March 23,
2007
OPS job classifications:
OPSEU campaign aims to change
CECBA
Think it’s time
OPSEU members in the OPS got the
right pay for the important work you do? With last month’s collapse of the special mediation process
set up to deal with more than 8,000 outstanding
classification grievances, you are not alone. The failure of
mediation has made one thing crystal clear: The
McGuinty government must change CECBA now!
That’s why OPSEU
is launching a campaign to make sure that happens.
In 1995, Mike Harris
rewrote the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act
(CECBA). He took away OPS employees’ right to send
classification grievances to arbitration. So far, the
McGuinty Liberals have not given that right back.
Arbitration is central
to the grievance process. Without it, there is no way to
settle grievances based on their merits, if the employer and
the union can’t agree. That is why the classification
grievance backlog grew into the thousands. And it is why 15
months of mediation could not fix the problem.
An offer we had to
refuse
Under Appendix 34 of
the OPS collective agreement, OPSEU’s representatives on the
Joint Systems Subcommittee (JSSC) spent more than a year
working with a mediator to try to resolve the outstanding
classification grievances. But the mediator was not an
arbitrator. He had no power to impose a settlement. So,
there was no way to force the government to come up with a
fair settlement.
Instead, the government
offered to reclassify just 375 members and pay a lump sum to
another 214. In return, they demanded that the union agree
to kill the remaining 7,543 grievances. They refused to hear
thousands of grievances at all. And if a grievor was
reclassified, they refused to guarantee that other members
who do the same work would be reclassified, too.
“There is no way we
could trade away thousands of valid cases to get a
settlement for just seven per cent of the original
grievors,” said Moira Cowan, one of two OPSEU members on the
JSSC.
On February 9, the
OPSEU team pulled the plug on the process.
“We spent 15 months at
the JSSC trying to make mediation work, but without access
to arbitration the process hit a brick wall,” said Lynda
Ferguson, the second OPSEU member
representative on the JSSC.
Ontario can do better
Restoring the right to
arbitration on classification issues matters for all 45,000
OPSEU members in the OPS, says Eric Morin, OPSEU chair of
the Central Enforcement and Renewal Committee (CERC).
“It’s clear that
arbitration is the only way current grievors will ever get a
fair hearing,” he said.
“And arbitration is
doubly important because we are also working with the
government to design a new classification system for the
whole OPS. If there are problems with the new system, or if
members’ jobs change down the road, we will need access to
arbitration to fix those problems, too.”
Grievance status update
With OPSEU’s decision
to pull out of the mediation process, members’
classification grievances remain active but unresolved.
OPSEU has posted an
open letter to all grievors to the union web site (http://www.opseu.org/ops/jssc/index.htm ),
along with a detailed set of
questions and answers on the mediation process and the
campaign to change CECBA.
Letters notifying each
grievor of the status of his or her individual grievance
will be sent out by mail over the next several weeks.
Talk to your manager
While the JSSC process
has been suspended without reaching a final settlement, the
employer still has the power to reclassify any member, at
any time. In fact, on March 13, the employer notified the
union that it plans to reclassify or pay lump sums to 152
members covered by tentative settlements signed off at the
JSSC between January and October, 2006.
“There is nothing
stopping the employer from reclassifying the remaining 7,980
grievors in exactly the same way,” said Morin. “So, we’re
encouraging members to contact their managers directly about
being reclassified now.”
In the meantime, the
union will file a policy grievance over the employer’s
failure to deal fairly with ALL outstanding classification
grievances, under Appendix 34 of the collective agreement.
“The right pay for the real job”
– Join the
campaign
It’s time Dalton
McGuinty fixed what Mike Harris broke. OPS employees deserve
to be fairly classified – and fairly paid. That means
restoring the right to arbitration for classification
grievances. The McGuinty government needs to change CECBA
now.
You can help make it
happen. Here’s how:
-
Find out more. For a Q&A document on the
JSSC process and campaign updates, go to:
http://www.opseu.org/ops/jssc/index.htm .
-
Attend an information meeting in your
region. For details, visit
http://www.opseu.org/ops/jssc/index.htm
or contact your OPSEU Executive Board Member.
-
Pick up campaign flyers and stickers,
and postcards from your steward, local president or
OPSEU regional office.
-
Sign a postcard to Dalton McGuinty.
Return your signed card to your steward, local president
or regional office.
-
E-mail your MPP. To send a standard
message, or write your own, go to:
http://www.opseu.org/ops/jssc/sendmppemail.htm
.
-
Organize a visit to lobby your MPP.
Bring along some coworkers to help get the message
across. Tell your MPP you want his or her support – and
that you’ll be working with OPSEU to make this an
election issue.
How are the Liberals doing so
far?
OPSEU survey lets you have
your say
What’s happened to the public
services you deliver since the McGuinty Liberals were
elected? How have the cuts affected your ministry? How has
your life at work changed? What should the government do to
really rebuild public services?
OPSEU wants your input. To have
your say, please complete OPSEU’s confidential online
survey. Just go to:
http://www.opseu.org/ops/survey2007.htm . Be sure to
send in your survey response by April 13, 2007
Your stories and views will help
the Ontario Can Do Better campaign make public services the
central issue in the upcoming provincial election.
Download
March 23, 2007 Issue of
Frontlines
