The Honourable Chris Hodgson
Minister of Municipal Affaires and Housing
MPP - Haliburton, Victoria, Brock
14 Lindsay St. N., Lindsay ON. K9V 1T4
Dear Mr. Hodgson,
Six years ago I made a decision that would alter my life drastically. At an age when many people are comfortably settled in their careers and family life, I decided to leave everything behind and pursue a career in the public service. My chosen field was Natural Resources - your former
Ministry. My initial interest was fuelled by a personal goal of improving my understanding of the natural environments where I spent most of my off-work time relaxing and exploring, however I quickly developed the desire to play an active role in managing and protecting our Natural Heritage. Having made the decision that my
quality of life was paramount, I wasted little time, enrolled at Sir Sandford Fleming College, left my private sector career in Toronto and moved to the town of Lindsay.
During my studies I obtained contract positions with Ontario Parks. By the time I left college I had progressed to the position of Assistant Park Superintendent. I quite literally fell in love with Ontario Parks. I had never before derived such personal satisfaction in simply going to
work and performing my mandate to the best of my ability. I rarely thought of it as a "job".
Most positions with Ontario Parks are short, unclassified, seasonal contracts (approximately 10 - 20 weeks) and it was necessary for me to find other short-term positions to support me throughout the rest of the year. I was lucky enough to obtain occasional part-time teaching contracts
for the fall semesters and group 1, unclassified contracts with the Ministry of Natural Resources at Queen's Park for a few months in the winters. It meant a lot of traveling (Chapleau in the summer, Lindsay in the fall, Toronto in the winter) and often over two hours commuting to work (in fact, I commuted nine hours from Northern
Ontario to Lindsay on my days-off one fall season because my contracts over-lapped), but I felt it was worth it.
I made another difficult choice last fall. There was no stability and little security in the unclassified contracts I was getting and the constant traveling and moving were beginning to take their toll on my quality of life physically, mentally, and financially. I successfully competed
for a position with the Ministry of Transportation as an Enforcement Officer. It was not easy to leave behind something I loved and had made such effort and sacrifice to achieve. I remind myself that now I hold a classified position in the public service that is charged with keeping our highways safe and I have found my new role
to be challenging and rewarding.
I have been forced to make yet another change in my life in the past few weeks. I have given notice to my landlord that I will now be relying on the goodwill of family members to house me because I have been on strike for a month. After six years in with the Ontario Public Service I was
finally receiving a salary and benefits comparable to what I had in an entry-level position in the private sector, but the loss of income had taken its toll on me.
Unfortunately my employer does not appear to respect the importance of the services that 45,000 Public Sector Employees provide. They want to reduce our benefits, claw-back our pensions, and keep unclassified employees in situations of poor stability and insecurity. The original contract
proposal made to OPSEU members was one of reduction and elimination, not one of growth and honest recognition of the value of our work. Will my next life-altering decision be to return to the private sector where my work was valued? I hope it will not come to that.
If you talk to people walking the picket lines, you will understand that this strike is not about wages. It is about employees and the people of Ontario being fed up with cutbacks and privatization of Government Services that have led to crisis in Education, Healthcare, and illness and
death in Walkerton. It is about over-worked parole officers who cannot effectively monitor their charges. It is about having only eight Provincial Meat Inspectors. It is about Conservation Officers who are responsible for such large areas that unlawful hunting and fishing practices can go unchecked. It is about contracting-out
services instead of hiring from within. It is about Correctional Officers putting their lives on the line daily in unsafe working conditions. It is about Court Officers who have no job stability or security. It is about thousands of unclassified, part-time, casual, and seasonal employees being unrecognized for their dedication.
This strike is about OPSEU members refusing to accept major reductions in their benefits and handing over control of their pension surplus. It is about rebuilding value and respect in the Public Service so that skilled, dedicated, and vital employees can be attracted, retained, and not
lost to the private sector.
Please call on Management Board of Cabinet to end this strike immediately with a new contract that indicates the Provincial Government's respect for the work of thousands of dedicated professionals who perform the jobs and provide the services citizens expect and need to protect their
quality of life. Offer your support to work with Management and all government employees to realize a true renewal of the Public Service.
Let's all get back to work for Ontario.
Respectfully,
Doug Low
Transportation Enforcement Officer
OPSEU Local 506
One Government consumers views on the strike
Unfortunately what one hears about the OPSEU strike and what is behind it are totally different things. This is a personal battle! The public needs to be informed of what the membership is fighting for. The 1996 strike was a pretty passive five cold weeks. I know, I walked the line, a
few months later I was laid off! This strike is tougher and is going to be rougher. The hope is that the government will buckle down and negotiate a fair contract, soon! The government wants to take away more than they want to give. That is not what the public thinks. The government says they are offering so much, they fail to
mention what they want to take. When the strike ends is in the Governments hands!
Many union members are not making the incomes the government says they are. My husband makes an average income, based on the governments calculations of what the Ontario population is making. Anyone is able to find out wages of public employees, they are a matter of public record. Many
clerical workers and lower skilled employees make a lot less than him. In the past they faced wage decreases, yes that is right, wage decreases. This government called it a raise when the employees regained the lost income. After pay adjustments, through pay equity, this government still fails to recognize the poor rates of pay.
The government selects a few groups (i.e. jail guards second highest paid in Canada) to steer the public into believing that everyone is making top wages! Well let me assure you that they are not. Gone are the days of "The Good Government Job". When my husband joined the Government 25 years ago the job meant security, stability, a
good wage, excellent benefits, a place to be if you had a family with small children.
Most government employees have great concern for the public and hope the public cares that they have a decent income and satisfactory health benefits to care for their families. They provide services for friends, families and strangers. They are members of the public that they service.
They don't want to put pressure on the public, unfortunately that is what happens when they fight the employer. Many workers carry excessively heavy case loads, work in potentially dangerous locations and do jobs that most others wouldn't. They deserve a good pay for what they do. Many work 12 hour shifts all year round. When you
are enjoying Christmas dinner with your family, my husband is at work. I spend New Year's Eve home alone. My husband wasn't able to take the day off to attend the finalization of our daughter's adoption. Court dockets were busy, we had no set appointment. He had to take his coffee break to attend, thank goodness the court house
was close to work. He had five minutes to be there when we were called.
The results of this strike affects our family in more than just what my husband brings home for wages and benefits. Our six-year-old daughter has many special needs. She has expensive medical bills and requires various types of therapy now and more as she ages. His health benefits don't
cover most of the supports she needs. His income doesn't pay enough to afford private therapy! The benefits are already some of the poorest in Canada in both the public and private sectors. Government cut backs mean services available through them are not obtainable, so she sits on waiting lists for years. Her special needs
require that I stay home, she doesn’t attend school! Government cutbacks mean the supports are not there either. What does the Government want to do about all of this? Cut services and pile more work on over worked employees, our public does without even more. Take more from employee benefits, cap other benefits and pay a poor
wage. They will pay for it when she needs even more because of her doing without!
He loves his job, but needs to get away from this employer. With 25 years of service, at 51 years of age, he had always hoped to be able to leave on the 80 factor in 3 years. His pension (he paid for and earned it) is one more of the many things the Government wants to cut. That may not
be important because if they cut his benefits much, he may be off on a permanent disability pension for the rest of his life.
OPSEU members are people that have families to support. They do what they do because they like to help. They don't want to put pressures on the public, they are members of it as well.
Judi Corbett
Spouse of an OPSEU member with a progressive illness
Stay at Home mom of a Special needs child
Previous OPSEU member in probation, residential services and drivers examination
Dear Mr. Tsubouchi...
I am by no mean a militant union member, but neither am I someone who lies down and plays dead when things get a little rough.
I have worked at the Rideau Regional Centre in Smiths Falls for the developmentally handicapped for over 25 years now and have stayed relatively quiet (publicly-wise) because I got most of my job satisfaction from the respect of peers, fondness from my clients and gratitude from parents.
Not to mention I put up with our dismal contract settlements because I felt lucky to have the benefits this job offers.
That has changed. This is mainly due to the fact you and your government are attempting to change those benefits and seem to have a totally uninformed concept of the job I and hundreds of others of your employees perform daily.
It's a job the majority (and probably you yourself) would not chose to do. It's fraught with stress, danger, and the constant worry of making the correct decisions in the lives of innocent people who can't make them for themselves.
You and your government have sent a very strong message to me and people in my career that we aren't even important enough to give the cost of living in our raise. Aside from all that "money" talk you seen so hell-bent on convincing people that we are only interested in ... I know, that
it isn't the heart of this contract dispute.
You are the ones driven by the "money" concept. It taints everything you do ... from useless ads to that ridiculous raise your government deemed itself in a time when you were crying to us "there are just so many pieces in the pie."
How can you expect people to believe this, when your actions say there's plenty of money ... just not for YOU.
I would love to propose something ... I would like you to take one of my 12-hour shifts and work a full day in my area. I work with severely disturbed and aggressive clients with quite a few psychotics thrown into the 27-person population. I think anyone who has so much say in my career
direction and monetary success should walk a mile in my shoes.
I realise you will never accept this challenge, but I think it would open your eyes to our "worth" where we work.
It's too bad our clients are the "silent victims" of this struggle, because they would have a LOT to say!!
Sincerely
Wendy E Lackner
This is an excerpt of a letter written by Kate Vanleeuwen, OPSEU member from Local 635, who works for the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) in the Ontario Disability Program Unit:
MCSS delivers financial support to the most vulnerable of Ontario’s citizens, the disabled population. Not welfare, not a pension, simply the basic income support for their survival.
Let me give you some examples of what is happening, or not happening right now:
Carolyn is in need of financial assistance. She receives a maximum of $520 per month from Ontario works. These funds are to pay for housing and food, as well as all the other necessaries like clothing and bus fare. Carolyn is unable to work because she has cancer, and won’t be getting
better.
A medical information package has been sent to the Disability Adjudication Unit, a group made up of medical professionals, and they have determined that Carolyn is disabled. Carolyn then meets with MCSS staff to make sure that all the information is current and correct and she begins
receiving $930 per month to cover the costs that she used to have to pay from her $520 – but wait, the government won’t come to the bargaining table, they won’t offer the public servants an honourable equitable contract. So what happens to Carolyn? Well she stays on Ontario Works getting $520 per month when the government has
already determined that she is entitled to $930. To make matters harder on this certified disabled woman, in accordance with the Ontario Works requirements, she must be actively looking for a job to get the $520, in spite of the fact that she is sick and can’t work.
Or how about the emotionally and mentally ill person who, in crisis, is admitted to the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital? The ODSP worker can’t take the Personal Needs Allowance application (PNA). So this person, who I will call Chris, doesn’t get the $112 to buy shampoo or toiletries, or
even a small treat like a bag of chips.
Then there is Randy. He’s been on ODSP for a while and gets his $930 per month, but now feels that because he lost a foot and part of his leg to diabetes that he can’t resume his job as a truck driver. He’s decided that in spite of his handicap to return to school to train for a new
career. He desperately wants to regain his independence and has already applied for OSAP to pay for his tuition. Because the government won’t come to the bargaining table, his Employment Support Worker can’t provide the special services to support Randy to help pursue his dream.
Debbie’s ex-husband isn’t paying the child support that he has been ordered by the courts to pay to support his three kids. It’s still being deducted from her disability benefits. She’s already exhausted her trips to the food bank – where can she turn? Nowhere, until the government
returns to the bargaining table and a decent, fair contract is signed.
Or Sara and John Jones who have two disabled children and little money. They can’t get the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities to help them get the children to treatment or get the equipment for their home to help the kids survive.
These examples do not do any more than touch the surface of the fact the ODSP recipients are not receiving the additional services provided such as Employment Start Up and therefore these monies are not going to area businesses and are not going into our local economy.
The other side of this story, is the fact that no one is tending the Welfare Fraud Control Database which reports information on people who are receiving ODSP and shouldn’t be – such as those in jail or out of the province.
This government, by not negotiating, is allowing people to get taxpayers money that they are not entitled to because of acts of fraud and denying rightful support for others because of their intransigence.
Reviews are not being done when double payments have been made from CPP, WSIB, OAS or other sources and ensuring that overpayments are recovered where it has been proven that they received too much. Recipients are not getting reviews done when there is a dispute in their allowance. The
decisions of the Social Benefits Tribunal are not being implemented because the staff are on the picket line.
All the examples I have used are not fictitious. They are composites of recipients and circumstances.
Surely the “kinder, more compassionate” government will act quickly to end the suffering and hardship they are inflicting upon the most needy and most vulnerable of our fellow Ontarians.
This government is saving millions by keeping OPSEU on the picket line but they are not serving the people they have been elected by and have pledged to protect.
