September 29, 2006
Transition deal reached at CNCC
Members at
the Central North Correctional Centre
were breathing a little easier on Sept.
26 and 27 when they learned the details
of the deal that will bring them into
the OPS.
The
Transition Team of the Corrections MERC
were at the facility last Tuesday and
Wednesday, accompanied by government
human resources representatives, to meet
with the staff personally and give them
the good news.
The
agreement was reached on Sept. 18,
concluding negotiations that began with
the government last July.
Dave Graves,
MERC Chair and a member of the
Transition Team, was very pleased with
the deal, calling it a “win/win/win” for
the members at Central North, members in
the OPS and the government.
“We are very
happy with how things turned out,”
Graves said. “Our first concern was the
members at CNCC. We had to make sure
they were protected. We also wanted to
have opportunities for OPS Corrections
members to get to the facility if new
jobs were created.”
Members at
the Penetanguishene facility are
currently exchanging paperwork with the
ministry so that their jobs will be in
place before the OPS takes over the
facility. That changeover is expected to
occur Nov. 8-9.
Agreement protects seniority, allows for
lateral transfers
Here are the
highlights of the transition agreement:
Employees must
express that they want to transfer to
the OPS
Within five
(5) days of receiving the information
package from the ministry, the employee
must notify the employer in writing of
their interest to transfer to the OPS.
Job offers
It is
understood that any reference to job
offers means offers of employment at
CNCC once it
is transferred to the OPS.
No probationary
period
Employees
hired under this agreement shall not be
subject to a probationary period under
the OPS collective agreement unless they
did not complete their probationary
period by the date of the transfer of
operations. Those who have not completed
their probation will serve the remainder
of their probationary period as per the
OPS collective agreement.
Pay to be at OPS
rates
Employees
hired under this agreement will be
placed within the OPS classification and
salary schedules at a salary based on
service calculated in accordance with
the agreement.
Continuous Service /
Seniority recognized
OPS
continuous services dates shall be
limited to service with CNCC and
calculated as per Article 18 or
Appendix 24 of the OPS collective
agreement.
Each
employee will be advised of their
continuous service date and will have
thirty (30) days to advise the employer
in writing of any dispute respecting the
date.
Employees on leave of
absence to receive job offer
Employees
under this agreement who are on an
approved leave of absence from active
employment for twelve months or less,
specifically Leave Without Pay and
Maternity / Parental Leave, will be
deemed eligible to receive a job offer.
Employees on
maternity/parental leave to receive EI
top up
Effective
the date of transfer, any employees on
approved maternity/parental leave will
receive Supplementary Unemployment
Benefits (SUB) from the Ministry for the
remainder of their leave.
Shift schedules
remain in place until re-negotiated
The current
Compressed Work Week (CWW) agreements
will continue until February 1, 2007,
and adjusted to reflect the maximum
hours of work requirements of the OPS
collective agreement. The local parties
will agree to renew or renegotiate the
CWWs as well as a Resource Position
Management schedule in accordance with
the Transition Staffing Model.
RPN overage will
reduce by attrition
The employer
will reduce the current RPN overage via
attrition. As RPNs leave, RNs will be
hired to fill the number of positions
outlined in the Transition Staffing
Model.
Employees not given a
job offer due to excessive discipline
may be reconsidered
An employee
who doesn’t get a job offer due to
excessive discipline, may be
reconsidered if that discipline is
reduced or rescinded by an arbitrator as
a result of a grievance.
Vacancies to be
filled
Any
remaining classified vacancies in
OPSEU-represented positions will be
filled through lateral transfers. Any
remaining unclassified vacancies in
OPSEU-represented positions will be
first filled through unclassified
contract transfers. Contract transfer
requests should be submitted to Bryan
Ross at fax: (416) 327-9662. Please
keep a fax transmittal receipt of all
submissions.
Any current
OPS employees who may be eligible for a
transfer must have their applications
submitted to the employer before 1700
hours on October 6, 2006. Lateral
transfer requests should be submitted to
Indira O’Brien at fax: (416) 327-0863
and to Sandra Harper at fax (416)
448-7462. Please keep a fax
transmittal receipt of all submissions.
If positions
remain vacant after the lateral transfer
list is exhausted, the employer will
post the positions for competition per
the OPS collective agreement within
thirty (30) days.
Transitional ERC to
be established
A
transitional Local ERC will be
established to discuss operational
issues. CNCC will grant time off with
pay for one employee to sit on this LERC.
The union will choose the employee on
the committee.
To download
a copy of the original agreement, please
go to:
http://www.opseu.org/ops/ministry/locktalk/cnccmoa_2006.pdf
Laterals and rollovers ignored
Competitions
“bogus” MERC Team feels
Although the
ministry has agreed to laterals and
rollovers for positions at CNCC, it
would appear they are ignoring them
everywhere else.
The
Corrections MERC Team has met with the
employer on several occasions to discuss
correctional officer vacancies and
suggested continuing with a combination
of lateral transfers and rollovers to
fill these vacancies. However, there
have recently been a number of
correctional officer job competitions
posted within various institutions,
without regard to filling these
vacancies by lateral transfers and
rollovers. These “bogus” competitions
are patently unfair, and cause problems
that are totally unnecessary, the MERC
team feels.
Your MERC
Team wants to ensure your rights have
been respected. Therefore, they are
asking all locals to review any postings
and take the appropriate action.
If
unclassified members qualify for
conversion based on convertible hours
(as per agreements signed May 19, 2005),
they should file a grievance as per
Article 31.15 of the OPS collective
agreement.
If any
members have applied for a lateral
transfer, and that lateral transfer has
not been considered, they may want to
file a grievance as per Article 6.6.1.
If you are an unclassified employee with
seniority, and have applied for a
contract transfer, you may want to file
a grievance as per Appendix 24.
Unclassified employees may also wish to
file a grievance under Appendix 24 if
they were unsuccessful in a job
competition and feel that their
seniority wasn’t considered.
Your MERC
Team feels this may be the only way
enforce your entitlements under the
collective agreement. Please contact us
if you have any questions.
For more
information, call Don Ford (ext. 7442)
at 1-800-268-7376 or (416) 443-8888.
e-mail:
dford@opseu.org
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