Information for OPSEU members
in the Ontario Public Service
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.
