To All Casual
Members in the
OPSEU Liquor Board Employees Division:
|
NOTE:
Surveys have been sent to your Store / Department using
LCBO internal mail. Please complete the survey
ASAP and return them in the envelope provided with your
survey package. |
As you know,
the idea of providing a benefit plan for LCBO casual employees
has been an important issue for a number of years. After the
last round of bargaining, the LCBO agreed in principle with
OPSEU that, at the Union’s future request, the employer would
redirect pay-in-lieu of benefits payments (either 3% or 4%
depending on your date of hire) from employee paychecks to a
Union-sponsored benefit plan for casuals.
Under OPSEU’s
policies, a re-direction of pay-in-lieu could only be made if
authorized by a clear majority of casual members in a
secret-ballot vote.
A Casual
Benefits Committee was struck by the OPSEU Liquor Board
Division Executive in the fall of 2005 and has been discussing
what a benefit package for casuals members could look like and
cost. Although the Committee had hoped to be able to purchase
a benefit plan comparable to the one enjoyed by full-time
members, it quickly became apparent that this was not
possible. Full-time group insurance benefits cost in the
neighborhood of 8.5% of earnings while only 3 or 4% of
earnings is available to buy benefits for the 3400 or so
casual employees of the LCBO.
The fact is
insured benefits are expensive to buy. However, by pooling
casual pay-in-lieu dollars it is possible to buy more as a
group than members would be able to buy as individuals.
The key
challenge facing the Casual Benefits Committee is to design a
benefit plan that casual members will find useful and
attractive despite the limited amount of money available to
finance it. To assist the Committee with this work, a Casual
Membership Survey has been developed and included in this
mailing.
We are asking
all casual members to take a few moments to fill out the
survey, then place it in the enclosed envelope and return it
to the Union via LCBO internal mail within one (1) week of
receipt. Please NOTE that the survey needs to be filled out on
your own time.
If you have ANY
questions concerning this survey, you can forward those
questions via e-mail to Marnie Niemi, OPSEU Benefits
Counsellor, at mniemi@opseu.org
On behalf of
the OPSEU Liquor Board Employees Division (LBED), the Casual
Benefits Committee members want to thank you in advance for
your assistance with this important initiative.
In Solidarity,
The LBED Casual
Benefits Committee
