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On Strike: Justice for unclassified workers NOW
Talks continue with a media blackout
April 17, 2002
Talks continue
Just because there is no news, doesn’t mean nothing is happening.
Everyone is anxious for news. Why is it taking so long?
Don’t Leah and the team members understand that people are hurting?
Of course they do. The bargaining team has been on strike pay just like everyone else since the strike began.
Leah, herself, has been on the same strike pay as everyone else who is doing strike duties. The same applies to both of her executive assistants.
The fact that talks are continuing is good news. Nobody wants to hear that talks have fallen apart. And if they are still at the table, they must be making progress. Every move brings the end closer.
The best way to hasten the end is to keep the lines strong. This strike is having an effect, and the government is starting to feel the heat from citizens who are hurting.
With a new premier, the stage is set to break the deadlock and move toward a settlement.
Candidate Ernie is getting pressure
by Chris Madill, Region 2 vice-president
The riding of Dufferin-Wellington-Peel is a huge riding that has historically voted PC. Guess that’s why Ernie chose to run here.
Ernie’s campaign headquarters is in Orangeville, at 163 First Street.
OPSEU has been busy. Last week the entire town of Orangeville was leafletted door to door. The plan is to cover Shelburne and Dundalk this week.
We have been picketing Ernie’s office as much as possible. On Thursday, we had help from Georgetown and Meaford. It was great!
On Friday, every other Eves sign in the southeast part of the riding had an OPSEU sign beside it. The message? Remember Walkerton; Rebuild our Public Services. The signs carried on to the north on Saturday.
Saturday was the grand opening of Ernie’s campaign office. About 25 OPSEU members and friends handed leaflets to Ernie’s friends as they left the office. Ernie stopped to talk. He said he will be sworn in on Monday and will look into things on Tuesday.
There are Tory blue signs around the riding that have a Dr. Seuss character asking, “ Where’s Ernie?” Quite fitting, I’d say, since we have only seen Ernie twice this week.
We would like to be able to picket outside the campaign office every day, from the time it opens until closing. However, we only have 16 OPSEU members on the line here and have a lot of leafletting still to do.
Everyone is welcome to come and join us, anytime, any day.
We are keeping the pressure on Ernie and his campaign team as best we can.
Want to reach Ernie? Here’s how:
Ernie@ErnieEves.com
163 First Street, Orangeville, ON L9W 3J8
Phone: 519-941-1255
Toll-Free: 1-866-225-3837
Photo gallery on line
There is a nice display of photographs from yesterday’s huge rally at Queen’s Park on the OPSEU website.
Drinking on the job in Sudbury
The Sudbury Star has reported on allegations of alcohol use by at least one manager at the Cecil Facer Youth Correctional Facility during the strike.
“If alcohol is in the institution, it means people are imbibing it,” said OPSEU staff rep Denis Boyer. This can impair people’s ability to make appropriate decisions. A separate problem is the possibility of turning bottles into weapons inside the institution.
Members on the picket line observed a manager who seemed to be drunk last week. The incident was well witnessed by the pickets.
It raises health and safety concerns for staff on several levels. Inmates might gain access to alcohol, or take advantage of impaired managers.
The facility has refused to permit a search of the facility to ensure no weapons or restricted items were circulating, so essential services workers have refused to go in.
“The situation was dangerous to everyone,” said Boyer.
Worksite reps have wide latitude
The Ontario Labour Relations Board has clarified the power and authority of worksite representatives.
In a decision handed down over the weekend, the OLRB agreed with the union that “worksite representatives should not be ‘chilled’ in their conduct by the fear of reprisal, as employees or as worksite representatives.
“I also accept the union’s submission that the employer’s and the union’s worksite representatives have equivalent roles,” wrote the board chair. “There is no subordination, hence no possibility of insubordination, when they perform their roles. A union work-site representative may
vigorously disagree with the employer and challenge the employer’s authority to do something. A wide latitude is permissible.
If an employer has a concern about the conduct of a worksite rep, the employer is to discuss it with the union, and if the problem is not resolved, then the employer is to apply for an order to the OLRB. The employer is not allowed to engage in discipline of worksite reps except in
extreme cases.
Strike shorts
Sorry, vacationers don’t get paid
Yesterday’s FRONTlines was wrong when it reported you would be paid if you were on scheduled vacation when the strike started.
We quoted the Ministry of Labour website accurately, but there is a wrinkle. That section of the Employment Standards Act does not apply to Crown employees. Sorry.
Hurting, but strong
I am sure everyone is putting out 150 per cent on your end as we see the results out here.
The communications strategy has us right in the loop. We are strong...hurting a little, but strong!
- Charles Faust, Local 724
Four-hour commute
I wish to salute Jocelyn Willock, one of the kitchen workers at Metro West Detention Centre, writes Mort Todd of Local 517.
“This lady comes each day to our picket line by TTC, all the way from the east end of Metro near the Zoo, to our facility near the airport in the west end. It takes her over two hours by bus and subway, each way. Now that’s dedication!”
New CD from Kirkland Lake
No, Kirkland Lake is not a new group that popped up at the Juno Awards last weekend.
It’s the home community of Local 644, where Jan McIntyre has put together a compilation entitled: Our Strikin, Bitchin, Fightin, Dancin, Singin Tunes.
If you are, as the French so delicately put it, “of a certain age,” there are some numbers here you probably haven’t heard in a while, like the Age of Aquarius.
The 21 tracks include some Beatles, Beach Boys, a little Bob Marley, a couple of Queen hits, Shania Twain, Cher, Bryan Adams and more.
FRONTlines assumes all of this has copyright approval. The CDs go for $5 and cheques should be made out to Local 644 and sent to the treasurer: Donna Hirvilammi, 98 Second Street East, Kirkland Lake, Ont. P2N 1R9.
Check the web: www.opseu.org has the latest on everything.
Original approved for publication by Leah Casselman, President
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