April 24, 2003
Don’t be alarmed by today’s shock announcement
Today in OPS workplaces across Ontario, your employer is posting a notice that may shock you. It is called “Notice of Termination of Employment.”
Do not be alarmed by this posting. It is required under Ontario law whenever an employer is planning 50 or more layoffs.
Elizabeth McKnight, director of Corporate Labour Relations for Management Board Secretariat, says this notice covers “all the layoffs that could potentially occur in the next two fiscal years based on current information.”
McKnight adds, “These numbers represent initiatives that have already been announced. They are not the result of any new decisions.”
Note the language. This is not a new announcement. It talks about layoffs that could potentially happen if the layoffs already announced actually occur.
The notices are going up in all OPS work locations - even ones where no layoffs are planned. Many OPSEU members and other public employees have lived with the threat of layoff over their heads for years. The layoffs mentioned in today’s announcement may happen. Or they may not. A lot can happen in
two years.
Today’s announcement is a grim reminder of the stress public service employees have lived with ever since the current Conservative government was elected. You can reverse this situation and give the government its own layoff notice. In the next few months, you’ll have a chance to elect a new boss.
If you want to prevent future notices like the one that’s out today, give one of your opposition parties a call. Ask them what you can do to help defeat a government that has undervalued its public employees for close to eight years.
Support the “Bargaining Unit Integrity” grievance
Eight OPSEU member mobilizers are working feverishly to collect information in support of an important OPSEU policy grievance.
Hearings into the “Bargaining Unit Integrity” grievance begin at the Grievance Settlement Board (GSB) on Tuesday, April 29. The grievance could force the employer to post hundreds of jobs currently held by fee-for-service consultants and temporary agency workers doing bargaining unit work.
This grievance will succeed if we have all the information we need. The union is asking all Local Executive Committees to look into every nook and cranny of their local and report their findings using the form at
http://www.opseu.org/ops/BUIstewardssurveyformApr0303.PDF . The deadline for including your information in the first stage of the hearings is the end of Friday, April 25, 2003.
For more information, read the April 3 edition of FRONTlines at http://www.opseu.org/ops/frontlines2apr0303.htm or contact Laurie Chapman at OPSEU head office. Call 1-800-268-7376 ext. 704 or (416) 443-8888
ext. 704 (in the Toronto area).
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