TORONTO – The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is offering the Ontario government its full co-operation to boost wages for information technology workers in the Ontario Public Service.

"In the current round of bargaining, we have every intention of negotiating for higher wages for IT staff, and for all OPSEU members in the Ontario Public Service," said OPSEU president Leah Casselman. "We are delighted to see that the Ontario government appears to agree with us. It should make bargaining a lot easier."

Casselman’s offer of co-operation came after provincial auditor Erik Peters announced today that staff shortages in the OPS were hobbling the government’s efforts to deal with the Year 2000, or "Millenium Bug," computer problem, and that too-low salaries were part of the reason.

"Management Board Secretariat should ensure its compensation policies are sufficiently competitive to retain technically skilled systems development staff," the auditor said.

Surprisingly, Management Board has concurred with this recommendation. The number of information technology staff in the OPS has decreased by about 20 per cent over the last two years.

So far, Management Board has partly responded to the problem by hiring expensive private consultants – a costly mistake, said Casselman.

"OPSEU members could get a huge pay raise and still cost less than the fat-cat consultants who are taking over right now," she said.

OPSEU has already begun negotiations with the government towards its next collective agreement in the OPS. The current one expires at the end of 1998.

The 100,000-member OPSEU represents 60,000 workers in the Ontario Public Service.

The 32 members of Local 241 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union at Mohawk College have voted 100 per cent in favour of strike action to back their contract demands.

The members of Local 241 provide cleaning services at the Fennell Campus in Hamilton. They are employed by Marriott Corporation and have been without a contract since May 1997. Their average wage is $10.50 an hour and they have no benefits. Key issues on the bargaining table are employee benefits, job security and wages. Management applied for conciliation after negotiations stalled in February and the union held its strike vote on May 30.

"Management’s refusal to move on these important issues is very discouraging to our members who are proud of the work they do at the College," said Bebe DeFreitas, OPSEU Staff Representative helping to negotiate the contract. "While our members prefer to negotiate a settlement with Marriott, they are ready to walk the line in order to be treated fairly."

The Union is ready to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a settlement with the help of a Conciliation Officer from the Ministry of Labour.

THUNDER BAY – Closing Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital doesn’t show any vision for psychiatric care in the vast northwestern area of the province, says John O’Brien, regional vice-president for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents the hospital’s staff.

"The driving force behind the closure is more like a hallucination," he said. "And the voices they are hearing are not those of this community.

"There are 31,104 names on a petition, 2,740 letters of protest, more than 10,000 signed protest cards, and 418 personal letters from this region telling the health care restructuring commission that it is wrong to think about closing this hospital," O’Brien said.

Ontario taxpayers have built and paid for an effective mental health care system. They don’t want to see it destroyed.

They know from experiences elsewhere what happens when a psychiatric hospital closes its doors: the patients drift into the community without supports; they stop taking medication; they wind up on our streets, in our jails, in our morgues.

"We don’t have the community supports in Northwestern Ontario to deal with this caseload. We don’t have the number of psychiatrists needed to treat people."

"We have to convince our elected representatives that closing Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital would be a disaster for people with mental illness in Northwestern Ontario, for the families, their friends and all who try to serve their needs."

For further information: John O’Brien: (807)767-2292 or (807)474-1314

A consultant's report on Ontario correctional facilities underscores what union members have been telling management for years: Ontario's jails are tough places to work.

Leah Casselman, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, says the union has embarked on a major systemic change program with the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services, aimed at changing the culture of the jails.

"We are attempting to bring positive change to the working conditions of our members,"
said Casselman. "We are hoping that this report will spur management to make some positive moves as well."

OPSEU did not officially sanction the study, which was prepared by the consulting firm Coopers and Lybrand for the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services. The 55-page report outlines systemic morale problems among correctional staff, many of which are traced to bad management practices.

OPSEU and the ministry are now in negotiations on the effects of the Harris government's plans to close 20 of the 52 community jails across the province and construct giant mega-jails holding 1,200 inmates each.

"Our members have been living under the threat of layoffs and privatization for the past three years," Casselman said. "One of the best ways to improve morale in the jails would be to remove the axe over their heads and get on with improving the system."

OPSEU represents about 3,500 correctional officers and staff in Ontario adult correctional facilities.

For further information: Paul Bilodeau: 416/443-8888