city to manage. Pretty soon the city will manage the province. ...This non-government government is saying, "We don't want to manage any more and we're going to let Mel Lastman manage every one of the important services that pertain to the province." You're giving it all away”. -Rosario Marchese, NDP housing Critic, December 11, 2000, debate on the Social Housing Reform Act

“It is as a direct result of the Harris government housing policies that we find ourselves in this state of crisis, and the offloading, the downloading of housing responsibility from the province government on to municipal governments, and I would add that I am not aware of any other place in the world which has taken this extraordinary step of transferring housing authority from a state level on to a municipal level.” -David Caplan, Liberal Housing Critic, debate on the Social Housing Reform Act Keeping in touch

We want to keep in touch with you. Please check the OPSEU web site frequently to find out what’s going on in your Union.

If you’re interested, please provide your e-mail address so we can send you regular updates of important developments within the Union including your local. Please send your home e-mail address to lwilliams@opseu.org and mention you are with Local 592.

For more information, please contact:

Local 592 executive: Suzanne Kelly, president 416-397-5449
Patricia Lee-Quai, vice-president 416-249-4619
Mike LePage, unit chair, security 416-873-9237

This newsletter Home Pages is being sent to keep you informed of activities within your union and your local. You are invited to contribute to future issues. Please contact David Cox or Megan Park at 416-443-8888. You can also keep informed by visiting OPSEU’s web site at http://www.opseu.org