February 14, 2006
Job evaluation project set to start
Every OPSEU member
in the OPS is getting a new job description. But not right
away.
Under Appendix 34
of the new collective agreement, OPSEU and the Ontario
government agreed to update the job classification system in
the OPSEU bargaining unit.
“There is no
question that our current job classification system is out of
date,” says John Watson, an OPSEU member on the joint working
group that is taking on the project. “Technology has changed,
management has changed, and jobs have changed. These days, job
descriptions don’t reflect the work we actually do.”
The Job Evaluation
Project, as it is being called, will not create new pay rates.
Pay rates will be negotiated during the next round of contract
talks.
The current
collective agreement expires at the end of December 2008.
No pay adjustments
will happen before then unless required to maintain pay
equity.
The union hopes
for a better outcome this time than what happened with the
Bargaining Unit Overhaul (BUO). That attempt at fixing the
classification system crashed in 1999 after OPSEU members
filed over 10,000 grievances about it.
“This time around
it will be a joint union-management process,” said Marg
Simmons, another union member on the joint working group.
“Union involvement with the BUO ended when Mike Harris got
elected in 1995. This time around, all decisions are being
made by consensus, and so far we’re off to a good start.”
OPSEU and the
employer are in the process of hiring a consultant to help
with the project.
For a full
explanation of the Job Evaluation Project, read the
Question-and-Answer document at
http://www.opseu.org/ops/frontlines/frontlinesfeb142006attach.htm.
Court workers get some respect
“A huge leap forward”
The people who run
Ontario’s courtrooms are about to get some respect.
In contract talks
last year, the employer agreed to convert over 1,400
unclassified courtroom workers to classified “Flexible Part
Time” positions. The conversion plan will be rolled out in the
spring. Conversions are expected this fall.
“The creation of
Flexible Part Time jobs recognizes the hard work of courtroom
staff who have been slaving away in sweatshop conditions for
years,” said Julie Weber, OPSEU Chair of the Ministry
Enforcement and Renewal Committee (MERC) for the Ministry of
the Attorney General (MAG).
“Now, our people
will know in advance the number of hours they’ll work in a
year. They’ll also get benefits pro-rated to those hours.
“It’s a huge leap
forward,” said Weber, president of Local 228.
Weber and her team
of MERC member Paul Myers (Local 526) and OPSEU Job Security
Officers Judith Marion and Stephen George have been hammering
out details since the contract was signed last year. Here’s
what will happen:
This spring, MAG will assign each courtroom
worker to one of five categories based on hours worked from
June 2004 to June 2005. The lowest category is 720 hours a
year; the highest is 1,500.
MAG and OPSEU reps will visit all 162 court
locations in Ontario to explain the program. (Some visits
will be by videoconference.)
Conversions will take place this fall.
The Flexible Part
Time arrangement is covered under Appendix 32 of the OPSEU
collective agreement in the OPS.
Watch for a
detailed question-and-answer document to be published soon.
Kingston workers push back on closure of card
centre
The people who
produce Ontario’s health cards and driver’s licences aren’t
going without a fight.
The 30 OPSEU
members at the Kingston Card Production Centre found out in
January that their work would be sold off to the private
sector. The Ministry of Transportation, which runs the
program, said it would issue a “Request for Proposals” (RFP)
on Feb. 3 to start the search for a private operator.
The members got
busy.
They talked to
their MPP, Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen, and they
told their story to the news media. When Gerretsen didn’t
answer their questions, they staged a rally where he was
speaking and confronted him there, with reporters watching.
When the employer
asked them to decide whether they would go work with the
private operator, they said no. All of them.
On Feb. 2, the
government announced it was delaying release of the RFP.
“Our members are
totally awesome,” said Kathy Smith, president of Local 468.
“It’s the strongest solidarity I’ve ever seen. Everyone is
banding together and working together to keep their jobs, and
their work, in the OPS.”
The government has
been unable to clarify why outsourcing is a good idea, said
Smith.
“The employer has
told us it’s not about saving money, but aside from that, no
one seems to know the rationale,” she said.
“This isn’t just
about 30 people losing their jobs, this is about your personal
information, and the security of your identity, and the fact
that we’re not going to be able to guarantee the security of
your information if card production leaves the OPS.
“Everybody in the
province should be concerned,” said Smith.
The 30 Local 468
members are not giving up the fight, especially since MPP
Gerretsen has told them that the sell-off is “not carved in
stone.”
“Our members
thoroughly enjoy the work they’re doing, and they’re very
conscientious and very hard-working,” said Smith. “The people
who should be doing public service work are the public service
workers who are doing it right now.”
Still no answers on MoHLTC regional office
closures
Union, employer to meet Feb. 16
The employer still
hasn’t provided any answers about its plan to close regional
offices of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MoHLTC).
MoHLTC announced
the closures On Jan. 16, but declined to provide details
except to say that 160 OPSEU members and at least 140 other
employees would be affected.
“We’ve provided
the employer with a long list of questions about these
closures, but the lack of response has been very frustrating,”
said Kathleen Demareski, OPSEU Job Security Officer. “For our
members, the threat of job loss is bad enough without the
stress of uncertainty added on to it.”
The union
committee assigned to the issue will meet employer reps on
Feb. 16. Any answers obtained will be reported to members as
soon as possible.
The union has
filed a policy grievance on the matter.
OPSEU Board sets aside cash for successor
rights fight
The OPSEU
Executive Board has approved funding for a campaign to regain
“successor rights” for Crown employees.
Successor rights
allow unionized workers whose work is sold or transferred to a
new employer to move with their work. They keep their jobs,
their union, and their collective agreement. The Conservative
government of Mike Harris stripped Crown employees of these
rights in 1995.
In 2003, Dalton
McGuinty made the following pledge – in writing – while
running for the Premier’s job: “Public employees should have
the same rights as employees in the private sector, and, as
Premier, I will restore successor rights for Ontario
government employees.”
Two-a-half-years
later, McGuinty still hasn’t kept his promise.
The loss of
successor rights has caused a huge amount of stress and
economic hardship to OPSEU members since 1995. Thousands of
workers have lost their jobs, and most who have kept their
jobs have had to fight tooth-and-nail for wages, benefits, and
pension rights.
Watch for campaign
details down the road.
“I put my trust in
OPTrust”:
Campaign aims for pension plan
change
Many OPSEU members
whose jobs have left the OPS have been able to follow their
jobs to their new employer, but not all have been able to keep
their pension plan. A new OPSEU campaign aims to help members
stay with the OPSEU Pension Trust when they move with their
jobs.
The campaign’s
goal is to convince Gerry Phillips, Minister of Government
Services, to support “grandparenting” of pension rights for
all plan members when they move with their jobs. (The new
employer would still have to agree to keeping employees in
OPTrust.)
By staying with
OPTrust, plan members would have better pensions than if their
pensions were provided under two separate plans.
The OPSEU Pension
Trust, with over $10 billion in assets, is run jointly by the
government and OPSEU. Keeping more members in the plan keeps
the plan strong for all 74,000 plan members and pensioners.
Postcards and
campaign buttons are available at all OPSEU regional offices.
Full information on the campaign, including speaking notes for
OPSEU locals, is on the web at
http://www.opseu.org/campaign/optrust/index.htm.
Original
authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.
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February 14, 2006 Issue of
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