December 2001:  Article 1

Careers on the table as contract talks begin
by Leah Casselman, president

As you know, your current collective agreement expires on Dec. 31, 2001. Your OPSEU negotiating teams start contract talks with the Ontario government in December.

Your career in the Ontario Public Service is going on the bargaining table.

You don’t hear the word “career” very much these days – at least not in the OPS. In a recent OPSEU poll, three out of four members said that they used to see working in the public service as a career, but that now they see it more and more as “just a job” after six years with the Harris Tories as an employer.

It shouldn’t be that way. Public service is not just a job, it’s a calling. Public service workers are guardians of public safety and the public interest. After the tragedies of Walkerton and Sept. 11, we know – and the public agrees – that we need strong public services now more than ever.

Still, the gang in charge at Queen’s Park refuses to see the crisis we face.

It is not a financial crisis. It is a crisis in public services.

Ontario now has eight full-time provincial meat inspectors – down from 150 in 1996. We have zero fruit and vegetable inspectors. We have zero public health scientists at our central public health lab. Overloaded probation and parole officers are lucky to meet with offenders for 30 minutes a month.

The dangerous policies that set the stage for Walkerton are at work in every Ministry. Ontario Public Service employees today face crushing workloads, work speed-ups, and high stress. Important work is simply not getting done.

Meanwhile, our members’ commitment to serve the public is not being recognized or respected by this employer. Low wages and insecure jobs are clear evidence of this.

Staff turnover has never been higher. Staff recruitment has never been harder. Service quality is suffering as a result.

In 1947, the Honourable Roland Michener, the godfather of the modern OPS, said that, to serve the public well, public employees needed secure jobs and fair compensation. In other words, careers.

I couldn’t agree more.

In demand-setting earlier this year, OPSEU members identified what it would take to build OPS careers in this round of bargaining:

• classified status for as many workers as possible;

• secure jobs, adequate benefits and good working conditions for all;

• decent wages and proper job classification; and

• secure retirement options.

Your bargaining teams are determined to win improvements in these areas. In the weeks ahead, they will call for your support. If they have it, they will succeed. If not, they will fail. It is as simple as that.

OPSEU members are committed to providing quality public services. But too often, we set aside our own needs because the public is counting on us. We can’t do this forever. At a certain point we have to say, “Enough is Enough.”

In this round, your commitment to quality public services must be a source of strength for your bargaining teams. If you can take some of that commitment and direct it towards your own career goals, and those of your co-workers, you will be doing your part to rebuild the strong public service we all want to see.

In solidarity,
Leah Casselman,

President

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