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 May 2 2002: Article 2
Central Collective Agreement: Major issues
This is a partial and general summary only. Refer to the full text of the agreements for exact details which may apply to your particular situation. All agreements are subject to ratification by the Employer and the Union.
The OPSEU Pension Trust – rescued
In the area of pensions, we have fought and won an historic defensive battle.
Public service employees began fighting for control of their pension funds in the 1960s. We achieved it in the early 1990s. In this round, the employer tried to seize control of OPSEU members’ share of surpluses in the OPSEU Pension Trust. We stopped them.
In 1999, OPSEU members paid themselves $667 million in pension plan improvements and contribution holidays. This meant we were able to pay for the extension of Factor 80 with our own money. We were able to pay for bigger pension cheques for surviving spouses. We gave ourselves a contribution holiday that was
equal to a four per cent pay raise for three years.
The next “actuarial valuation” – where plan managers formally tally up how much money we have in the Trust – will probably reveal that plan members’ share of the next surplus will show another gain. Whatever the exact amount, it will be our money, to spend as we see fit within Trust rules. Without our strike we
would have lost it. At current rates, the Fund could be paying OPSEU members about $140 million a year.
Factor 80 extended, partly
The employer has agreed to extend Factor 80 for surplused employees only to the end of the contract, Dec. 31, 2004.
Factor 80 for all employees is extended to Oct. 31, 2002 (as noted above, continued access to surplus funds of the OPSEU Pension Trust may permit the union to extend Factor 80 and make other improvements in the future).
Improvements for unclassified employees
Over 26 per cent of employees in the OPSEU bargaining unit are “unclassified” employees. The tentative agreement offers the following improvements:
- Unclassified employees will see their pay in lieu of benefits increase to six per cent. That is up from two per cent for full-time unclassified workers. It is a real breakthrough for part-time workers, whose previous pay in lieu of benefits was zero.
- The time required for conversion to permanent status will be reduced from 24 months to 18 months on the job.
- Seniority for contract workers in correctional facilities is recognized for purposes of transfer, and layoff, and job competitions within individual institutions.
Employer pays full LTIP premium; pay raises for those on LTIP
The employer has agreed to pay 100 per cent of the premium costs for Long Term Income Protection, up from 85 per cent. This change is equivalent to a pay raise of 0.335 per cent for classified OPSEU members.
Workers currently collecting benefits under Long Term Income Protection shall receive benefit increases of 2.95% retroactive to Jan. 1, 2002, 3.0 per cent on Jan. 1, 2003, and 2.5 per cent on Jan. 1, 2004. Over three years, this total amount is equal to the General Wage Increase for all members.
Benefits: some gains, some losses
Benefits were a major battleground at the bargaining table. The union fought hard to improve benefits. The employer was determined to put a lid on costs. The resulting language in the tentative agreement gives employees gains in some important areas but, unfortunately, losses in others.
Gains. Semi-private hospital coverage jumps to $120 a day, up from $75. Basic Life Insurance coverage jumps to 100 per cent of annual salary, up from 75 per cent. Other improvements are in the areas of vision care, dental care, and hearing aids. The amount covered per session with paramedical
practitioners, psychologists, and speech therapists increases to $25, but it is capped at an annual amount.
Losses. The tentative agreement will limit coverage for drugs to only those drugs that require a doctor’s prescription. Over-the-counter drugs will no longer be covered. Prescriptions will come with a $3 deductible in the second year of the contract and a $5 deductible in the third. Out-of-country
coverage is eliminated. Prescription drugs will continue to be reimbursed at a rate of 90 per cent, but prescriptions will be filled with a generic drug, if one exists. If you purchase the brand name drug even though a generic version exists, you will be charged the difference.
Coverage for orthopedic shoes/orthotics is reduced.
The dental plan will now have an annual deductible of $100. Dental recall is extended from six months to nine, except for children 12 and under. Beginning in the last year of the contract, the fees paid to your dentist will lag behind Ontario Dental Association fee guide by one year. You will pay any difference.
Fluoride treatment for adults is no longer covered.
Term classified: limits on their use
The union has taken a strong position against the use of so-called “term classified” employees. The employer used legislation in June (Bill 25) to create a new class of workers who are neither classified nor unclassified, but somewhere in between. The idea is that people from outside the public service would be
attracted to public service jobs by the promise of benefits and longer contracts. This may or may not work. The employer has a fundamental problem attracting people to the OPS, for the simple reason that classified jobs are not-so-gradually disappearing. It may take the employer a few years to learn that. In the meantime, the tentative agreement does not
block the use of term classifieds by the employer, but it does limit them, as follows:
· “With the exception of Term Classified positions which have been converted from unclassified positions and positions arising from work formerly performed by persons retained on a fee-for-service basis, the Employer will employ no more than 700 Term Classified employees within the OPSEU bargaining units at any
one time during the term of this collective agreement.”
Posting and filling of vacancies
The tentative agreement makes a number of changes to contract language in Articles 6 and 56 regarding the posting and filling of vacancies. Check the full text of the Central agreement for details.
Of particular interest is an agreement on creating equal job opportunities for women, aboriginal people, people with disabilities, members of visible minority groups, and francophones, who may face barriers to employment in Ontario. Under the Enhanced Recruitment Initiative Program, the union and the employer
work together to improve access to work for designated groups in cases where multiple vacancies occur in a specific bargaining unit job.
General issues
Certain small but important issues were agreed to or are unchanged from the employer’s Feb. 14 offer. See the Feb. 16, 2002 issue of Table Talk for details on changes to bereavement leave, kilometric rates, student wage rates, and internships, or check the full text of the Central agreement.
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