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September 6, 2002
Dispatchers tune in Tsubouchi
OPSEU ambulance dispatchers tuned in David Tsubouchi last week when they turned up to leaflet a Tory barbecue.
Sandy Edwards, Patrick Fry-Smith, and Dee Michalika caught up with the Chair of Management Board in Durham Region. They wanted him to know about the understaffing crisis at the province’s 11 Central Ambulance Communications Centres (CACCs).
Tsubouchi said he knew the CACCs were having trouble recruiting and retaining staff. He said the government was working on a solution. He wouldn’t say what it was.
The dispatchers said the problem was simple: provincial dispatchers don’t get paid enough. New hires only stick around long enough to learn the job, then bolt for better-paid jobs at other services. Many police and fire dispatchers make $20,000 a year more than ambulance dispatchers.
During the recent contract talks, the government suppressed a consultant’s report that told them to increase wages “to reduce the high staff turnover and attract qualified dispatchers.”
Edwards, Fry-Smith, and Michalika spelled out three ways Tsubouchi could fix the problem:
· at the Joint System Subcommittee (JSSC) that deals with classification disputes;
· at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, where the union has charged the government with bargaining in bad faith for withholding the consultant’s report; or
· by reclassifying dispatchers to higher-paying new positions.
Tsubouchi would not comment on any of the options, but he did listen even after Tory MPP John O’Toole tried to kick the three dispatchers out.
“I feel that we had a very successful night getting in Tsubouchi’s face,” said Edwards, vice-president of Local 302 and OPSEU chair of the ambulance dispatch Employee Relations Committee.
Job classification remains a major issue for thousands of OPS employees. In bargaining, Tsubouchi said he wanted to make the JSSC work. Now, with bargaining over, he has still not replied to OPSEU president Leah Casselman’s May 22 letter asking him to agree to a neutral chair for the
JSSC. Without a neutral tie-breaker on the committee, many classification disputes remain deadlocked.
Edwards asked Tsubouchi to use the dispatchers as a test case for a neutral chair. He wouldn’t say yes.
Do not choke on that croissant!
MNR holds “Breakfast With the Stars”
Not everyone was impressed.
At a time when the Ontario government won’t even hand over the retroactive pay owed to OPSEU members after a 54-day strike, the Ministry of Natural Resources hosted a province-wide “Breakfast With the Stars” Sept. 5.
Who are the stars? Why you are, of course.
MNR staff in offices across the province were treated to a free continental breakfast and heard a speech by Deputy Minister John Burke by conference call.
“Entitling this morning’s breakfast as Breakfast with the Stars is about recognizing that all of you are real stars!” Burke gushed.
“The work of MNR is vital to the prosperity of many of our communities and to the quality of life for all Ontarians,” Burke said.
That’s true.
“When all of your important contributions are added together, we have direct proof that the strength and foundation of any successful organization is its human resources - its people. You make things happen through your dedication, through your striving for excellence, and through
your teamwork.”
That’s true, too.
“As you know, being recognized for our accomplishments feels good and is an important part of a healthy workplace.”
That’s absolutely true. But in a Ministry that has seen more layoffs than any other since 1995, where head office managers tried to ban picketing during a bitter strike, there are more concrete ways to recognize people’s work.
How about paying people the money they’re owed?
How about fixing the system for dealing with classification grievances?
How about not attacking the benefit plan?
How about converting unclassified workers to classified status, so they can have benefits?
How about giving temp agency workers real jobs instead of continuing to exploit them?
Then there’d be something to celebrate.
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, President
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