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March 11, 2005

Members voices heard, employer comes to the table

On Mar. 4, OPSEU members across the province held rallies to support demands for the employer to come to the table on Mar. 9 to commence issue bargaining. The employer did in fact come to the table, largely due to the tremendous efforts of the members last Friday.

The province-wide rallies gave excellent support for the bargaining teams and enhanced member unity. The message was loud and clear that it’s time to begin discussions on the issues tabled Jan. 19. The huge success of these efforts by the members did not go unnoticed by the employer, and in particular, the premier.

On Mar. 9, your Central Bargaining Team met with the employer and the employer stood firm on their position of completing essential service negotiations prior to having in-depth discussions on issues. The Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act does state that essential services and issues bargaining can occur simultaneously. The team believes they can effectively do both and are working harder than ever to complete the Essential Service Agreements. Talks with respect to questions around issue bargaining are scheduled to continue. Thanks go to all the members who participated Mar. 4.

Employer refuses to bargain issues with Corrections Team

Employer representative Ed Johnson announced to your Corrections Bargaining Team on Wed., Mar. 9, 2005, that they will not negotiate issues with your team until after essential services bargaining is completed. As most already know, the employer deliberately stalled the essential services bargaining for nearly two months when it tabled its ridiculous position on essential services for Correctional Officers, Probation Officers and Probation and Parole Officers. Even when the Ontario Labour Relations Board ordered them to bargain essential services, the employer took a week to get started.

We guess some people can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

Diary response overwhelming

In the last issue of The Source (Issue 13, March 4, 2005), we ran an article called “Inmates bribed during last strike.” It was the story of a manager who made a diary of his time as a scab during the 2002 OPS Strike.

The response to this article has been overwhelmingly positive and we have had hundreds of requests for the diary. The Corrections Bargaining Team has the actual diary in electronic format and we are more than willing to e-mail it to you.

The diary, titled “From The Inside Out,” was written by Jacques Goudreault, a scab manager from the Ministry of Finance. The diary includes photos of managers posing behind bars inside the facility and his views on how the correctional institution operated during the strike. The diary also labels the group of scab mangers who worked inside the Rideau Correctional and Treatment Centre during the strike as “The Real Lost Tribe,” despite the racist overtones of that title. We have printed the names of five of these scab managers in the “OPS Sunshine Club” this week.

If you would like to us to recognize a scab manager who worked inside your workplace during the OPS Strike of 2002, send their name and ministry to: corrections@bellnet.ca or centralubu@bellnet.ca. 

News from the employer ‘compound’

Your bargaining teams were greeted by a new addition to the employer “Bargaining Bunker” on Monday, Mar. 5, 2005.

At the bargaining center, uniformed security guards have been added to the locks, fish eye spy ports and buzzers outside the compound door. Employer reps cite “security concerns” as the rationale for this increase in their personal protection.

Is this employer paranoia or just a lack of trust for their workers? We don’t know; the bargaining teams have not given the employer any reason to “beef up” security. If the employer displayed the same level of interest in bargaining as they do security, we could have concluded this contract months ago.

The teams have begun exploring with the non-unionized security guards if they would like to unionize in the near future.

Spotlight on your work

Court Clerk/Court Registrar

Office Administration - OAG 6/OAG 8

Members in these two positions work inside the courtrooms of criminal, civil and other types of courts throughout Ontario. Unclassified staff, working irregular hours, dominate these jobs. Their duties include swearing in witnesses and assisting jury selection. They are responsible for exhibits and files in the courtroom as well as paperwork relating to probation orders, conditional sentence orders, restitution orders, custody orders, etc.

These workers must possess excellent written skills in order to deal with all the documents involved in court procedures. Organizational ability is integral to the job. This position also requires workers to sit for long periods of time, as they cannot be excused from the courtroom unless there is a break or lunch.

Your bargaining team appreciates you and wants a collective agreement that respects the hard work that you do!

Client Services Representative - Courts

Office Administration - OAG 8

These members work in all court offices throughout Ontario. If you go to a court office, this is the person who will assist you with your divorce, estate matter, small claims action, bankruptcy discharge or any other matter filed with the various courts. This person also schedules court dates, updates court files and ensures the smooth operation of the courts. Many Client Services Representatives (CSRs) are also “Commissioners of Oaths” and can swear out affidavits.

These individuals work at the public counter and deal with people in emotional crisis or those with no understanding of the court system. They also respond to telephone inquiries and complaints regarding court matters. Interpersonal skills are vital to do this job as well as the ability to care about serving members of the public, paralegals and the legal profession.

This position requires excellent knowledge of the various rules of procedure for the courts and of different acts and legislation. The ability to use a variety of computer software programs is necessary to perform this job. Strong verbal skills and the ability to explain issues in simple terms make for a great CSR.

Your bargaining team realizes the hard work you do and we want to achieve a collective agreement that respects the job you perform for the citizens of Ontario.

The Sunshine Club – ninth edition

The Sunshine Club is the list of public service managers who earn over $100,000 per year. Here are the names for our ninth edition.

Please note: The following members of the “Sunshine Club” were all scab managers inside the Rideau Correctional and Treatment Centre during the OPS Strike of 2002. The nicknames included in the managers’ names were taken out of the diary “From The Inside Out” we wrote about in last week’s issue.

			(Strike Year)	(Non-Strike Year)
Name	Ministry	Current Position	2002 Salary	2003 Salary
Jacques “Has anybody seen my keys?” Goudreault	Ministry of Finance	Senior Business Officer	$102,007	Under 100k
Julie “Let me out…I can’t see” Wood	Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care	Project Director, Transfer Payment Account	$154,589	Under 100k
Terrance “Haa, haa, haa, haa” Hing	Ministry of Finance	Project Manager, Re-engineering	$136,803	Under 100k
Daniel “What were they thinking?” Urquhart	Ministry of  Health & Long-Term Care	Regional Operations Manager	$121,649	Under 100k
Peter “Is there anything to eat?” Cekuta	Ministry of Finance	Health & Safety Consultant	$108,328	Under 100k

 

 

 

In Corrections:

		(Strike Year)
Name	Current Position	2002 Salary
Margaret Hughes	Manager, Adult Community Services	$132,743
Roger Chenard	Superintendent, Sudbury Jail	$172,190
Thomas Jackson	Deputy Superintendent, Sarnia Jail	$152,223
Dan Scherban	Area Manager, Probation and Parole, Thunder Bay	$113,900
Angela Rankin	Superintendent, Owen Sound Jail	$158,439

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your OPSEU OPS bargaining teams

Central/Unified team:

Marg Simmons (Chair), Central Enforcement and Renewal Committee

Linda Thibert, OPSEU Region 1

Doug Peebles, Region 2

Kathleen Demareski, Region 3

Rhéal Delaquis, Region 4

Paul Myers, Region 5

Eric Morin (Vice-Chair), Region 6

John Watson, Region 7

Bob Houston, Administrative category

Brian Chauvin, Corrections

Carl Thibodeau, Institutional & Health Care

Sandra Noad, Office Administration

Beth Anich, Office Administration

Ken Fraser, Technical/Operational & Maintenance

Moira Cowan, Unclassified members

centralubu@bellnet.ca 

unclassified@bellnet.ca 

Corrections team:

Jack Hopkins, OPSEU Region 1

Barry Scanlon (Chair), Region 2

Glenna Caldwell, Region 3

Robert Curran (Vice-Chair), Region 4

Dave Graves, Region 5

Joe Wright, Region 6

Len Mason, Region 7

corrections@bellnet.ca 

The Source is your only accurate source of Central and Corrections bargaining team information. Do not rely on gossip and rumours. We will provide the facts. Your editors are Len Mason, Beth Anich and Moira Cowan. The Source is authorized for distribution by Barry Scanlon, chair, Corrections Team, Marg Simmons, chair, Central Bargaining Team and Leah Casselman, president.

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