December 1,
2006
New MERCs must accept
the “challenge to lead,” CERC chair says
OPSEU members
elected to sit on Ministry Enforcement and Renewal
Committees must accept the “challenge to lead,” Eric Morin
says.
The OPSEU chair
of the Central Enforcement and Renewal Committee made the
comments last weekend at the OPS Divisional meetings in
Toronto.
“We can
influence the direction in the OPS over the next two years
and beyond,” Morin told delegates. “We can be the masters of
our own destiny. But this can only be accomplished if we
accept the challenge and seize control to lead.”
Held every two
years, “the Divisionals” offer union training to over 500
OPSEU activists in the OPS. Delegates get a chance to meet
with co-workers from across the province.
The election of
MERC members is a key purpose of the Divisionals.
Most MERCs have
three or four members, depending on the ministry. They
typically meet four times a year with employer
representatives from their ministry.
MERCs are
responsible for monitoring changes in their ministries that
impact on OPSEU members and working with the employer to
solve workplace problems as they arise.
Enforcing the
collective agreement and defending the work members do are
also key to the work of MERC members.
The new MERCs
elected on Saturday need to be more pro-active in dealing
with the employer, Morin said.
“We spend far
too much time responding to their unilateral disclosures
[about workplace changes] when we should be in bilateral
talks or bargaining to reduce the need for disclosures,” he
said. “We spend too much time dealing with process and
procedure while important issues lay in waiting.
“We need to
support our demands at the MERC tables with campaigns,
political action, and creative bargaining,” Morin said. He
pointed to the “Same rights” campaign to restore successor
rights to Crown employees and the “Save the MNR” campaign to
restore funding to the Ministry of Natural Resources as two
areas where member action was making a difference.
OPSEU president
Leah Casselman agreed.
“The MNR
campaign is having an impact. It is gaining support. Member
morale is rising. Even managers are onside with the
campaign,” she said.
She urged the
leadership in other ministries to fight budget cuts in the
same way.
“Cuts are
happening in all ministries,” Casselman said. “If we had the
same kind of campaign in every ministry of the OPS, in an
election year, this government would be tripping over itself
trying to figure out how to get us to stop. Without the
pressure of our opposition, though, the Liberals are just
going to keep doing what they’re doing.”
Click here for a
complete listing of the OPSEU Ministry Enforcement and
Renewal Committees.
Download
December 1, 2006 Issue of
Frontlines
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