May 1, 2003
Four arbitrators to tackle bargaining unit grievance
OPSEU’s campaign to limit the use of fee-for-service consultants and temporary agency workers in the Ontario Public Service took a big step forward April 29.
That’s when the Grievance Settlement Board (GSB) laid out its plans to handle OPSEU’s “bargaining unit integrity” grievance. It’s a big job. The GSB will assign four arbitrators to handle the case. We are seeking eight days of mediation (to sort out the facts) and eight days of hearings each month
until the grievance is dealt with.
It could take a long time. OPSEU members have already identified over 600 bargaining unit jobs that are being done by consultants and agency temps across Ontario.
Most examples are in the Systems Officer or Office Administration classifications, but archeologists and social workers and court reporters are on the list, too. Consultants and agency temps seem to be most common in Management Board Secretariat and the Ministries of Health & Long Term Care,
Finance, Transportation, and Consumer & Business Services. And the closer you get to Queen’s Park, the more there are.
A union win on the bargaining unit integrity grievance could result in hundreds of OPS jobs being posted and filled.
Community Rights Advisors are back in
Community Rights Advisors in 18 Ontario cities are coming back in to the OPSEU bargaining unit.
Community Rights Advisors help people with mental illness deal with the health system. Advisors had traditionally been OPS employees, but in recent years the work has been taken over by fee-for-service people.
That’s about to end. Gary Lawrence, president of Local 504, has just signed a settlement with the Ministry of Health that will create five classified jobs in Toronto and unclassified jobs in the other cities.
Local 504’s latest win is linked to the original Trillium Award grievance win. See the April 3 FRONTlines at http://www.opseu.org/ops/frontlines2apr0303.htm for more information.
Keep sending in facts
There may be more than 2,000 consultants and temp agency workers working in the OPS today. We need to find them all. If you know of any in your local - even if it’s only one - please fill out the stewards’ survey at
http://www.opseu.org/ops/BUIstewardssurveyformApr0303.PDF and fax it in to the number on the form. If you know of any outside of your local, please contact Laurie Chapman at OPSEU head office. Call 1-800-268-7376 ext. 704 or (416) 443-8888 ext. 704 (in the Toronto area). Pay special attention to new
programs or projects.
Security checks still on hold
A government plan to require intrusive security checks on up to 2,000 OPS workers remains on hold after OPSEU and five other public service groups faced off with the employer at the Grievance Settlement Board April 29. The security checks, first reported in FRONTlines on April 9, were to begin on
April 17. Check the web at http://www.opseu.org/ops/frontlines2apr0903.htm for full details.
The employer is considering its next steps. No hearings dates are scheduled.
In the meantime, the GSB’s “interim order” still stands. The order says that the employer may not begin the security checks until the GSB has ruled on the matter or a settlement is reached.
If you are asked to agree to such security checks, please contact the OPSEU Job Security department as soon as possible. Call 1-800-268-7376 or (416) 443-8888, or send a fax to (416) 448-7462.
New rules for consultants?
Tories scramble to respond to Auditor’s report
Management Board Chair David Tsubouchi has announced new government-wide rules for the use of fee-for-service consultants, G.P. Murray Research says. The new rules, Tsubouchi says, will:
· require ministerial sign-off on procurement contracts, and Cabinet approval for contracts over $1 million;
· require ministries to report to Management Board Secretariat (MBS) annually on their use of consultants;
· require ministries to justify their use of consultants; and
· require consultants to prove that their taxes are paid up.
With a provincial election not far away, the Tories are obviously trying to make it look like they’re tidying up the mess revealed by the 2002 Provincial Auditor’s report.
Auditor Erik Peters found the public service spent $662 million on private consultants in 2001-02, up from $271 million in 1997-98. In that time, payments to Information Technology consultants tripled from $100 million to $313 million. Payments to management consultants quadrupled, from $40 million
to $152 million.
One consultant hired by MBS boosted his fees from $725 a day in April 2000 to $2,600 a day in September 2000, with no explanation given. One consulting firm was reimbursed for meals at 10 times the rate paid to government employees.
The 2002 auditor’s report makes a fascinating and shocking read. View the full report at http://www.gov.on.ca/opa/english/r02t.htm .
Welcome students
With the school year coming to an end, it’s time for students to start turning up in OPS workplaces. Say hello! Students are OPSEU members covered by Article 33 of the OPS collective agreement.
Get on the list!
You too can receive FRONTlines, delivered directly to your very own computer or secure fax machine. Send your request to Jackie Evans at (416) 443-1762, by e-mail to jevans@opseu.org, or by phone at 1-800-268-7376 ext. 675. Please
let us know your OPSEU Local number.
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