TableTalk update

The latest bargaining and mobilizing news for OPS members

October 19, 2012

Bargaining will move forward

A lot can change in a couple of weeks.

While the shock waves from the recent announcement from the Liberals at Queen’s Park are just beginning to subside, many members are asking how this will impact bargaining for the OPS.

Let’s back up a bit and set the stage.

On October 4, we decided not to serve the government notice to bargain. This is the same government that was getting ready to introduce legislation that would, in effect, totally destroy our ability to bargain a contract. In other words, we were not going to volunteer to have our own throats cut.

This was, of course, merely a symbolic move. Either side in negotiations can serve notice to bargain. As expected, the employer served us notice to bargain the very next morning.

McGuinty’s announcement that he plans to resign as Premier has no impact on us. What DOES make a difference is that he is also proroguing the Legislature. This means there are no more debates at Queen’s Park, no more daily Question Periods, and, more importantly, all pending legislation is now scrapped and new legislation can’t be passed.

Therefore, the “Protecting Public Services Act”  is now gone.

That puts us back to where we started: Bargaining with the employer for a new OPS agreement, in difficult economic times but without the threat of imposed contracts hanging over our heads.

We continue to prepare our opening position to present to the employer when we meet for the first time on Tuesday, November 13.

To be clear, our job has not gotten any easier. We will definitely face a lot of challenges trying to negotiate a quality collective agreement for the OPS. What will be crucial is the support from the members. We’re counting on you to provide us the strength we need at the table. With that strength, we will achieve success.

Member mobilizers in training next week

Our 27 OPS member mobilizers will begin two days of training on Monday, Oct. 22. With the Ontario government now in “pause” mode, their work will be even more critical this round.

The mobilizers for the 2012 OPS Negotiations are:

Regional Mobilizers

Region 1

Mickey Riccardi      Lorna Bulgin    Todd Snider (Corrections)

Region 2

Lorraine Skitch    Stuart McInnes   Paula Hagen (Corrections)

Region 3

Autumn Butsch      Lisa Egan     Sean Platt (Corrections)

Region 4

Ryan Nickel     Ben Treidlinger     Ron Pilon (Corrections)

Region 5

Julius Arscott     Cindy Kraakman     June Morrison     Dan Marshall (Corrections)

John Berry    Janice Zultek     Mike Bisaillon (Corrections)

Region 7

Jennifer Roukkula     Terri Morris     Neil MacDonald (Corrections)

Issues Mobilizers

Service Ontario   Teresa Rolls

ODSP  Pam Smith

MNR Environment & North  Dave Fluri

Corrections  Scott McIntyre

Social Media Coordinator  Jennie Miller

OPS lanyards now available

Lanyards have arrived in time for OPS bargaining. Local presidents are invited to order “Choose Public” lanyards for members to wear in the workplace.

Show your support for the bargaining teams! Go to the OPSEU website at http://opseu.org/ops/bargaining2012/wear-a-lanyard.htm to fill out an order form. Lanyards are priced at cost, only $2.00 each.

Contact us:

Central/Unified Team

centralbargaining@opseu.org

Twitter: @OPSCentralTeam

Corrections Team

correctionsbargaining@opseu.org

Twitter: @DanSidsworth

Don’t listen to rumours! TableTalk Update is your only official communication from the OPS Bargaining Teams.
 

Your OPS Bargaining teams

Central/Unified Team

Corrections Team

Original authorized for distribution:

Roxanne Barnes, Chair  Central/Unified Team
Dan Sidsworth, Chair  Corrections Team
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President  Ontario Public Service Employees Union

OPS Bargaining 2012 Index