MTO violates collective agreement: Ignores Reasonable Efforts Committee
The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is refusing to meet with your Reasonable Efforts Committee as required by the Collective Agreement.
As a result of this obstinate attitude, we have been unable to deal directly with MTO on key issues during the proposed transfer.
Appendix 18, Article 4.1 requires a joint monitoring committee to discuss human resources issues during a transfer, to ensure the offer to the opt-ins meets the criteria in the Collective Agreement, and to provide a line of communications between the Ministry and the members. As MTO has not lived up to its obligations,
members are not getting the information they need during this critical time.
This is a shoddy way to deal with loyal employees who have worked hard to serve the people of Ontario.
OPSEU filed a grievance on March 13 which was denied at the second stage on April 10. A hearing date has been set for May 26 at the Grievance Settlement Board.
English MP calls on Serco to “pull up its socks”
Edward Davey, a Liberal Democrat MP (Kingston and Surbiton) called for an urgent review of all Building Maintenance operations in Kingston-upon-Thames following residents’ complaints about Serco’s performance as the Council’s building maintenance contractor.
Davey wrote to the Chief Executive of Kingston Council that, “After recent residents meetings and tours of local council estates (public housing), it is clear that Serco is simply not providing the quality of service that residents should expect.
“Many have told me that they have lost faith in Serco and are desperate for another company to carry out and oversee maintenance work.”
“The Council should formally investigate the many complaints about this contractor. Kingston Council must enforce its contracts thoroughly to get best value for local people.” See:
http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/news78.htm
“Woeful repair” in DC
You can find an article on Serco’s handling of the police car fleet in Washington, D.C, where it kept the fleet in a state of “woeful repair” according to this story in the Washington Times. For more information:
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20020627-362899.htm
More Serco cuts in the UK
In Jan. 2003, Serco Denholm, which operates tugs and barges in Plymouth’s Devonport Dockyard for the U.K. Royal Navy, threatened to cut 57 jobs “as a result of efficiency measures.” Serco Denholm expected 43 “redundancies” at Devonport, with a further 14 jobs going though attrition. More information at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2705561.stm
So long, Serco (from cupe.ca)
Serco has worn out its welcome in Ingersoll, Ontario and Weyburn, Saskatchewan, CUPE says. In both cases, Serco took over from bankrupt Recreation Services International (RSI). In Ingersoll, this was the second bankruptcy, after that of Contemporary Leisure Canada. Both towns transferred their contracts to Serco instead
of bringing them back in house. In both cases, the decision to contract out recreation services was done behind closed doors with no public consultation.
“The public never wanted our recreational services out of public hands,” says Weyburn city worker Greg Button, president of CUPE 90. “The private contractors they brought in had no more experience in running recreation services. And the services suffered. Staff were cut through attrition and user fees went up.”
In Ingersoll, a secretly-negotiated contract brought in unqualified managers, constant upheaval and lost jobs, CUPE says. “We dealt with phantom managers. The cast of characters changed constantly, so we never knew who we were dealing with,” says Doug Wheeler, president of CUPE 107.
During collective bargaining, RSI brought in a “hired gun” who said he would tear up the workers’ collective agreement in front of them. RSI forced Ingersoll workers out on a four-week strike in late 1996. During mediation, the workers discovered their pension funds were missing. Months later, after failing to make the
workers’ first post-strike payroll, RSI went bankrupt.
“Weyburn handed the rec services to Serco, even though in the end the contract cost more than if the city had done it itself. And Serco didn’t want to do things like pay for upkeep and maintenance,” says Button.
Another backroom deal
“When people in Ingersoll found out there’d been another backroom deal with no public input, they were screaming. They’d seen how bad contracting out was. Council took a lot of heat,” says Wheeler.
In Weyburn, Serco was a major issue in the 1999 civic election. The new council returned control of the city’s recreation facilities to the public sector.
Ingersoll town council opposed Serco’s attempts to raise user fees. Serco said it wasn’t renewing its contract. Services reverted to public hands in January 2000. Serco still has outstanding grievances on its handling of the employees’ pension plan.
For more information, see: http://www.cupe.ca/arp/09/default.asp
What Serco is offering you
Injured on the job? Under the OPS agreement you can elect to stay on the payroll for up to three months. With Serco, you go directly to WSIB, which pays 85 per cent of your net salary, assuming your claim is accepted. You would have already had your salary reduced to about 85 per cent on joining Serco, so now you would
be down to about 73 per cent of your OPS earnings.
This newsletter
Please forward this newsletter to as many of your colleagues as possible. it may be their only source for the “straight goods” on Serco so they can make an informed decision about their future. Let us know what you want to see in future issues. To receive it by e-mail, send your e-mail address to
dcox@opseu.org .
Contact OPSEU
Organizing: Contact OPSEU at 1-800-268-7376. Organizers for the DEC campaign are Paul Dunseith at ext.355, Ed Ogibowski at ext. 362 and Connie Huziak at ext. 327.
Your Job Security Officer is: Judith Marion, OPSEU x 370 jmarion@opseu.org
Your Reasonable Efforts Committee is: John O’Brien, Hm. (807)-628-8066; cell (807)-628-4364; jobrien2@tbaytel.net ; Gail Kreutzkamp home (519)-742-4017;
gailkreutzkamp@hotmail.com; Stephan Michnowiec, pager, 416-405-0050
Your MERC Team is: John O’Brien (as above), Serge Valcourt (705) 472-7900 x 6490, Robert Houston (519) 372-4045, Peggy Maybury (416) 235-4218. Or contact your Staff Representative or the steward in your workplace.
DEC Notes is published as a regular update for OPSEU staff in Driver Examiner Centres. More information on the government’s planned transfer of services can be viewed at:
http://www.opseu.org/campaign/mtooindex.htm on the OPSEU web site.
Authorized for Distribution:
Leah Casselman, President
