In all my years as a union activist I’ve witnessed, and
been told of, plenty of bizarre negotiating maneuvers from employers.
But what’s happening at the table between the Municipal Property
Assessment Corp. (MPAC) and our bargaining unit deserves special
mention.
We’ve learned the employer wants to take 40 of 70
existing full-time Property Inspector (PI) positions in northern and
rural parts of the province and turn them into seasonal positions. That
is, these inspectors would only be on the job from April 1 to Oct. 31
and would spend the rest of the year sitting at home.
Why, you might ask? Because, according to the employer,
in northern Ontario it tends to snow each winter and that impedes
access.
Who would have guessed? It snows in northern Ontario!
For as along as anyone can remember this has never been
an issue with MPAC; yes, it can snow heavily at times, but that has
never seriously impacted on MPAC’s work servicing these parts of
Ontario. It’s all a part of delivering public services to all regions of
the province, regardless of weather conditions which, by the way, can be
equally brutal in eastern, southern and central Ontario, too, during
winter months.
It’s clear what is behind MPAC’s negotiating tactic.
They want to cut wages and benefits, and they’re relying on Mother
Nature to do its dirty work. They’ve said so in bargaining. The employer
has been clear it will achieve its objective through attrition,
volunteers and, ultimately, layoffs.
Our team is fighting back – and for many good reasons.
Transferring full-time, 12-months-per-year work, to
seasonal status will cut 40 per cent from our members’ wages. It will
have negative impacts on benefits and pensions. Contrary to the
employer’s assertion, no known MPAC employee is asking for this dramatic
re-arrangement. This is nothing less than an attack on terms of
employment that nobody is asking for.
That’s not all. MPAC is also making noise about
converting full-time work in finance, IT, office administration and
quality service from full-time to part-time.
What this amounts to is an unprecedented snowjob – on
our members and on the public.
From our members, MPAC is looking for concessions that
are unreasonable and based on the most dubious of reasons – local
weather conditions
From towns and communities, MPAC wants to cut into a
public service that local residents have come to expect and deserve.
For the rest of us who struggle to protect good jobs and
strong communities the lesson is clear: employers like MPAC must be
stopped in their tracks.
In Solidarity
Patty Rout
First Vice-President / Treasurer
