LOCAL 135 WINDSOR JAIL

FROM THE MERC SITE

2010-05-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

May 6, 2010

Greetings Division,

Your MCSCS MERC team has been busy with a full agenda, attempting to address site issues as well working to create better working conditions for our members. Here are some of the items we have worked on and continue to work on.

Institutions

Rollovers and Laterals

Your MERC team was successful in negotiating with management approximately 260 rollovers and 40 laterals across the province with all sites receiving some rollovers – 40 more than what was specified in the Collective Agreement. We continue to request more rollovers for those members that still remain in the fixed term ranks and hope that some day that all our fixed terms will be given a regular (full-time classified) job and any new hires from that point on will be hired as full-time classified Correctional Officers. In our opinion, this is a step in the right direction of legitimizing Correctional Officers in the law enforcement community. At the same time we remain cognizant of the need to allow our members to move around the province.

Regional Labour Relations Forums

We continue to have our regional forums with Brother Paul Johnstone chairing the Western and Northern Forums and Brother Dan Sidsworth taking the lead at the Central and Eastern Forums. We believe it is a good way of having dialogue amongst our union leaders and management to try and address regional issues. In the North, we have come up with some novel approaches, i.e. a subcommittee on best practices for searches. The next scheduled meeting for the Northern Forum is June 15th and 16th in Sudbury so please forward any issues to MERC lead Paul so we can add to the agenda. Western dates to follow. Same goes for the Central and Eastern Region Forums, any issues please get to Dan ASAP.

Toronto South and Southwest Detention Centres

We continue to work on being involved on these two new Jail projects, with Brother Dan chairing for the MERC at the Toronto South and Brother Paul spearheading the Southwest site. The union continues to request of management that executives of locals and union members participate in the development of these projects on an ongoing basis.

Training and Development

The committee continues to work towards having training rolled out for Correctional Staff across the province. MERC lead is Paul Johnstone and other members are Dan Marshall (TWDC); Shari Archdekin (Vanier); Jim Mitchell (North Bay Jail) and David Kerr (St. Thomas P&P). Our long range goal is to get senior members back to college for in depth training on Guns and Gangs, Stress Management, and Working with Mentally Ill Offenders.

Fixed Term (unclassified) Correctional Officer Sub-Committee

Dan Sidsworth is leading this issue. The committee continues to meet with Fixed Term members and management. The terms of reference are almost finalized. Composition on the union side is being changed now due to the last members on the committee being rolled over into classified full-time jobs.

ASMPP

The employer committed to rewrite their policies subsequent to the issuance of Vice-Chair Keller’s Award that was handed down on February 5, 2010. What we have seen is a softening of their position, however they have not gone far enough and we will be returning in front of Vice-Chair Keller in the near future for firm direction from the Board. Specifically, the employer continues to waffle on clear direction to the field to not include absences that stem from a bona fide disability under the Ontario Human Rights Code. That would also include WSIB absences. We have already moved the employer back a fair distance and we remain confident that at the end of the day, our position will prevail.

Absenteeism Target Incentives

The calculation under Absenteeism Target Incentives will be based on two per cent of the employee’s straight-time hourly rate as of December 2009, for the period from March 12, 2009 through to December 31, 2009. Overtime hours worked between March 12 and December 31, 2009 will be included in the incentive payment calculation as straight time.

Just a reminder that the ASMPP target incentives are scheduled for payout on May 13, 2010.

JASIC (Joint Attendance Strategy and Implementation Committee)

The list below is the number of members who are at the various attendance levels as reported recently to the JASIC Committee. Many of the members who are included in these figures have NOT been reviewed by the Attendance Support Management Office (ASMO). In many instances, once ASMO reviews a case that member is moved down one or two levels.

Institutions

Level 1 1,286

Level 2 214

Level 3 30

Level 4 11

Community

Level 1 110

Level 2 6

Level 3 0

Level 4 0

The committee continues to press that management and union look at positive ways to address issues that create high sick time in our division. These issues include violence against staff, overcrowding and understaffing, drugs, weapons and security threat groups.

Committee on Health and Productivity (sub-committee of JASIC)

Dan Sidsworth for MERC and Emidio Casullo for the Provincial OHSC have been working on this issue. The committee is a sub-committee of the JASIC and was formed to assist in reduction of sick credits, assisting members through sick time process, to reduce grievances relating to sick time as well as review accommodations as required.

The Terms of Reference for this pilot have just recently been signed and the pilot site of Maplehurst has been chosen by the sub-committee.

Policy Grievances

Some of the outstanding policy grievances are:

» CTO – unilateral removal of compensating time off across the province

» Police Escorts – outstanding issues of police doing correctional officers’ work.

» Inmate Court Transfers – Ministry pays municipalities to transfer inmates to court, work should be with our members

» Use of Force Instructors – managers being used to do bargaining unit work

» Fixed Term Employees – Not being compensated for hiring errors

Security and Inmate Management Initiatives

Many of the recommendations of this committee to management are being rolled out. Items include canine units and standardized security equipment

We are encouraged by management’s move to address the issue of drugs, weapons and gangs in our work sites by piloting institutional security teams. This initiative is currently in MWDC and CNCC, and will soon be at the Toronto Jail. If it continues to be a success we are hoping that the ministry will be given resources for future teams for other sites.

Pride and Profession

Dress uniforms should be available in near future. Management is in the process of finalizing the procurement of a uniform.

Enhancing our public profile is an important piece of building community support for our struggles. Public presentations to the community from our members continue to be something we are looking forward to have in place.

We continue to encourage our locals to participate in their community and forward your stories to MERC so we can place your community work on our web site.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Paul Johnstone with members Tom O’Neill, Quinte Detention Centre, and Sarah Harries-Jones, Toronto Jail, are working on a process to begin doing a study on PTSD in corrections. Thus far there has only been one study regarding corrections done in Canada by a student in Saskatchewan. We are looking forward to the results of the study which should assist our understanding of what is affecting our members in the field. This in turn will inform our discussions on recommendations to mitigate these factors. We are currently drafting Terms of Reference for this Committee

Staff Safety

2010-02-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

This morning one of our Officers was followed home by someone well known to us. As a result of his awareness, this individual was immediately apprehended and charged.

Staff are reminded to exercise extreme vigilance coming and going to work. It is of utmost importance, that should you be followed to NOT go home and to call 911. Identify yourself and follow Police direction. Contact Union and Management ASAP.

Your safety, and that of your family is of utmost importance. Please check your home email for further information.

An emergency membership meeting will soon be called to address some ongoing safety issues.

GSB Decision

2010-02-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

GSB Decision ASMPP
DECISION

[1] The Union filed a number of grievances, on behalf of its members, dealing with the Attendance Support and Management Pilot Program. Given the number of grievances, and the importance of resolving this matter as expeditiously as possible, the parties agreed on an expedited process to deal with the grievances. Essentially, it was agreed that the parties would provide me with whatever materials they considered relevant, and would then make submissions on the matter. I was asked to, after considering the materials, as well as the submissions. issue a bottom line decision, without reasons. I was requested, as well, to issue the decision in point form, for ease of understanding based on the parties submissions. After considering the submissions of the parties, as well as the documents submitted, I hereby make the following Orders:

1. The Attendance and Support Management Office of the Ministry of Government Services shall exercise reasonable discretion to deal with nonculpable absenteeism on a case-by-case basis at progression through levels of the program.

2. The Employer shall give proper consideration of implications arising under the Ontario Human Rights Code and preclude the consideration of absences that flow from a Disability as defined by the Code.

3. The Employer shall preclude the consideration of WSIB absences in making any determination at Level 4 of the ASMPP.

4. In the event of a declared pandemic by the World Health Organization or the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Employer will consider whether to suspend the ASMPP, and notify OPSEU of their decision.

5. The Parties shall meet to negotiate a dispute resolution process to deal with
grievances arising out of the ASMPP.

6. All of the grievances identified in Appendix A are hereby dismissed.

Dated at Toronto this 5th day of February 2010.

Brian M. Keller, Vice-Chair

2% Bonus.

2010-02-09T19:38:00.001-08:00

As you are aware, the 2009 absenteeism target has been achieved.

As a result, lump sum incentive payments will be issued in accordance with the language set out in Appendix COR7, paragraph 5a(i) of the Correctional Bargaining Unit Collective Agreement.
The target incentive payments will be calculated at two (2) per cent of an employee's straight time salary for hours worked from March 12, 2009 (ratification date of OPSEU Correctional Bargaining Unit Collective Agreement) to December 31, 2009. As the incentive payment calculation is based on hours worked during this time period, it does not include paid or unpaid leaves (including sick leave). However, overtime hours worked during this period will be included the incentive payment calculation. For example, one hour of overtime worked will represent one hour worked for the purposes of calculating the target incentive payment. Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact your manager. Congratulations on the achievement of the 2009 absenteeism target.
Regards,
David Logan
Assistant Deputy Minister,
Employee Relations Division, HROntario
Ministry of Government Services

JASIC targets met!

2010-01-29T12:37:00.001-08:00

Your MERC Teams have learned that the attendance targets set out under the Joint Attendance Strategy and Implementation Committee (JASIC) have been met. Our congratulations to all Youth Services Officers and Correctional Officers in the Corrections Division.

As a result, outstanding overtime payments for all members should be processed imminently. As well, the employer will shortly provide the agreed additional lump sum payment of 2 per cent of your straight-time hourly rate as of December 31, 2009 for all hours worked in the period from the date of ratification to December 31, 2009.

To achieve the 2010 absenteeism target incentives, the attendance average for Youth Services Officers and Correctional Officers must be 176 hours or less as indicated in Article COR15.1 and COR 18.1.

Your MERC Teams thanks you for your continued support.

OPSEU Help for Haiti

2010-01-24T18:23:00.001-08:00

Dear 135 Members...below you will find the most recent post from the MERC site. As you will read some OPSEU members are in need of assistance as they have travelled to Haiti to help. We will be discussing our options as far as what we can do to help our brothers and sisters out, who in turn are doing what they can in Haiti. We anticipate some 50/50 and perhaps a BBQ in an effort to assist. Updates to be posted soon. Thank you. 135 LEC

Dear OPSEU Members,

Ten (10) OPSEU members who are Medics have headed to Haiti to give a helping hand, doing not only Canadians proud, but our proud union of OPSEU.

Brother Seamus O’Connor and president of one of our OPSEU locals has stated that he would be keeping us informed of what was going on in Haiti with our members and we look forward to regular updates from him we hope to have it posted on our region #2 web site www.opseuregion2.com and maybe even the main OPSEU web site.

Here is Brother Seamus’ request;

I am Seamus O’Connor President Local 207 Halton Paramedic. I am e-mailing asking if OPSEU and/or OPSEU Locals can donate to assist some of our members who have left for Haiti.

OPSEU in the past has donated $5000 dollars to help ship an Ambulance to Haiti were one of our Medics, with his family have gone to live and help for the next year, prior to the devastation. As many of you are aware the area has just been devastated by an earthquake. Brother Grant (the brother who went with the ambulance) and his family are fine but the clinic they are staying at is being overwhelmed by the sick and injured.

We are hoping that through OPSEU, the Regions, the Locals and our own Local 207, to organize some financial assistance for a number of our medics that have left to go to the clinic in Haiti to help. There has been a personal cost in airfare and the use of their own time. If there is a way that OPSEU members can assist to help offset some of the costs to the Medics it would be greatly appreciated. Any funds that are donated will go towards these requirements, if there is anything left over, and the local will donate to a relief fund to assist the people of Haiti in the name of OPSEU.

Thank you and In Solidarity, Seamus

Please make cheques payable to;

Local 207

C/O OPSEU

55 Frid St.
Suite #1
Hamilton, ON
L8P 4M3

General Membership Meeting

2010-01-20T18:46:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 8th. 1930hrs, Union Hall. Presentation of budget and new By-Laws. Pizza and refreshmments provided.

Collective Agreement

2010-01-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

Hard Copies of the new Collective Agreement has arrived and will be distributed in the next few days.

Local 135 would like to encourage your participation in a fundraiser for the people of Haiti. See Angelo or Rob for info. Thanks.

Workers Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act

2010-01-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

CLICK HERE

MERC Update

2010-01-07T20:25:00.001-08:00

Update…
January 6th, 2010

Greetings Division,

We hope you all had a good holiday season, as we all recognize that 2009 was a challenging year.

We want to provide a few updates:

As we have discussed at our 2009 all-president’s meetings, we are striving to enhance the professional image of our Correctional Services members with the public. These efforts are important in raising our profile as peace officers and correctional workers at large in this province. It will lead to better public support when we face everyday challenges and when we negotiate our contract.

We hope that the locals will look within their communities for programs and/or individuals that need our help. Some locals already donate time and money to charities and sporting organizations.

ASMPP

Although we have stated this clearly in previous communications, it is important to reiterate that OPSEU never agreed to the Attendance Support and Management Pilot Program. It was fully imposed by the employer. The Union has filed a policy grievance about ASMPP and that complaint is following typical processes.

There appears to be some confusion between ASMPP and The Joint Attendance Strategy and Implementation Committee (JASIC). JASIC is the committee that monitors the sick time numbers as indicated in the C.A. . See the December 23, 2009, Lock Talk for the JASIC Terms of Reference.

The union has already brought concerns forward regarding some of the numbers and the sites that are attached to them, as we do not see all things being equal when it comes to absenteeism. Some of our concern revolves around the H1N1 issue/period and how that would have affected our numbers in some cases.

Through this committee we are also looking for resources from management to assist our members in getting better, not penalize them for being ill, many times through no fault of their own but merely because of the working conditions they are subjected to.

CTO

The removal of CTO was a unilateral decision made by the employer and we are still actively pursuing a policy grievance on this matter as well.

SOME POSITIVE NEWS:

Our Regional ERCs are meeting in all four regions and we hope to see continued success at resolving issues with those forums.

We are working to have stage two hearings held every month at the local sites and have more grievances resolved there…rather than going to full arbitrations.

Management has agreed to waive the probationary period for all Fixed Term Employees who were recently classified under the Appendix COR9 – Letter of Understanding.

We will continue to pressure management to see that many of the recommendations that came out of the Security and Inmate Management Committee be moved on this year, such as the search dogs.

We have been making slow but steady progress with improving the labour relations at MERC and corporately. We will continue to do our best to improve the working conditions and safety for all our membership.

In Solidarity, Corrections Division

Contact Info Please

2009-12-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

All members are encouraged to send their updated contact info to the new LEC. Please send contact number and home email to the follow address:

windsor135@yahoo.ca

All information will be secure and only be used for union business should we need to contact you.

Thank you.
Randy

ATTENDANCE SUPPORT AND MANAGEMENT PILOT PROGRAM

2009-12-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

There has been some confusion regarding the new sick policy regarding its anniversary date. To clear up all confusion we have posted links to the actual policy. Have a read for yourself and feel free to direct any questions or comments to Rob, Randy or any other LEC member.

Click me for an introduction to the policy

Click me for the policy

click me for common questions and answers

Rob Schussler

From MERC re: Arming Officers.

2009-12-02T15:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Corrections Division,

We are asking the Corrections division to write the Minister either by snail mail or personal email (not work email) on your thoughts on inmate escorts, CCing Smokey, Brian Chauvin or Eddy Almeida, as well as your local MPP.

Ask Mr. Bartolucci to give the workers proper protection and training, not only for the workers themselves, but also to ensure that public safety is preserved.

In sol., Corrections

Premier Dalton McGuinty,

I am writing you this letter due to the situation that occurred on November 24, 2009 at Hamilton General Hospital. I will also be sending this to Mr. Bartolucci. As you may be aware two Correctional Officer’s that work for Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre were held at gunpoint and assaulted while escorting an inmate to the hospital. This inmate had previous escape attempts and was in custody for pointing a loaded shotgun at a Toronto Police Officer. This resulted in a very dangerous inmate escaping custody and the general public being put in danger. The inmate still remains at large as I write this letter. Also the two Correctional Officer’s involved were not able to protect them self and are lucky to be alive.

I was looking online today at www.cp24.com and noticed Mr. Rick Bartolucci made the following comment to the media regarding the escape:

Province not ready to arm jail guards who escort inmates

“Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci says he doesn’t want more guns in situations like that. He says that could create other problems.”

“At this point in time, I would not be in favour of having jail guards carry guns,” Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci said outside the legislature Wednesday.

“They are in very, very close proximity to prisoners (and) carrying a gun brings about a whole other set of circumstances that may have to be dealt with.”

I have serious concerns and am very insulted in the Province of Ontario especially Mr. Bartolucci for not taking the lives of Correctional Officer’s serious. Also I would like to inform our Minister that we are Correctional Officers, NOT jail guards! Goes to show the amount of respect he has for us. I would also like to ask what experience does Mr. Bartolucci have in a jail? None that I know of, so how would he know about the dynamics when escorting an inmate? The Province has an obligation to protect its employees and the community. Correctional Officer’s are put in danger everyday and not given the proper equipment to do our jobs. Officers to this date are still not even issued handcuffs as part of the uniform equipment. One question I would like to ask is, why are armoured car drivers armed, yet us as Peace Officers in Ontario transporting dangerous offenders are not? We escort inmates who are murders, terrorists, gang members and escape risks everyday. Recently Border Guards were armed for their protection, yet we remain unarmed. Correctional Service Canada’s Officer’s are armed, but the Province of Ontario does not arm its Correctional Officer’s for community escorts such as hospital visits. Every inmate that is in a Federal Penitentiary came from a Provincial Institution, we have the exact same inmates as they house, yet we are left to stand alone when it comes to our safety. We also hold Federal inmates who are sent to our custody for court purposes. I know at the Toronto West Detention Centre, we have had escapes that could have been prevented and also have had Officer’s held at gunpoint. I am asking you to please consider this request to arm Correctional Officer’s in the Province of Ontario for the purpose of out of the institution escorts. It is for the safety of the Officer and the community. How can the Ministry be called “Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services” when they are obviously not concerned with safety at all? I hope to hear back from you in the near future.

Kyle Davis

Correctional Officer

Toronto West Detention Centre

Link to Ministers comments and story. CLICK HERE

From MERC

2009-12-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

As many of you may or may not know, there continues to be numerous investigations occurring in the field around allegations of IT/internet abuse, resulting in workplace discrimination and harassment complaints, human rights violations, suspensions, criminal charges, resulting in grievances, mediation and other strains on labour relations, this continues to this day to be an issue.

The parties are working to mitigate the outstanding issues around alleged abuse and hope to have an agreement/process to allow all to move forward in a positive manner.

Thank you.

In Sol., eddy
Memo regarding internet usage: CLICK HERE

From MERC Team

2009-11-24T17:12:00.001-08:00

ROLLOVER UPDATE…
November 23rd, 2009

update-icon
Greetings Presidents and Division,

We are happy to announce that we have come to an agreement regarding rollovers/COR 9 in the MCSCS Division.

We understand that there is much anticipation over this agreement, please be patient and details will follow soon.

In Sol., MCSCS MERC

Man escapes custody at Hamilton hospital

2009-11-24T13:03:00.001-08:00

Two armed men wearing hospital masks overpowered two prison guards and helped a third man escape custody from Hamilton General Hospital today.

Police alerts were issued throughout the GTA following the morning escape from the hospital at Victoria Ave. and Barton St. at around 11:30 a.m.

Police identified the escaped prisoner as Fawad Nouri, 24, a man who was shot by Hamilton Police in January following an armed robbery of a Tim Hortons on Stone Church Rd. and Upper James St.

Six years ago, Nouri was accused of pointing a sawed-off shotgun at a Toronto Police officer and reaching for her gun following an armed robbery at a flea market.

The prisoner was taken to the hospital for undisclosed care by two guards who were overpowered by two men armed with handguns. Police said the suspects wore green surgical masks during the break-out.

The three men were seen leaving the hospital in a silver-coloured Hyundai Tiburon.

Police also said they may also have a scanner capable of monitoring police calls.

From MERC Team

2009-11-17T10:27:00.001-08:00

UPDATE…
November 16th, 2009
Greetings Presidents and Division,

Rollovers For MCSCS unclassified (Fixed Term)

The MCSCS MERC met with management on November 12th to further discuss potential numbers and rational on Rollovers. We were unable to come to an agreement as of yet but have scheduled another meeting for the 23rd of November and we remain optimistic.

***IMPORTANT***: We are asking all locals/presidents to confirm with the MERC that all local hour disputes have been resolved around hours regarding appendix 24. Please confirm before 1000 hours on Monday, November 23rd, 2009. If they have not, please provide details as to numbers of outstanding disputes and forward said disputes to us.

ASMPP

We have retained counsel for this policy grievance and the union is providing a team of two, one whom we have relied on many times in the past with great success as well as the other being the lawyer who represented the London city workers against their employers punitive sick program. First date is February 22nd, 2010.

H1N1

Even though Correctional workers are now part of the group who should be given the vaccine, the employer still has not moved to having on site clinics, except for CNCC where public health declared an outbreak of this flu. We are filing a H&S Policy Grievance on this issue as well the fact that the employer failed to provide employees with protection may be another argument in regards to lack of resources provided to our members.

Court Transfers

Policy grievance has being initiated regarding the court transportation of inmates, as we believe this to be an inclusion issue.

MOL

It has come to the unions attention that inspections of our correctional facilities and potentially other inspections are being done by managers out of the Ministry of Labour. The union is moving on a policy grievance on this issue.

In Sol., Corrections Executives

H1N1 flu shot

2009-11-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

The Ontario government is expanding the list of people who can get the H1N1 flu shot. The province's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Arlene King, said Tuesday that first responders — firefighters and police officers — can now get inoculated. Correctional workers and senior citizens living in nursing homes are also eligible to receive the vaccine.

Radios

2009-10-27T20:17:00.001-07:00

The Local Executive would like to thank management for fixing all the radio issues. Having requested reports from its members in order to deal with the problems appropriately, no such reports have been submitted...therefore the radios and all their issues must have been resolved by management.

President's Message

2009-10-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Fighting the coming attack

October 23, 2009

Dear sisters and brothers:

The wounded global economy came home to roost at Queen’s Park yesterday.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced that Ontario’s budget deficit this year will hit $24.7 billion. The news, while not surprising, was shocking just the same. It’s a big number. It has big consequences for every OPSEU member.

The Minister promised a “sweeping review” of government spending. Premier Dalton McGuinty would not rule out unpaid days off for the million Ontarians who earn their bread in the provincial public sector. And the spectre of privatization now looms over every public service worker.

The Liberals’ plan is to make us pay.

There is no question that the deficit is real, and it’s big. It’s about $1,900 for every living person in Ontario. Put another way, it’s equal to all the money the province collected from Personal Income Tax last year.

As a province, we will have to address this deficit. The question is, who will pay?

Dwight Duncan won’t have much luck looking for waste in public services (except, of course, for the hundreds of millions he’s throwing away on private consultants). We already had a “sweeping review” from 1995 to 2003. It was called the Common Sense Revolution, and public services still haven’t recovered from the brutal trauma of those years.

As far as unpaid days off, a lot of us remember Bob Rae’s “Social Contract” all too well. But much has changed since the Rae days.

For one thing, the Social Contract would be struck down by the courts today. In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was wrong to tear up the collective agreements of health workers in that province. Since then, collective bargaining has been recognized as a protected right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

McGuinty can’t legislate his way out of this. If he wants to use public employees to buy Ontario out of the recession, his two main options are a) privatization; and b) mass layoffs.

Privatization is a stupid idea. It cuts services, it destroys jobs, and it usually comes with major cost overruns. And from a budget standpoint, selling off assets like the LCBO – which right-wingers are already barking for – would kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

As for more layoffs, they can only weaken local economies, destroy the services people need, and generate headlines the Liberals really don’t want to see.

So what’s their plan? My guess is, they think that just the threat of layoffs and privatization will force public employees to agree to the wage cuts or “Dalton Days” he wants.

In other words, it’s a New Social Contract.

The problem with the 1993 version of the Social Contract was not that it tried to pay off the deficit that all Ontarians owed. The problem was that it put the responsibility for doing so on one group only: public sector workers.

How is it fair that a part-time secretary at a community college, who makes maybe $27,000 a year, should be the one paying off the deficit when the Bay Street banker is not?

Which is more important, providing professional help to a child with a mental illness, or giving income tax breaks to profitable corporations and obscene bonuses to their CEOS?

Public services aren’t just for public employees. They exist because we all need them. And that’s why saving them is not the responsibility of public employees alone.

We chose careers in public service not to get rich, but because we care – for people, for families, for communities. It’s time our commitment got the respect it deserves.

We are already planning a bold strategy to fight the coming attack. It will take courage, commitment, brains, resources, and leadership. The good news is, there is no organization in Canada that is better equipped to lead this fight than our union, OPSEU.

Working together as we have done so many times before, I know we will do whatever it takes.

In solidarity,

Warren (Smokey) Thomas

President

Elections

2009-10-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Monday Oct 26, 2009 at 2000hr at the union hall..... Nominations and elections will take place for the following positions:
1. L.E.C
2. E.R.C
3. Scheduling committee.

No more Bitching, come out and have your voice heard! !

Radio Issues--Reports Requested

2009-09-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

As we are all aware Management has often informed us to rely on our less than reliable Radio System for Emergency Transmissions. However we all know that these radio's fail nearly as often as they work. Your local Union Executive are requesting you take a couple minutes at the end of your shift to report any and all issues with your radio use throughout the radio. Please take note of poor transmissions, dead/dying batteries and the frequency of such. Submit one report to Management and one to either Paul, Jason or Randy. Yes this takes work, but just a few minutes worth, but this work will assist your Health and Safety Committee affect change for all of us.

It saved his life

2009-09-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

'It saved his life'
A protective vest is credited with saving the life of a veteran correctional officer who was among six guards attacked by two convicts at Kingston Penitentiary Wednesday evening. "It saved his life," said Jason Godin, regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. He spoke to the officer yesterday, two days after the attack. "He said, 'If I hadn't had the vest, the guy would have sunk 12 inches of blade in my kidney,' " Godin said. The officer became involved in a scuffle on a cellblock of the maximum-security federal prison. One inmate became very aggressive, Godin said, and at some point produced a large-bladed knife and jabbed it into the officer's torso. "It felt like a real solid punch and then he realized (the prisoner) tried to stab him," Godin said. He said the officer has some bruising. The knife used in the attack -- or shiv, as it's known in prison -- was recovered. Godin said police took the officer's vest as evidence. The assaults happened around 10:30 p. m., when convicts were being locked in their cells. The incident began when one inmate smashed a fluorescent light tube in his cell and began hurling the pieces of broken glass at two officers. The officers suffered cuts. Four other officers were attacked by the inmate with a homemade weapon, according to Corrections Canada. The prison service did not disclose that the weapon was a knife. Three of them suffered cuts to their hands, wrist and back and one suffered a pulled muscle. Corrections will not provide any additional details. "I know that the officers were wearing stab-proof vests and they're very good pieces of safety equipment that CSC has provided to the officers who are working in the units," Brian Joyce, an assistant warden at Kingston Pen said yesterday. "I can't speak specifically about whether that was a life-saving event or not but it certainly is a mitigating factor." are still being assessed. One officer may have suffered an injured eye from flying glass. Joyce cited privacy laws in refusing to provide any information about the status of the staff. The two inmate attackers have been transferred out of the prison and could end up in a special handling unit, a super- secure facility for convicts who pose a threat behind bars. All of the roughly 400 convicts at KP remain confined to their cells and all visits and programs were cancelled to allow a prison-wide search for weapons and contraband. "We're going to take our time and do what's necessary to make sure every-thing's safe before we open up," Joyce said. He could not predict when the search would be completed and the institution's normal routine would be restored. Godin said the incident could have been defused, with fewer injuries, if correctional officers were permitted to carry OC, a form of pepper spray. He said staff could see the incident spiralling out of control. "If we had [OC spray], we could have prevented further injuries," he said. The union has been battling senior management for some time, arguing that prison guards should be permitted to carry small canisters of the spray so that they can swiftly respond to violent incidents. At the moment, OC spray is available, but staff must go to a locked, central command post and ask permission from a supervisor for its use. Godin said staff often don't have time to fetch a weapon. "Eighty per cent of the use-of-force incidents that happen in our institutions are spontaneous," he said. Two years ago, guards at maximum-security Kent Institution in British Columbia briefly refused to work and filed a health and safety complaint under the Canada Labour Code over the failure of prison bosses to issue OC spray. A tribunal hearing was held in July to examine the complaint. A decision could take six months. "It is frustrating," said Gord Robertson, regional president of the union based in Abbotsford, B. C. "It's difficult when we know that these things actually protect staff, they actually save staff's lives and in the case of OC it can definitely help in protecting inmates' lives because we can break up fights." Robertson said the union faced the same resistance from senior Corrections bosses over demands for handcuffs and vests to be standard issue, at least in maximum-security prisons. Corrections initially resisted union demands for cuffs and vests, arguing they would provoke or intimidate prisoners. In 2004, Corrections Canada agreed to allow correctional officers to carry handcuffs. Vests were issued to staff in maximum-security prisons and to some staff in medium-security facilities about two years ago. Robertson said Corrections is facing a serious budget crunch and money may be a factor in the resistance to give OC spray to all staff. He notes that Corrections spent nearly $25,000 to hire an expert to appear at the tribunal in July to argue against the union. "Twenty-four thousand, nine hundred dollars would buy enough OC spray for an institution for years," he said. Robertson said staff inside prisons face a growing threat of violence. "CSC realizes that these inmates are becoming more and more violent all the time," he said.

From The MERC Team - September 2/09

2009-09-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Corrections Division
ASMPP - policy grievances are moving forward on managements program, we have yet to get answers to our questions....as well....we have a second stage meeting coming up in near future, September 8th, 2009.
Roll Overs - no information as of yet around "Rolls" is due to the fact that there is no news to report.There are loads of rumours, but as our last Lock Talk indicated....that's all they are.....we are still in negotiations with management on the issue of rollovers...(and many other items) as well management is in the process of going through calculating all the hours of Fixed Term/Unclassified/Contract Employees across the province.The numbers per institution are not agreed upon...we have given management our suggested formula...but they have yet to come back with their suggestions or recommendations.When something is agreed upon...we will send it to your local presidents...& then we will post it on here, it is usually up within a day after notice is sent to local Presidents.The Union has no desire to hold up rollovers...it serves the members in no positive manner...we are continuing to push for a speedy and fair process to gain stability for our members.
Meeting with Deputy Minister and ADM's - There was a meeting called September 1st, 2009 at OPSEU Head Office with representation from the president's office, staff services and the grievance department as well Brothers Gord Longi and Eddy Almeida. Deputy Minister, Mr. Jay Hope, ADM's for Institutions Mr. Steven Small and Community Kevin Cowie also attended, Dr. Ralph Agard, ADM of OED was not in attendance....We had the opportunity to speak frankly with the deputy and ADM's as what we believe are our common goals as well as what we see as barriers to moving forward in a positive manner. Primarily we want to be included in the law enforcement community, treated with the same respect and discussed how to work together to get there....we are hoping the recommendations that come out of the Security and Inmate Management Committee as well as other MERC/POH&SC/SAROCSC committees and sub committees assist in outlining methods to reach these goals over time, as well as deal with outstanding Labour Management issues. We understand that we still have some major hurtles a head of us....but we are hoping that with dialogue we should be able to come to some agreements and then actions that are in the best interest of all.
Committees - We have brought the MCSCS committees up to date on our web site, they and the members attached to said committees can be found under Information, but may be moved under stand alone heading of committees in very near future. As in all other aspects of our web site, this is a work in progress.
Any other information.....as it comes available, we will post ASAP.
Thank you for your continued work in protecting the good citizens of Ontario.
In Sol., MCSCS MERC

MERC letter to Mr. Hope RE: ASMPP

2009-08-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Letter to Mr. Jay Hope from your MERC Team
August 12th, 2009

Greetings Corrections Division

Attached is a letter we have sent due to management refusing to provide us with any information regarding their program.

In Sol., MERC
To view the letter: Click Here

Security Provisions and Inmate Population Management Committee Memorandum and Questionnaire

2009-08-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

Local Union Executive is encouraging all staff members to complete the following questionnaire when circulated.

From Brother Almeida, MERC

August 12th, 2009
Dear Corrections Division

Please see the attached memo and questionnaire for distribution to all staff and managers in your facilities.

Thank you for your assistance.

In Sol., eddy
Memorandum: Click Here
Questionnaire: Click Here

2009-08-11T07:48:00.001-07:00

Friday, August 07, 2009
The London Free Press - August 7/09
Unions have role in cutting high city hall absenteeism
By JOE BELANGER
It's disappointing, but not unexpected that an arbitrator has ruled against a policy at London city hall aimed to reduce high worker absenteeism. Arbitrator Wesley Raynor, a former dean of the University of Western Ontario's law faculty, said the policy could be used to intimidate employees to come to work even when they're legitimately sick. Raynor noted the policy's repeated threat of termination and "the limited explanation of the need for discretion . . . create a definite tone of intimidation." The ruling leaves the city without an attendance policy for the next six months and chief administrative officer Jeff Fielding said management will draft a new policy in consultation with city hall unions. The policy was adopted after it came to light administration wanted to hire an attendance manager to help cope with an unusually high absenteeism rate among city workers. A review by an accounting firm concluded city hall employees missed an average of 19.4 days of work, more than double the national average of 9.7 days for civic workers compiled by Statistics Canada. The policy developed by management flagged employees who missed six days or more in either half of the calendar year. Managers were to work with employees with serious illness while others were also offered help but told to find ways to reduce sick days or face an escalating set of six meetings which could lead to termination. It sounds convoluted, possibly unfair and open for abuse and Raynor ruled it was. Unless the unions representing 2,200 inside and outdoor workers are involved in developing a new policy, it is almost bound to fail. That way the employees have a stake in its success. Clearly, the language and process will also have to be simplified. There's no question absenteeism has improved in recent years. For instance, absentee rates among London firefighters dropped 18.5% compared with 2007, and are significantly lower at Dearness Home for the Aged. No one can blame the administration for trying. They've had success. But all of us expect even more improvement now that the unions will be involved.
Those of you sitting in the ivory towers, you should take a look at the highlighted sentence. See you at the GSB.....

Obese Texas man hides gun between rolls of fat

2009-08-08T13:37:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An obese prisoner in Harris County, Texas has been charged with illegal possession of a firearm after he was discovered to be hiding a 9mm pistol in between his rolls of fat, local media reported Saturday.

George Vera, who weighs around 500 pounds (225 kilograms) was originally arrested last week for selling counterfeit CDs, according to the Houston Chronicle newspaper.

A police spokesman told the Chronicle that Vera was searched three times over the course of his arrest and booking at the jail but managed to conceal the handgun with his rolls of fat until it was discovered in the shower.

Vera has been charged with possession of an illegal weapon in a correctional facility, which carries a penalty of two to 10 years in prison, but is currently free on bail of 10,000 dollars.

Stage 2 Request from Management

2009-08-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Any members with outstanding grievances are being asked to contact Local Union Executives in the event that they have received a letter from Management relating to Stage 2 Hearings.
Thank you.

LOCK TALK

2009-08-05T14:06:00.001-07:00

Lock Talk…
August 5th, 2009

Lock Talk

A publication of the OPSEU Corrections Division

August 5, 2009

Welcome to ASMPP
(Another Slipshod Ministry Pilot Program)

Starting Aug. 10, 2009, the employer will implement their new Attendance Support Management Pilot Project (ASMPP) to replace the Attendance Support Program (ASP).

The MCSCS and MCYS MERC teams met with the employer on July 29 as part of the new Joint Attendance Strategy and Implementation Committee (JASIC). However, the employer representatives appeared to be powerless and without the authority to make any type of decisions.

Both the MCSCS and the MCYS MERC Teams and OPSEU are extremely concerned with much of the content of the new ASMPP. We are also very aware of the overwhelming negative response and the many concerns expressed by corrections bargaining unit members when this program was announced.

Eddy Almeida, MCSCS MERC Chair says that so far their questions have gone unanswered. “We have raised a litany of questions around the shortcomings of this policy, Almeida said. “We are still waiting to hear management’s rational and justifications for putting in language that is only beneficial to the employer…criteria that only appears to enable them to dismiss members from their jobs.”

“Once again, the employer has put into motion a knee-jerk policy without any research to support the policy’s purpose or objectives,” said Glenna Caldwell, MCYS MERC Chair. “Clearly, there are a multitude of factors that are involved with attendance problems over and above the terrible conditions within our work environments. The employer admitted that they did zero research to understand the factors behind sick time usage in the corrections bargaining unit.”

The employer’s policy speaks to assisting employees in maintaining positive attendance rates, yet they have allocated zero resources to meet this objective. They could not identify any resources besides the 3.5 sessions of EAP (which was cut down some time ago from 10 sessions) as a mechanism to assist employees.

Meanwhile, the employer continues to raise the issue of sick time with the union, while doing nothing to improve conditions that are the major factors behind attendance issues. Instead, they appear to be doing exactly the opposite. OPSEU has tabled and is emphatically addressing all of the concerns that have been raised about this punitive program, and we are awaiting responses from the employer. We also fully intend to put this policy to the test at the GSB and any other forums where it can and should be challenged.

OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said that the government should re-think the ongoing battle they are waging against members in the OPS, especially those in Corrections.

“Our Corrections members do not throw in the towel at the first sign of a fight,” Thomas said. “The employer has learned this time and time again. If the employer needs another lesson in how strong our members can be, we are more than willing to show them.”

Stay tuned.

2009-07-30T16:02:00.001-07:00

ASMPP - Manager’s Guide.

Follow the link to see the managers guide to the new attendance support and management pilot program.

Link

Members are reminded to check Corrections Merc Site for updates and are encourage to check out other Local Websites for information.

Direct Supervision In Remand Centre

2009-07-19T07:27:00.001-07:00

Direct Supervision In Remand Centre - July 1/09
Remand centre guards up in arms over plans to station them among prisoners with no partitions
By ANDREW HANON
Mere weeks after a guard was attacked by a prisoner and hospitalized, staff at the notorious Edmonton Remand Centre are about to be thrown in with the inmates.
"There will be no protective glass between us and them," said one correctional peace officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We'll be at a desk right in the units, where we're totally exposed and vulnerable." The locked, secure observation decks where the CPOs oversee the prisoners, known as "bubbles," are being phased out in favour of "direct supervision," where staff work alone or in pairs right alongside the prisoners in the cramped, overcrowded units. The new system begins experimentally in a single unit on July 8 and will be phased in over the next year. It will feature rewards for inmates who behave. If prisoners obey the rules and co-operate, they get extra privileges. If they cause trouble, privileges are taken away. One source said the privileges will include flat-screen TVs and fridges full of goodies in common areas. The head of the guards' union is calling for a hazard assessment of the plan. Alberta Union of Provincial Employees president Doug Knight said direct supervision at the Edmonton remand is "ludicrous." 'COMPLETELY DIFFERENT' It might work in other jails, he said, but "the atmosphere in a remand centre is completely different from a longer-term institution." Remand centres hold prisoners still awaiting trial. They don't yet know their fates and are often tense and edgy. Some are extremely violent and, once sentenced, will be sent to maximum-security prisons. Many come into the remand with "street beefs" and end up face-to-face with their enemies from the outside. Add to that the Edmonton centre's gulag-like overcrowding -- there are more than 800 inmates in a facility built for 340 -- and you have a powderkeg of tension, anger and hostility, Knight explained. "This will put the inmates at risk, too," said another union member, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. "What you need in there is more control, not less." Solicitor General spokesman Sharon Lopatka said studies in the U.S. have shown that direct supervision actually "reduces tensions." "It allows (CPOs) to quickly deal with problems before they escalate," she said. "Because they're better able to observe the inmates they get to know the habits, what's going on, what the inmates are saying." BETTER RAPPORT Because they spend more time with the prisoners, the guards can build a better rapport with them, Lopatka added. A new, $620-million, 2,000-inmate remand centre will open in 2011 at 127 Street and 186 Avenue. Lopatka said the new facility is designed with direct supervision in mind, and imposing it now will give staff a chance to learn the new system. But a lot of staff at the remand don't buy it, said one staffer. They're skeptical of the system in a new facility, but feel they're being thrown to the wolves in the old remand. Last month, a guard was hospitalized after a prisoner managed to slip into a secure office and attack him while the CPO did paperwork. A week earlier, another guard had to fend off an attacker with pepper spray after he tried to break up a fight between two inmates. One staffer warned that tough economic times could make things even more tense in the remand. "They don't get as many programs as sentenced prisoners get," he explained. "And, with the overcrowding, they're not getting as much as they should anyway. "During a recession, one of the first places the government cuts back is programs for prisoners." He added ominously: "A busy offender is an offender who's not making shivs."

Leadership Training on Ministry Initiated Investigations

2009-07-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

Local Union Leadership and Stewards will be attending training this coming August to assist our members in the event of any type of Investigation including such under Article 22.

Members are encouraged to make use of email addresses provided to contact your local executives for non urgent situations.

Thanks, Randy

Grievances

2009-07-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Members are encouraged to continue with their responsibilities for their own respective grievances(collection of evidence, adhering to time lines etc..). Please provide a copy of Stage 1 to Slinger. If/when you choose to proceed to stage 2 (In the event the grievance is not satisfactorily settled by the supervisor) please ensure proper forms are forwarded to Slinger within time frames governed by Article 22 of the Collective Agreement. Should you have any questions regarding the filing of grievances, please refer to new Collective Agreement Hard copies will be available by the fall. I can be contacted at my home email or on my cell should you require an help.

Upcoming Educational in London, Sept 26/27 if anyone is interested. Info can be found here. Thanks, Randy

News Update From The MERC Team - July 1/09

2009-07-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

We met with the employer on June 29th regarding Security Issues and Inmate Management.
We tabled numerous agenda items for discussion at this table, as well as requesting information pertinent to topics, much of what has/is presently on provincial tables. Items we felt needed to be included in any recommendations report that is forwarded to higher ups. This report is to be completed by the end of September.
It is a work in progress and there are more items to add, as well as more research required. Once the finial document is completed, we will ensure it is posted on our web site and sent to the local executives the same time it is released.

Meeting with the employer on June 30th regarding the Rollovers.

The Employer advised that they will be requesting that all adult institutions start to calculate the straight time hours of all fixed-term Correctional Officers from the beginning of their first contract up to and including June 28, 2009.The parties agreed in principle thus far to the following:

1. All fixed-term Correctional Officers will be provided the opportunity to receive and dispute the hours which will be used in this roll-over exercise.
2. This will be the last time fixed-term Correctional Officers will be provided the opportunity to dispute their hours (beginning from their first contract up to and including June 30, 2009). These hours may be used in future roll over exercises without a dispute process.
3. Upon receipt of their hours, fixed-term Correctional Officers will be provided five business days to dispute these hours. It is the responsibility of the fixed-term Correctional Officer to provide documentation to support their dispute (i.e. Pay stubs, etc.).
4. Should the parties not agree on the disputed hours, the dispute will be referred to the MERC Implementation Committee.
5. An Expression of Interest will be drafted and forwarded to all adult institutions asking all fixed-term Correctional Officers to "express their interest" in becoming classified, if the opportunity is available.
6. These "Expressions of Interest" will be posted for ten business days.
7. To be eligible to apply for this process, fixed term Correctional Officers must have been employed at their current institution for a period of at least one year.
8. Should the fixed-term Correctional Officer NOT have been employed at the institution for a period of one year, they may be considered for roll over at the last institution they have worked (as long as there was no break in service longer than 13 weeks) if they were employed at that institution for a period of one year.
We are also encouraging locals executives to make their own lists of vacancies and other pertinent numbers with rational. Suggestions have been sent to local presidents
Local 135 has presented our MERC team with our vacancy list.

Dear Brothers and Sisters

2009-06-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

The following document was “leaked” by management recently.

This is a management document and was not negotiated by the union. It falls under managements rights to come up with such a program and in so much, it is no different than the previous program, in that we have the right to grieve this management program.

The ASP committee has yet to meet, MERC has sent dates to management and we are waiting to hear back. I am sure that is where management first intended to present this document to us.

click anywhere on this line to view the document.

Rezoning OK'd for 'urgently needed' jail

2009-06-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Council has approved rezoning for construction of a new jail site at the south end of Walker Road.

The decision was made at the end of a marathon six-hour special meeting at City Hall on Thursday night.

The motion passed by a vote of 8-2.

Councillors Ron Jones, Drew Dilkens, Fulvio Valentinis, Percy Hatfield, Alan Halberstadt, Caroline Postma, Bill Marra, and Jo-Anne Gignac voted in favour.

Councillors. Ken Lewenza Jr. and Dave Brister were the opposition votes.

"We talk about NIMBY," said Jones before the votes were taken. "Some people say it means 'Not in my back yard.' Others say 'NOW in my back yard.'"

Rezoning was the last obstacle to the controversial project, which will be located west of 8th Concession Road just north of Highway 401.

Although Jones said he was "astonished" by the lack of involvement by local MPPs, he said rezoning for the jail is the right choice.

"We do require a new facility. We have to put people to work. We have to do what is right for the City of Windsor, not just one community."

More than 40 delegations — from concerned residents to provincial representatives to a correctional officer — signed up to speak on the issue.

Residents who crammed council chambers reacted with dismay to the decision. One irate attendee clapped loudly to interrupt Halberstadt's speech.

Ward 4 resident Antun Peakovic said he was shocked by council's decisions, and called the public input process "a sham, a joke."

Peakovic said the jail will always have an "inherently negative" image, and many of his questions about the facility remain unanswered — such as whether it will serve only Windsor, or all of southwestern Ontario.

"We are the taxpayers, and yet you don't seem to care," he told the mayor and council.

Ana Peakovic, Antun's mother, called the jail a "monster."

"There are too many hidden agendas," she said. "Dwight Duncan and Sandra Pupatello have no excuse. They have turned against us."

Rob Pattison, vice-president of Infrastructure Ontario, construction is hoped to begin in the fall of 2010.

Indicated as a red zone on planning maps of the area, the site for the jail is an area of 30 acres. The main building will have a capacity of 315 inmates, but is limited to a height of no more than 14 metres.

There will be two sets of fences, including one 20 feet high topped by razor wire.

Paul Prsa of the Croatian Sports Club said the new jail will be a direct neighbour to his club's long-standing soccer facilities. He predicted that the jail will cause permanent upheaval to the club.

"Our membership is largely made up of families with young children, and in some cases, grandchildren," he said. "Quite frankly, we were there first."

Prsa alleged that the consultation process "has been largely rigged to produce a favourable outcome for the major private players in this game."

"We've been bullied by the big guy in the school yard, so to speak."

In an emotional speech, Ward 4 resident Martha Belleperche said she and others have been stressed for months by the prospect of the jail.

"We have been lied to from the beginning by (the Ontario Realty Corporation), and the provincial government."

But community supporters of the site pointed to the employment it will generate, and the need to replace the current outdated facility on Brock Street.

"This project will create a number of good-paying jobs for our members," said Rob Petroni, president of a local labourer's union. "We understand that if it gets turned down here, it will probably go somewhere else."

Paul Petroni, a correctional officer who has worked at the Brock Street jail, pointed out that the current facility is more than 80 years old, and is subject to overcrowding.

"It is time to build a new jail, and the outcome would not only benefit my members, but also Windsor," he said.

Petroni said he believes the old jail has had a positive impact on its community, which includes a nearby church, elementary school and west end businesses.

But his comments drew mocking interjections from some residents, prompting the mayor to call for decorum.

"No more outbursts," Francis said. "If there are any other outbursts, I'll ask you to leave the chambers."

Steve Small, assistant deputy minister of the Ministry of Community, Safety and Correctional Services, said a new jail in Windsor is "urgently needed."

He said there have been no escapes at any of Ontario's modern jail and correctional facilities, and no security breaches in the past decade. "Safety and security is paramount," he said.

Hugh Handy, speaking on behalf of the Ontario Realty Corporation, noted that Windsor police support the new jail's location.

"We believe it is compatible with existing and proposed land uses," Handy said. "It will be integrated into the future urban fabric."

Grievance Process

2009-06-17T12:06:00.001-07:00

Members are reminded to review Article 22 and their responsibilities in the grievance process. Time lines are important, and grievors must adhere to them. Grievors must do their part, as governed by Article 22. Should you have any questions feel free to ask.

135 Executive

New Doe Law Shields Correctional Officers

2009-06-17T12:05:00.001-07:00

New Doe law shields corrections officers
Backers say it will reduce frivolous suits
By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel
Madison — Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill Friday that supporters say will stop prisoners from launching frivolous lawsuits against correctional officers. "This law allows corrections officers to properly do their job protecting our communities without having the constant threat of being sued for unfounded reasons hanging over them," said Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh), a sponsor of the bill. Anyone can file John Doe complaints with judges that require them to take testimony, even when there is no evidence of a crime. Correctional officers say inmates have abused the system, leading to meritless complaints that tie up courts and force officers to pay legal expenses. Under the law signed by Doyle at Waupun Correctional Institution, judges would forward complaints to district attorneys to investigate. If the district attorney does not file charges, the complaint would go back to the judge to decide if he or she wanted to launch a separate investigation. Judges would have more discretion than they do now in deciding how to conduct those inquiries. Judges would still have to convene hearings if they are requested by district attorneys. The 170-year-old John Doe law is most often used by district attorneys, who consider it a valuable tool for drug investigations and other complex matters. Some judges have interpreted the law to mean that they have to issue felony charges against officers even when they lack evidence. In a 2007 case, a Dodge County judge charged Waupun officer Gabe Umentum with mistreating an inmate, relying on nothing more than the inmate's word. Umentum has said the case turned his life upside down and cost him $4,618 in legal bills. A special prosecutor eventually dropped the case, and the state repaid his bills. Officers say cases like that have led some officers to be overcautious with prisoners.

Ontario needs this kind of law to protect our members from frivolous inmate lawsuits!

OPSEU This Week

2009-06-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

Your guide to the OPSEU website - www.opseu.org - June 15, 2009

Can't view this page? Click here
LIQUOR BOARD EMPLOYEES DIVISION
Be ready to strike if need be, team says
Bargaining Bulletin, Issue 12: Bargaining between the LCBO and OPSEU resumes June 15 and if necessary will continue right up to the strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, June 24. Other news: LBED radio ads hit the airwaves on Sunday; Telling our stories: DOs and DON'Ts for writing letters; LBED member Vicki Baier featured in upcoming film with Mary Walsh. more...
Hear the LBED radio ads
Radio ads feature the voices of real members of the Liquor Board Employees Division - and Dalton McGuinty! more...
ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath rises in support of Court Reporters
Andrea Horwath, MPP for Hamilton Centre and Leader of Ontario’s NDP, addressed the government during Question Period June 1, 2009, regarding Ontario’s court reporters. more...
OPSEU IN THE NEWS
MPP blasts Upper Canada Village changes
'Historic' Showdown: MPP Jim Brownell says he's 'appalled and ashamed' by modernism movement at tourist attraction. more...
Uproar over changes
What people are saying: residents speak out against changes at Upper Canada Village. more...
LONG TERM CARE
It's Our Nature to Care
Sector 8 Long Term Care has introduced a new newsletter. more...
EQUITY
International Youth Day event to be held this August
On Aug. 7-8, 2009, the Provincial Young Workers Committee will be holding its second International Youth Day Event at the Wellesley Membership Centre. If you are a young worker and would like to attend the event, please apply! more...
HEALTH AND SAFETY
H1N1 Flu Watch
H1N1 Influenza Update: On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the global pandemic level from Phase 5 to Phase 6 signaling that a global pandemic is underway with sustained human to human transmission in several WHO countries. more...
JOB POSTINGS
New OPSEU job postings
- Secretary, Membership Benefits
- Senior Accounting Clerk
- Education Officer
- Building Security
- Resource Centre Representative
- Staff Representative Guelph
- Organizer
more...

Provincial Overtime Protocol

2009-06-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

Click hear to download your copy of the new Provincial Overtime Protocol Revised June/09.

Click hear to download your question and answers on the new protocol Revised June/09

News on NEW JAIL

2009-06-10T16:04:00.001-07:00

City Council Members scheduled to vote on proposed new jail site June 18th/09. Local Union Executive will be in attendance and will keep you updated

Unclassified Rollovers are in the works.

2009-06-10T16:03:00.001-07:00

See MERC link for updates and check back often to that site for any new information. This MERC site contains any and all information which the Local will receive

Lock Talk

2009-06-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Corrections braves the weather to greet McGuinty

The cold, wet and grey weather did not deter members of the Corrections Division as they paid a visit to Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty’s fundraiser in Ottawa on May 28, 2009.
The weather provided a suitable backdrop that mirrored the treatment of the Corrections Division both during negotiations and following the contract ratification.
Dozens of hardy members from both the community and institutions attended the event to bring attention to the deplorable working conditions and lack of human and financial resources that exist at the ground level of Corrections in Ontario.
While members were peacefully demonstrating on the information picket line, Brothers Gord Longhi and Eduardo Almeida were able to conduct an inside lobby of the actual event.
Given that this was the Premier’s fundraiser, there were many MPPs on site. Gord and Eddy had the opportunity to address a number of Ottawa and area MPPs and explain that although the Corrections Division may have a contract, significant steps would still be necessary to get labour relations back to some semblance of stability.
Brothers Longhi and Almeida had an opportunity to spend a few moments with the busy Premier and explained to him that neither he nor his ministers are being given all the facts about what is happening in the correctional institutions and community offices. McGuinty was told that his senior management group is so disconnected with what is happening on the shop floors, that when they report on issues they give finely filtered information to suit their own needs, not the needs of the actual ministry or what would best suit community safety.
Although the time was brief, Premier McGuinty was advised that senior bureaucrats within MCSCS have violated signed agreements and retracted verbal promises on such a scale that signed documents are now seemingly not worth the paper they are written on. “So what’s next?” we asked. “Tear up the collective agreement?”
The Premier thanked OPSEU for supporting his fundraiser and asked for a summary of what is happening in Corrections so he can review our concerns. McGuinty wants to know what the workers are seeing as issues on the front lines from both community and institutions.
We ask that members forward their thoughts to their local executives and the MERC Chair.
We also informed the Premier that we would provide a synopsis for him and all the MPPs as the issue was relevant to almost every community and constituency in Ontario. We look forward to speaking with the Premier and Liberal MPPs once again throughout the summer.

Parties agree to normalize labour relations

In an effort to improve labour relations, the employer and union met and have agreed to work more cooperatively toward solving issues that have been plaguing Corrections for a number of months.
To that end, the union has signed an agreement that will allow all locals to rescind all notices recently served to their local superintendents, and we encourage them to do so.
The employer has also agreed to accept the locals’ intent to rescind their notices of withdrawal from Compressed Work Week Agreements.
Members are encouraged to make themselves reasonably available for HPRO and participate in all activities within their workplaces, including acting assignments. Management has assured us that they will be looking into all management vacancies with intent to fill all vacant positions.
The MERC has also agreed to a Terms of Reference with respect to a Security Provisions and Inmate Population Management Committee. This committee is being formed to make recommendations concerning current security provisions at provincial correctional facilities and the management of inmate populations within those institutions.
Corrections MERC Chair Eddy Almeida is “cautiously optimistic” that the Division can move forward on its concerns.
“We have agreed with the employer that it is in everyone’s best interest to try to normalize labour relations in Corrections,” Almeida said. “However, it takes two parties to make this work. We will certainly do our part.”

OPSEU This Week

2009-06-02T06:28:00.001-07:00

LIQUOR BOARD EMPLOYEES DIVISION
Union team sets strike deadline of June 24
Bargaining Bulletin, Issue 10: The LBED bargaining team has set June 24 as the strike deadline in contract talks with the LCBO. more...
TORONTO COMMUNITY HOUSING CORPORATION
TCHC Community Safety Unit reaches tentative agreement
OPSEU Local 529 at the Community Safety Unit at Toronto Community Housing has reached a tentative agreement. more...
CHILD TREATMENT SECTOR
Kids Matter Campaign raised at Queen's Park
The ongoing funding crisis in children's mental health was raised in the provincial legislature by NDP MPP France Gélinas. more...
CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES AND DIAGNOSTICS
Bargaining scheduled
Labline: The bargaining team is scheduled to meet with the employer on June 23 - 26 to begin bargaining. more...
ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE
Court Reporters Campaign ramping up
It’s about the integrity of the record. OPSEU is fighting to maintain the function of transcript production for court reporters. more...
WORKERS OF COLOUR CAUCUS
The Living Wall and new biographies of Workers of Colour
The "Living Wall" tracks participation of workers of color at OPSEU convention from 2004 until 2008. "Colouring our Path" is a series of biographies of Workers of Colour in all sectors of OPSEU. New biographies include: Tony Weekes, Jennifer Reid and Cory Bryan. more...
HEALTH AND SAFETY
H1N1 Flu Watch
H1N1 Influenza Update: As of May 26, 2009, the total number of H1N1 flu cases in Ontario is 371. more...
NEWS RELEASES
OPSEU to McGuinty: Stop destroying Corrections
Corrections members from across Ontario converged in Ottawa at a Liberal fundraiser to protest recent actions and inactions by the McGuinty government. more...
Auditor General must fast-track eHealth investigation
The Auditor General should fast-track his investigation into questionable spending at eHealth. more...
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR UPDATE
Urgent call to stop Bill C-23, a bill to implement the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
OPSEU calls on members to step up e-mail and letter writing campaign to stop the Canadian government from pushing through this agreement. more...
SOLIDARITY FUNDS
First annual golf tournament held
The First Annual OPSEU Enterprises / Live and Let Live Fund Charitable Golf Tournament was held Monday, May 25, with 144 golfers playing the Meadowbrook Golf & Country Club. more...
For more information please visit: www.opseu.org

News Update From The MERC Team - June 1/09

2009-06-02T06:27:00.001-07:00

Here is what the employer is offering at this point for a solution to the CWWA…..Would you have your MERC sign this??? To view this document: Click Here We are supposed to meet with employer June 1st to discuss this document, some presidents have responded back already that if the employer wants peace and normalcy within the work place, then the only thing that should be in any agreement is point number 1…..and the employer should start to deal with the issues that are at the MERC, POH&SC and LERC tables….that’s how we move forward.
Regarding Rollovers
Some questions have come from the field around Rollovers;
When might this happen?
The two original MERC dates were not enough to get through our agenda…as well, other factors around labour unrest postponed our meetings. So we had another date added last week….we have named the people we want on the MERC sub-committee to deal with this, we are waiting for managements names.
What steps to accomplish this?
We need a formula to ascertain what each institution is entitled to….we have to sit as the Roll over sub committee yet and discus this….but we have submitted our suggestion for a formula to management.
What are the numbers going to be?
See last Q&A….until we have the formula, we would only be guessing…..but would say given the recent agreements out of London and Maplehurst due to OLRB issues….that the bench mark is far over the 220 base…..which management has agreed to in “principle” during meetings that it is a base….the only problem, they have agreed to other things in the past and reneged (please see CTO agreements and soon you will hear about them breaching the numbers around management/union “Guns and Gangs Unit” for institutions). From the unions stand point we want these Rolls done ASAP….there are many negatives attached to having long standing unclassified lists….No need to get into that portion…as the list would be long and we don’t have to tell unclassified members or anyone that was unclassified for even a small amount of years, the hell it puts people through, including those that are attached to that person on the peripheral, we know first hand. Your MERC, along with all the local executives are committed in getting as many rollovers as soon as possible and bring some normalcy to as many members as we can in our division. We are now awaiting the MERC minutes to be reviewed and then signed off, once done we will post. In Sol., Eddy

Tori Stafford's mom wants her daughter’s ‘killers dead’

2009-05-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

WOODSTOCK, Ont. -- The mother of Victoria (Tori) Stafford has told a local newspaper that she wants the accused suspects in the killing of her eight-year-old daughter dead.

“My daughter’s not coming home.I want the killers dead,” Tara McDonald told the London Free Press Friday, the first time she has spoken to the media following the arrests of a man and woman earlier this week.

Michael Rafferty, 28, of Woodstock, faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of abduction.

His girlfriend, Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18 also of Woodstock, has also been charged with abduction and accessory after the fact to murder.

Tori went missing on April 8. Her body has yet to be found but police resumed their search on Friday.

According to court documents, it is believed the young girl was killed the same day she went missing.

Ms. McDonald said that she has not been able to think about what her Grade 3 daughter must’ve suffered following her death.

“To think someone took my daughter and then ... I can’t even think about it,” she said. “I know there are sick and twisted people in the world but I had no idea. I don’t want to sound selfish and I wish this on no one, but I sometimes think, why did it have to be my daughter?”

Ms. McDonald told the Free Press that she was also very angry with how police dealt with her daughter’s abduction, and outright accused investigators of pinning the blame on her.

“One officer came into my house and said, ‘You are my prime suspect.’ He said, ‘I have been doing this job as long as you have been alive and I have never seen a mother behave like you.’ I said, ‘You should have dropped off the mother’s handbook to me so I would know how I’m supposed to behave’.”

She said the police also made threats to her son, Tori’s older brother, Daryn, who is 10.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do about it, but I’m going to do something about it,” she said. “I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this.”

Meanwhile, the search for Tori’s remains continued in an area near Fergus, Ont., about 90 kilometres northeast of Woodstock.

Tori’s father, Rodney Stafford said that he hopes his daughter will be returned to the family.

“(I’m) a little less optimistic I guess of where it (the search) is,” he said Thursday. “(My) hopes are still there but they’re fading. Only now that they have Terri-Lynne helping with the search -- that kind of puts a damper on things.”

Three canine units were seen descending on the rural Ontario town early Friday.

On Thursday, the Ontario Provincial Police had taken Ms. McClintic out of jail to be their guide in the search for the little girl’s remains.

A short distance away, another group of investigators hauled away a large garbage bin that sat near the end of a property. Ontario Provincial Police Const. Steven Starr would not comment on what led police to the large green Dumpster.

With files from National Post

CUPE striker breaks ankle in melee

2009-05-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

A striking outside city worker said he suffered serious injuries after a confrontation with a private contractor who was trying to mow grass on Kildare Road, according to a union statement and a police report.

The union member, who remains at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital awaiting surgery Saturday, suffered a broken ankle after he fell to the ground. He also had cuts to his nose and face, said Jim Wood, president of CUPE Local 82, which represents about 400 outside city workers who have been on strike since April 15. Another 1,400 inside city workers joined the picket lines on April 18.

According to police, around 4 p.m. Friday a private contractor, who does landscaping for Windsor Regional Hospital, was asked by a hospital official to mow a city median on Kildare Road because it was very overgrown, said acting Staff Sgt. Steve Cincurak.

When the private contractor was unloading his truck, union picketers arrived. There was a confrontation, then a face-to-face argument, Cincurak said.

"Someone threw a punch, the striker fell to the ground and scraped his elbow, allegedly," Cincurak said reading from the police report from officers who arrived at the scene. "The story is conflicted."

Police filed no charges and the case is to be followed up, Cincurak said.

Wood said the hospital erred when it asked the contractor to mow the median. When strikers confront people mowing city property or picking up garbage, they are supposed to be friendly and not have an angry face, Wood said.

"Regardless of whether it was risky, you can't go around beating people up," Wood said.

City workers are on strike to preserve retirement benefits for new hires.

© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star

Health And Safety - H1N1 Flu Watch - May 15/09

2009-05-17T06:40:00.001-07:00

H1N1 INFLUENZA UPDATE
As of May 14, 2009, the total number of H1N1flu cases in Ontario is 155. All of the cases are mild; one person with H1N1 flu has been hospitalized for other medical reasons. MOHLTC has released a new fact sheet "Occupational Health and Safety Requirements for the Health Care Sector" which describes duties and responsibilities [MORE] of employers, supervisors and workers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations. All of hese obligations continue during the current influenza outbreak. The Occupational Health and Safety Act is available at the following link: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90o01_e.htm A worker who is required by his or her employer or by the Regulation for Health Care and Residential Facilities (https://mail.opseu.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_930067_e.htm ) to wear or use any protective clothing, equipment or device shall be instructed and trained in its care, use and limitations before wearing or using it for the first time and at regular intervals. Employers are encouraged to document that workers are trained, dates when training was conducted and materials covered during training. A worker must work in compliance with the Act and its regulations and use or wear any equipment, protective devices or clothing required by the employer. The other new document, "Information on the use and fit-testing of N95 Respirators" is specifically aimed at the healthcare sector, but provides useful guidance to any workplace where N95 respirators may be required. N95 respirators filter out tiny airborne particles when the respirator fits and is properly used. Individuals who are required to wear N95 respirators must be fit tested at least every two years to ensure a proper fit. Please continue to watch the OPSEU website and the links below for updates on H1N1 Influenza:
New Occupational Health and Safety Requirements for the Health Care Sector
New Information on the use and fit-testing of N95 Respirators
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care H1N1 Flu Virus (Human Swine Flu) site has regular updates and links to other useful sites
Ontario’s Agency for Health Protection and Promotion provides regularly updated information on H1N1 Flu (Human Swine Flu)
OPSEU’s “A Healthcare Workers Guide to Pandemic Influenza”

Lock Talk

2009-05-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Local presidents to meet in Ottawa

Local presidents will come to Ottawa on May 21 to discuss the ongoing labour relations problems in the Corrections Division.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the OPSEU Ottawa Resource Centre at 1793B Kilborn Ave. The purpose of the meeting is to bring local presidents up to date on what has been happening across the division with respect to CTO and other issues, reports from the MERCs and legal counsel, as well as a strategy session on next steps.
For more information, please contact your respective Corrections or Children and Youth Services MERC Teams.

CT-NO? Or CT-Depends?

Since the Ministry decided to unilaterally back out of long-standing mutual agreement in the OPS contract, CTO has become “CT-NO” for Corrections Division members.
However, rumour has it that managers in our adult and youth facilities are still able to earn and use compensating time off for working overtime.
Next time you see a manager, ask if he or she can still earn CTO. If yes, we’re sure the Minister will have a good reason for this elitist inequity.

Introducing PC Tim (The Weasel) Hudak

2009-05-09T05:37:00.001-07:00

TORONTO — Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership hopeful Tim Hudak is calling on the McGuinty government to tear up wage agreements with the public sector and reach new deals designed for hard times. In his first major speech to a business audience since announcing his leadership bid, Mr. Hudak said the government should renegotiate more affordable agreements. The government signed agreements with public sector unions that include wage increases of 3 per cent a year over three years even as the economic downturn was looming, Mr. Hudak told the Economic Club of Canada. "By any reasonable standard, they were rich agreements," he said. "That's simply irresponsible." In releasing some of the economic policies in his campaign platform, Mr. Hudak said the interests of middle-class families are front and centre. He vowed to turn to the private sector to create jobs - something he says the governing Liberals have ignored. Mr. Hudak said the government should eliminate, for one year, payroll taxes and the land transfer tax on home purchases to stimulate job creation and help middle-class families. He also said the government should freeze wages of MPPs and non-unionized employees in the public service for the duration of the recession. Mr. Hudak, 41, was first elected as an MPP in the 1995 sweep that ushered in the Conservatives under premier Mike Harris. Many veterans of that era hope he can steer the party back to the small-c conservative policies that were a hallmark of the Common Sense revolution. His campaign has the support of Mr. Harris. The government sought yesterday to link Mr. Hudak to the dramatic funding cuts to health care and education that were part of the Harris era. "We respect the bargaining process," said Greg Dennis, a spokesman for Government and Consumer Services Minister Ted McMeekin. "We are not going to return to the Conservative approach of firing nurses by the thousand and firing our teachers and water inspectors." Mr. Hudak also said he would fight the McGuinty government's plans to harmonize the provincial sales tax with the federal goods and services tax. But he would not say whether he would repeal it, in the event he wins the leadership and the Tories form the next government. John Tory kicked off the leadership race after he stepped down from the helm in March after losing a by-election race. He is returning to the public spotlight as a talk show host on CFRB. The Progressive Conservatives also announced that veteran MPP Bill Murdoch was returning to the caucus after sitting as an independent since September. Please feel free to contact the Weasel at Phone: 647-367-2300 or E-mail: info@timhudak.ca

Health And Safety - H1N1 Flu Watch - May 6/09

2009-05-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

H1N1 INFLUENZA UPDATE
As of May 6, there are 49 lab-confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza in Ontario. Travel to Mexico or contact with a person who has H1N1 and who traveled to Mexico remains the most frequent source of the illness. Because laboratory testing capacity has been increased, cases of H1N1 are now being confirmed faster. New guidance has been released for the management of influenza-like-illness (ILI) in Long Term Care facilities. Unfortunately, the health and safety/infection prevention and control guidance for workers is not as protective as OPSEU believes it should be. OPSEU takes the position that the precautionary principle, which states that action to reduce risk need not await scientific certainty, should be applied as we establish protective measures against this new virus. The three main weaknesses in the document are as follows:
1. There is no recommendation that persons entering a LTC facility be screened by a person (active screening) for ILI before entering the home. The guidance note advises that signs be posted reminding people not to enter if they have ILI symptoms. This is known as passive screening or self-screening. Self-screening may not be effective if people are determined to enter despite having ILI symptoms or if they do not understand the questions on the sign. Advice: OPSEU takes the position that active screening of people entering the facility is more protective of worker health and safety.
2. Healthcare workers are advised to wear an N95 respirator when directly caring for a resident with ILI symptoms who has had contact with a person with a confirmed case of H1N1 flu. OPSEU does not believe that this advice is protective enough. If a visitor with ILI enters the facility, they may not know if they have H1N1. If the visitor later is diagnosed with a confirmed case of H1N1, this information may not be communicated to the LTC facility and workers may not be protected adequately. Advice: OPSEU believes it would be prudent for healthcare workers to wear an N95 respirator when in direct contact with residents with ILI who have been in contact with a person with confirmed or possible H1N1 influenza.
3. Healthcare workers are advised to wear a surgical mask to care for residents with ILI and a fit-tested N95 respirator during aerosol-generating procedures such as tracheal or oral suctioning. This is confusing advice and does not reflect the application of the precautionary principle. It is reasonable to advise the use of an N95 respirator during aerosol-generating procedures. However, requiring workers to wear a surgical mask when caring for residents with ILI in some circumstances and to wear an N95 respirator when caring for residents with ILI who have had contact with a confirmed case of H1N1 will confuse workers and may not be protective enough. Advice: OPSEU believes it would be prudent for healthcare workers to wear an N95 respirator when in direct contact with residents with ILI who have been in contact with a person with confirmed or possible H1N1 influenza.
4. OPSEU continues to advise its members on Joint Health and Safety Committees, and Health and Safety Representatives, to meet to review and update their pandemic influenza plans. In particular, JHSCs in LTC facilities should meet to review this new guidance and to determine what precautions to implement.
Please continue to watch the OPSEU website and the links below for updates on H1N1 Influenza (Human Swine Flu).
New Guidance for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) Management in Long-Term Care
Guidance for Clinical Care of Patients: Ambulatory Settings – provides important infection prevention and health and safety information
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care H1N1 Flu Virus (Human Swine Flu) site has regular updates and links to other useful sites
Ontario’s Agency for Health Protection and Promotion provides regularly updated information on H1N1 Flu (Human Swine Flu)
OPSEU’s “A Healthcare Workers Guide to Pandemic Influenza”

Five Guards Hurt In Northland Prison - May 5/09

2009-05-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

Five guards hurt in Northland Prison Fifteen prisoners overcame five guards at Northland Prison near Kaihohe today, Parliament has been told. One prison officer suffered a suspected fractured shoulder, Parliament was told. Labour's corrections spokesman Clayton Cosgrove quizzed Corrections Minister Judith Collins over the incident, in which which he claimed bones were broken and other serious injuries were received. Mr Cosgrove linked it to prisoners sharing cells, but Ms Collins played down the incident saying it was sparked by a change in routine at the prison. Prisoners had been made to eat meals in the dining area rather than in their cells. "Unfortunately, a number of staff received minor injuries. The most serious injury is a suspected fractured shoulder," Ms Collins said. TVNZ reported that the five guards, including two women, were lucky to be alive after they were attacked for five minutes. They said the unit housed 60 prisoners and the fighting broke out after one inmate was found trying to smuggle food back into his cell. It reported that one of the female guards dislocated her shoulder and fractured her arm after she was pushed into a bunk. Mr Cosgrove said another female officer was kicked and punched. "Three other male officers were also attacked in this incident, they talk of trying to fight their way to freedom and protect their fellow officers." Mr Cosgrove said. "As they fended off one prisoner another would attack. All three officers were overwhelmed and knocked to the ground. They received serious bruises and cuts from the attack. It is believed that one has a broken nose."Mr Cosgrove said the Government was not doing enough to protect prison officers. The Corrections Association called for its guard members to be armed. Meanwhile, Ms Collins welcomed a clampdown on razor blades in high-security units, saying it would improve safety and save lives. Prisoners would be issued with a safety razor on request, which they would be allowed to keep for up to an hour. It would then be collected, checked and disposed of. Action would be taken if a razor was not returned, or it was returned with missing blades. "At least two prisoners have died from razor blade injuries and many more prisoners and corrections officers have been hurt by razor blades," Ms Collins said. "This commonsense new policy restricts access to razor blades by prisoners who are most likely to use them to inflict injury on themselves or others."In 2007, there were 272 razor blade incidents in prisons.
Wonder how many razor incidents we had in Ontario jails?

CBC News Swine Flu - April 30/09

2009-05-01T14:18:00.001-07:00

Canada doing all that's needed to respond to swine flu: PM
Canada is doing "everything that is necessary" to deal with the outbreak of swine flu, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday. "I think we are doing everything that is necessary to respond to this situation at this time," Harper told reporters during a news conference in Toronto. By Thursday afternoon, there were 32 confirmed cases of swine flu in Canada, all said to be mild. Harper said the growing outbreak, which is believed to have started in Mexico, is a "serious situation."At this time, to avoid confusion among our readers, CBC News will continue to use the term "swine flu" despite a decision by the World Health Organization to call the disease by its technical scientific name, "H1N1 influenza A.""I can assure the people of Canada that governments around the world are responding in an appropriate and co-ordinated way," he said. Harper praised the "excellent co-operation" among federal and provincial governments, as well as among national governments around the globe. He advised Canadians to closely follow any health warnings to help prevent the flu's spread. "We are encouraging everyone to comply with the warnings that have been given and the advice provided by health-care officials during this period," he said. New cases confirmed Harper spoke as Nova Scotia and Alberta each confirmed four new cases of swine flu, while British Columbia confirmed three and Ontario and Quebec each confirmed one. The Quebec case is the province's first confirmed instance of the swine flu. The person is from the Montreal area and is recovering at home. Robert Strong, Nova Scotia's chief public health officer, said the new cases in his province are related to an original cluster of four cases among students attending the King's Edgehill School, a private boarding school in Windsor, N.S. Strang said only one of the students who has contracted a confirmed case of the virus had been to Mexico. "It has then spread through the larger population of the school," he said. In Alberta, the provincial chief medical officer of health, Dr. André Corriveau, said the four new cases confirmed there were all mild. They involve four young people from Calgary who went on a trip to Mexico together. Three are male and one is female. "They came back and had a mild course of illness and were managed at home and are all recovering," Corriveau said Thursday in Edmonton. The four have been advised to stay home for a week — the period when people are infectious, Corriveau said.

Management has taken away our ability to accumulate and use CTO. Now we will be forced to come to work even though we may have flu like symptoms. Way to go management team!

Current WHO Phase Of Pandemic Alert

2009-05-01T14:17:00.001-07:00

Current WHO phase of pandemic alert
Current phase of alert in the WHO global influenza preparedness planPandemic preparedness In the 2009 revision of the phase descriptions, WHO has retained the use of a six-phased approach for easy incorporation of new recommendations and approaches into existing national preparedness and response plans. The grouping and description of pandemic phases have been revised to make them easier to understand, more precise, and based upon observable phenomena. Phases 1–3 correlate with preparedness, including capacity development and response planning activities, while Phases 4–6 clearly signal the need for response and mitigation efforts. Furthermore, periods after the first pandemic wave are elaborated to facilitate post pandemic recovery activities. The current WHO phase of pandemic alert is 5. In nature, influenza viruses circulate continuously among animals, especially birds. Even though such viruses might theoretically develop into pandemic viruses, in

Phase 1 no viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans.
Phase 2 an animal influenza virus circulating among domesticated or wild animals is known to have caused infection in humans, and is therefore considered a potential pandemic threat.
Phase 3, an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks. Limited human-to-human transmission may occur under some circumstances, for example, when there is close contact between an infected person and an unprotected caregiver. However, limited transmission under such restricted circumstances does not indicate that the virus has gained the level of transmissibility among humans necessary to cause a pandemic.
Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion.
Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.
Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.
During the post-peak period, pandemic disease levels in most countries with adequate surveillance will have dropped below peak observed levels. The post-peak period signifies that pandemic activity appears to be decreasing; however, it is uncertain if additional waves will occur and countries will need to be prepared for a second wave.
Previous pandemics have been characterized by waves of activity spread over months. Once the level of disease activity drops, a critical communications task will be to balance this information with the possibility of another wave. Pandemic waves can be separated by months and an immediate “at-ease” signal may be premature.
In the post-pandemic period, influenza disease activity will have returned to levels normally seen for seasonal influenza. It is expected that the pandemic virus will behave as a seasonal influenza A virus. At this stage, it is important to maintain surveillance and update pandemic preparedness and response plans accordingly. An intensive phase of recovery and evaluation may be required.

Email To Management Bargaining Member

2009-05-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

From MERC Website:

To: Buhagiar, Rose (JUS)
Subject: Article COR13 - Holiday Payment
Sent: Apr 29, 2009 10:32 AM
Mrs. Buhagiar,
I am writting you this email as it pertains to your memorandum to Regional Directors AIS regarding Aticle COR13 - Holiday Payment. This email will serve to notify you that you have made an error in the section COR13.4. You made a point to BOLD and UNDERLINE the word AND. You memo reads as follows:
- COR13.4 requires employees in the Correctional Bargaining Unit to work his/her full scheduled shift before and after a holiday, as well as the holiday itself, in order to qualify for holiday payment or compensating leave, as per the provisions of Article COR13.2.
If you take a look at the correct information which was settled at bargaining you will see how it is worded, it reads as follows:
-COR13.4(NEW) It is further understood that the employee has no entitlement under COR13.2 if he or she fails, without reasonable cause, to work all of his or her last regulary scheduled day of work before a holiday included under Aryicle 47 (Holidays) of the Central Agreement OR all of his or her regularly scheduled day of work after that holiday.
I am not sure how you can change the wording of the bargained Collective Agreement after it is settled, but no where does it say we have to work both before and after. It clearly states before or after. I trust this information will be helpful to you.

What To Do When Being Ordered Back . . . . .

2009-05-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

From Local 234 website:

As for the questions about being forced to stay past your shift, I offer these words:
1. If you are too ill to work past the shift, say so! Let your manager know and if you are asked for a report write that you are compelled to write it and wish to have a steward present as you are being harassed for being sick. Also inform the manager that it is a health and safety issue for you to work in this manner. Also inform your fellow staff that they should be aware you are sick and the imminent danger to your health and their safety. All members are affected at this point and should assist the sick member.
2. If you are too tired to continue working past your shift, say so! Let your manager know you are too tired to continue. If you are asked to write a report do so stating you are being compelled to do so. Also ask for a steward and inform your fellow staff that your fatigue is a health and safety concern that could be dangerous. All members are affected at this point and should assist the tired member.
3. What do I do if I have childcare issues, a dependent family member or legal requirements such as custody arrangements? Speak up clearly!! Voice your requirements and issues. You have legal issues and the employer has the duty to accommodate! Ask for a steward and contact the police for clarity if you are being withheld from providing the legal needs of a child, dependent or court ordered custody arrangements.
4. What do I do if I am at home and work calls? Good question? Are you sick? Are you having alcohol? Are you tired? Do you have babysitting needs? Do you have to answer the call...if you do just be polite and don't say anything you will regret!!
In the meantime, keep yourself up to speed...
Remember management created this mess by taking away our CTO! Management we wish you luck during the summer months.

Inmate Dies In Custody - April 27/09

2009-04-28T00:31:00.002-07:00

Inmate dies in custody
LondonTopic.ca
The death of an inmate at the Elgin Middlesex Detention centre is under investigation by the London police Major Crime Section, police said Monday (April 27).The man, identified as Randy Drysdale, 46, of London, was transported to the London courthouse at 80 Dundas St., April 16 when authorities realized "he was in medical distress," police said, adding he was then taken to hospital for treatment.Drysdale died as a result of his injuries Saturday (April 25). An autopsy conducted Sunday (April 26) showed Drysdale had suffered head injuries "which contributed to his death," however, police said the investigation is ongoing as the cause of his death is unknown at this time.Anyone with information is asked to call the London Police Service Major Crime Section at (519)661-5670 or contact Crime stoppers online (see link) or call 1-800-222-TIPS

The Chatham Daily News - April 14/09

2009-04-28T00:31:00.001-07:00

Delays affect court process
By Erica Bajer The Daily News
Long waits at a London detention centre are causing some delays at the Chatham-Kent Courthouse. “It’s ridiculous,” local defence lawyer David Jacklin said of recent prisoner delivery backups from the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre. “The problem is you have people in custody, usually females, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. court and not arriving until after 1 p.m.,” he said. “The whole court system comes to a halt while we wait for these people to arrive.” Jacklin said he’s heard that the delays are a result of job action at the detention centre. Rick Kennett, vice-president of the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU) Local 108 that represents guards at the London jail, denied suggestions last week's delays were an intentional display by OPSEU members unhappy with recent changes to overtime compensation. Kennett said overcrowding at the London jail, a building designed for 300 inmates, caused the delays. The overcrowding means five inmates often share a cell designed for three, he said. Though the courts expect inmates to arrive promptly, Kennett said it takes a significant amount of time and "a lot of manpower" to get the prisoners to the courthouse, causing the backlog. "Our process is safety first," he said. "As far as I can tell, everyone who was scheduled to go to court went to court. Whether they went there early or late, they got there." Frequent remands also crowd the facility, Kennett said. "If the lawyers keep remanding the inmates into custody, the jail gets more and more crowded, and everything takes that much longer. "The reality is it takes time and we do what we can." Sgt. George Vieira, head of security at the local courthouse, said his officers started noticing the delays on April 2. He said delays of two-and-a-half hours picking up and dropping off prisoners have been fairly consistent since then. He noted local police don’t attend the EMDC daily but do transport prisoners a few times a week. Vieira is documenting when the delays occur and said local judiciary and Crown attorneys are aware of the situation. “We’ve made every effort, when we know we are going to be late, to contact our partners at the courthouse,” he said. “We have no control over it, it’s a corrections issue, not a police issue.” The sergeant said the issue results in overtime costs when there are long waits when prisoners are returned to the facility. Jacklin said clients have expressed frustration with the waits. “It causes a great deal of anxiety for the accused people because they don’t know why they are being held up,” he said. Defence lawyer Gudrun Mueller-Wilm said waits at the detention centre have only impacted one of her clients so far. She’s concerned about the issue, hoping it is resolved quickly. Mueller-Wilm said a local justice of the peace announced last week that delays should be expected because of job action involving EMDC. Ontario's Attorney General Chris Bentley, who represents London West, said he's aware of the issues locally and has passed them on to Correctional Services Minister Rick Bartolucci. "I'm concerned about any delays in the courts and hope that any issues between parties get resolved as quickly as possible," Bentley said.

Mr. Bartolucci What About Correctional Staff?

2009-04-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

The Family Counselling Centre of Cornwall and United Counties will be benefiting from a $133,486 Victim Safety Project grant, announced local MPP Jim Brownell recently. The grant the Family Counselling Centre of Cornwall and United Counties is receiving will go to the hiring of a local coordinator to work with police, the Family Counselling Centre and probation and parole officers to make victims aware of their offender’s sentence and scheduled release. The coordinator will also provide safety audits of the victims’ homes.The Victim Safety Project (VSP) is a province-wide, joint initiative between the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Ministry of the Attorney General. Grants are available to municipal and First Nations police services that are partnering with not-for-profit, community-based victim service agencies. VSP will invest just over $2.8 million on 26 projects to enhance victim services where gaps in victim safety have been identified, including approximately $429,000 for five projects in Eastern Ontario. All projects will be completed by July 31, 2010. Funding for VSP comes from fine surcharges, including traffic violations, imposed under the Provincial Offences Act and Criminal Code of Canada. “These initiatives address the need for victims of crime and domestic abuse to feel secure in their homes and protected in their communities,” said Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Rick Bartolucci. “Bringing perpetrators of crime to justice is an important part of our justice system, but it is equally important to provide support to the victims of crime. (Today’s) announcement will help ensure local victims of crime receive the support they need,” said MPP Jim Brownell.

Mr. Bartolucci what about initiatives supporting correctional staff who are victims of violence including assaults? What about correctional staff who exhibit Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Thomas, Rout Acclaimed As OPSEU Leaders

2009-04-28T00:29:00.001-07:00

TORONTO - OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas and 1st Vice-President/Treasurer Patty Rout have been acclaimed into their positions for another two-year term at the 34th Annual OPSEU Convention. It is the first time in OPSEU history that both positions have been acclaimed in the same election year. In his acceptance speech, Thomas said he was honoured and humbled by the support of the members. “This is a great union, and it is the members who make us great,” Thomas said. “I thank you for your confidence.”Thomas, 56, works at the Providence Continuing Care hospital in Kingston. He said the fight for good jobs and working people will continue, and he vowed to defy any moves to weaken the public sector contracts. “If any government wants to kick working people when they’re down, they will have a fight on their hands the likes of which they have never seen before.”Rout, 57, who works at the Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa, said in an emotional speech that it is a great honour to be acclaimed. She acknowledged the support of her family and supporters, and especially thanked Smokey Thomas for his ongoing support and assistance. “As a union, we come together as one, and that’s where we get our strength,” Rout said. “Our prize is good collective agreements, good pensions and good jobs,” The prize now is to keep our collective agreements and the pensions that low our members to retire in dignity.” OPSEU represents 130,000 members across Ontario, including members working for the provincial government, colleges for applied arts and technologies, hospital professionals and workers at the LCBO.

On behalf of Local 517 congratulations to Warren "Smokey" Thomas and Patty Rout. Thank you for your continued support of our division and our local.

OPSEU 1-800 Line For WDHP Complaints

2009-04-24T01:06:00.000-07:00

1- 800 LINE FOR MEMBER ON MEMBER
HARASSMENT & DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS
1-800-268-7376 Ext. 8789
STEP ONE
1.Tell the member that the action is unwelcome and to stop.
2.Notify your Local President or Highest Ranking Officer of the incident (if not involved with the incident).
3.Write down name(s) of respondent(s); date, time, place of occurrence and a short synopsis of incident and any actions taken by yourself.
4.If behaviour/actions continue, move to step two.
STEP TWO
1.Call OPSEU’s 1-800 Line. Leave a voice mail containing the following information:
i)Your name,date & time called, work location,local number and a short synopsis of incident(s),including name(s) of respondent(s).
ii)Leave a contact number where you can be reached, including any cell phone numbers.
2.A person from OPSEU’s Head Office will gather the information in the voice mail left and contact your Local President/Highest Ranking Officer (if not involved with the complaint), Regional Representative and the Equity Unit.
3.Someone will be in contact with you within 5 business days to discuss your complaint and resolution.
NOTE: To protect the interests of the Complainant and the Respondent, CONFIDENTIALITY will be maintained throughout the process, subject to the requirements of a fair investigation and resolution process, or as otherwise required by law.

Health And Safety-Workplace Violence April 21/09

2009-04-23T14:38:00.002-07:00

Ministry initiative to stem workplace violence a step in the right direction
OPSEU has welcomed the announcement by the Minister of Labour that amendments will be made to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to help protect employees from workplace violence and harassment. “After years of lobbying and all-out campaigning by OPSEU and other unions, the changes announced by Minister of Labour Peter Fonseca are like a gust of fresh wind blowing through the workplaces of Ontario,” said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas.
“We warmly welcome the government’s initiative on this critical health and safety issue and we can only hope that the changes will be locked into place with the required resources and enforcement muscle.” The proposed legislation to the OHSA would, if passed:
-Require employers to develop a framework that would include policies and programs to help prevent workplace violence and harassment
-Require employers to take reasonable precautions to protect an employee from domestic violence in the workplace
-Allow workers to remove themselves from harmful situations if they have reason to believe that they are at risk of imminent danger due to workplace violence
In his announcement, Fonseca also promised the government would appoint two Healthy Work Environment Champions whose task it will be to “build a culture of workplace safety in health care settings across the province.”Thomas said it is clear the government could no longer hold back on the changes in the face of years of campaigning by OPSEU and other unions, as well as the strong recommendations from the 2007 coroner’s jury following the tragic workplace murder of nurse Lori Dupont. “When I read the announcement it is clear the Ministry has been paying close attention to many of the arguments we have been raising over and over again for years. We are particularly pleased that the definition of workplace violence has been expanded to include harassment, as well as the spread of domestic violence into workplaces – issues that we have been fighting in support of for years.” Thomas also paid tribute to NDP leader Andrea Horwath whose private member’s Bill – tabled in 2007 – mirrors the Ministry’s proposed legislation. In October 2008, OPSEU, in response to a call for consultation by the Ministry, released a position paper on workplace violence. In it, OPSEU put forward several recommendations which appear to be addressed by today’s announcement.

Message From MERC Member Dan Sidswoth

2009-04-23T14:38:00.001-07:00

I have not written anything for fourteen days, that being on April 04, 2009. In that entry I gave my opinion of what I saw developing and where I thought we should be going. I wrote:
“From the information I have, each local is setting up General Membership meetings. I believe these meetings can be used to empower all of us as a united group to discussed strategies for change. I prefer to see us move forward united and with strength. We should turn this situation into a positive one. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down. ~ Mary Pickford
“If we choose to rescind our notification of withdrawing from the CWW agreement at this time we should all do it as one collective. We have shown our resolve. We have forced the employer back to the table to negotiate. We have shown we will fight hard for our CWW agreement. We wanted an action for CTO and are still on high alert. We have a lot more fight left in us.We can use this as an opportunity to move forward. We can all hold our heads up knowing how difficult this is and that we need to remain united”
Since that time the employer has met with OPSEU and after what sounds like posturing on both sides, the employer decided to walk away from the meeting with no desire to discuss and resolve the CTO issue. CTO is a negotiated benefit and this dispute will need a negotiated settlement.We have not achieved our gaol of impacting the employer on how important this issue is to us collectively. Waiting for something to happen at the GSB will take too long. We must show the employer that we continue to have the resolve to influence a positive outcome for both sides.I do understand the employer’s need to save money during this economic time. The various layers of bureaucracy have all been given their mandate to cut costs. We understand.The number of Correctional Officers has remained stagnate for decades, with our workplaces falling into disrepair. When the too few facilities were built by the Ministry they cut corners to save costs on design, security and the number of Correctional Officers. (Maybe that’s why the pods are not square?) During this same time the numbers of police officers, judges, and crown attorneys have all increased, which resulted in an increased number of remanded inmates in the system. The irony being additional beds were never added to the system despite the new buildings.The added workload has never been addressed with additional resources or modified procedures, so that we may continue work in healthy and safe workplaces. As we know there are many problems within Corrections. As Smokey has stated:“We remain willing and ready to work with the employer to solve these problems. In the meantime, our members are refusing to take any more chances with their jobs…and their lives. I will always support my members who are following the rules – even if the system breaks down because of it." There is a reason Corrections in Ontario is one of the few provinces that hasn’t had a major disturbance in the last five years. The members have gone above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis. In the past we have taken the short cuts, strived to make things work when we know if we did things by the book, the resulting impact would have negative outcomes. Whether that be getting inmates out to court on time, working in over crowded ranges without proper staffing levels, or getting the bare essential duties completed just to be able to placate the inmate population.This coming week OPSEU will be having its annual convention. This opportunity for the Corrections Division to Caucus together again is very timely and does not happen very often. The employer knows we will be taking full advantage of this. We will be organized, we will move forward together, and we will remain determined to resolve this issue.Like the trains that run past the windows at my post like clock work, the time now has come that we can no longer ensure that the “trains run on time” in Corrections. Knowing that the sacrifices we make are at our expense. The time has past where we can turn a blind eye to all the short cuts we take on a daily basis. Our job is to make sure that we all get home to our families safely. It is the employer’s job to make sure all the resources are available for the system to operate and run on time.Smokey hit the nail right on the head…without the memberships buy-in, the system will break down.Stay safe,
In Solidarity, Dan Sidsworth

An open letter from the MCSCS MERC Chair

2009-04-16T13:17:00.001-07:00

Greetings everyone,

On April 15, the MCSCS and MCYS MERCS met with the employer to discuss the CTO issue.
Management arrived shortly after 10 a.m. at OPSEU Head Office and it was quite noticeable that their side consisted mostly of the same managers who were at the bargaining table, David Logan (MGS), Mark Dittenhoffer, Barry Thomas, Rose Buhaghiar, Lisa Nowak (MCYS), JoAnne Miller Reid (MCYS) and Steve Small. David Logan was involved with bargaining in his capacity as ADM of Management Government Services (MGS).
David Logan was clearly the lead and he started by reiterating management’s position that the union was given notice of withdrawal of all CTO agreements during bargaining, and that it was within their right to give notice during bargaining. That said, management stated that they hoped we could move forward on this issue.
We countered that we were not conceding that notice was properly given and in fact that it was not within any proper time limits. We indicated that we also wanted to move forward and we tabled our initial proposal in the spirit of negotiating a resolution to the issue.
We offered the employer time to caucus and they borrowed one of our computers to work on a response to our proposal. After an hour they called us, informing us that they were now ready to reconvene.
David Logan reported that they could not present a counter-proposal because they could not reach Ron McKerlie or Jay Hope, the Deputy Ministers for MGS and MCSCS. When we pressed Mr. Logan about the general thoughts on the proposal, he stated that they actually had “no appetite” to deal with any CTO accumulation and that they were not going to counter-offer at this time.
David Logan stated that he would try and speak to their “principals” and would get back to us by that night. The door was not closed on negotiating this issue further although it appears that the sticking issue will be the banking of CTO time as it exists. Mr. Logan did make the comment that “there were other ways to slice the pie,” seemingly suggesting that there may be some other compromise available.
David Logan did call back later and claims that he has not been able to reach the deputies for further comment and that he would call back tomorrow.
Today, I received word from Logan that he did speak to the Deputy Ministers, and has now said, and I quote, “I will not be able to provide a proposal that would meet your objective.”
Where do we go from here?
The CTO agreement withdrawal is really just an extension of the sick time issue from bargaining. The employer blames sick time for creating overtime cost expenditures. They then blame the banking and use of CTO for creating further OT accumulation and staffing shortages. They also insist that the increased availability of OT is an incentive to use sick time illegitimately.
One of the employer’s initial opening remarks was that the “noise in the system” had brought them to the table that day. That means that the pressure we have been applying has provided an impetus for the employer to meet with us. However, they are making it clear that they will not back down from this issue, unless we can convince them to.
Our response to the issue and the actions we take in our local worksites is the leverage we need to save this benefit and any others that may soon be on the chopping block. As always, our strength is in the solidarity and sacrifices we take together to protect our collective agreement.
For locals who have still not served notice on their CWWA, I encourage you to do so ASAP. For the many locals who have given notice on the CWWA, I encourage you to stay strong and hold the line. It is our strongest bargaining chip and it will cause the deepest pain for the Ministry, which is primarily why they came to the table. For those locals who are going to employ other methods of pressure we need a concerted effort to push the employer on as many fronts as you can muster.
There are movements afoot within the Division to encourage locals to withdraw their notice and back down. This only damages our ability to negotiate. The employer clearly has their sources (just as we do) and they are aware of the strains that this issue has placed on the Division. The employer is watching and waiting for Corrections to break. In my opinion, that is the reason for their decision not to negotiate with us on the CTO issue. It has been suggested that the employer is waiting for our caucus at convention, which they believe will demonstrate our strength or weakness as a Division.
As leaders and elected representatives, we have taken a strong stand with the employer on a serious issue, a stand that was agreed to by all who were on the conference call. We all need to understand that this is the ultimate test of the Division and, for the most part, I believe that the local leaders understand this. If we back down, or demonstrate that we are vulnerable by withdrawing, we will have shown the employer that the Division is no longer able to protect its interests.
If that break is evident, the employer will force its will on each and every local. There will be little sense in sitting with the employer at any table; we will have no leverage. Your bargaining team can tell you how difficult this round of bargaining was and you can draw your own conclusions as to what the future will hold if we do not hold together now.
The employer has admitted that they came to the table in response to the “noise” in the system. It is time to crank up the volume and get them back to the table to start resolving this problem as well as others.

In Solidarity,

Eddy

New Corrections Merc Website

2009-04-13T14:54:00.001-07:00

New Corrections

MERC Website
Information regarding the pressure the corrections division is applying to the Corrections Ministry and the results being achieved on CTO. Letters from Merc Chair Eddie Almeida and ADM David Logan available.

Letter From David Logan To OPSEU - CTO Issue

2009-04-10T12:54:00.001-07:00

April 9, 2009
Warren (Smokey) Thomas
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
100 Lesmill Road
North York, Ontario
M3B 3P8

Dear Smokey:
During the most recent round of collective bargaining with OPSEU Correctional Bargaining Unit, the Employer provided notice to discontinue the receipt of compensating leave in lieu of overtime pay under COR8.5. This notice was provided to both the Correctional Bargaining Unit Team and yourself in a letter dates February 28th, 2009, As you are aware, this issue has garnered significant attention and the OPSEU Correctional Bargaining Unit continues to express concerns regarding the notice that was provided.
In light of the concerns raised by the Correctional Bargaining Unit, I believe it would be prudent for us to meet to discuss the issue, and to invite representatives from ERD, MCSCS/MCYS and the Correctional Bargaining Unit to be present at this meeting. Please contact Matt Siple at (416) 325-1534 or matt.siple@ontario.ca to arrange this meeting at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, David Logan, Assistant Deputy Minister, Employee Relations Division, HR Ontario, Ministry of Government Services.
Update: This meeting is taking place on April 15, 2009.

More News from Local 517

2009-04-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

CTO Policy Grievance Update - April 7/09

Grievance Officer Brother Scott Andrews, MCSCS Vice Chair, Brother Gord Longhi along with myself met with Regional Director Marg Welch and three Employee Relations Staff today for the Stage 2 meeting on the above subjected matter. Thank you to the brothers for their assistance and support. The parties went through a comprehensive two hour meeting where the Union emphasised the need for staff to be allowed to continue to bank compensating time off. Some of the reasons presented included: Mutually beneficial for the parties due to:a) High stress levels associated with rotating shift work; b) Poor work environments; c) Aging work force; d) Family care, elder care, and our own health issues; e) The Employer’s need for staff to be willing to perform overtime work;We asked the Employer to explain the change to the long standing practice of allowing locals to negotiate CTO agreements (similar to CWWA) and the Employer stated that they had concerns regarding an inability to staff the institutions without incurring significant additional costs through pyramiding, i.e. having to pay overtime to cover the hours that staff are off on compensating leave. As well, the lack of consistency in CTO agreements across the province has caused the Employer concern. We emphasized that there are numerous agreements on CTO across the province and that the language of Articles COR8.5 and COR8.6 as well as Article 16 of the Collective Agreement supported such agreements and are similar to the locally negotiated CWWA:COR8.5 Where there is mutual agreement, employees may receive compensating leave in lieu of pay at the overtime rate or may receive pay at the overtime rate in lieu of compensating leave.COR8.6 Compensating leave accumulated in a calendar year which is not used before March 31 of the following year, shall be paid at the rate it was earned. The March 31 date may be extended by agreement at the local or ministry level.ARTICLE 16 - LOCAL AND MINISTRY NEGOTIATIONS16.1 It is agreed that all ministries may enter into local and ministry employee relations negotiations such that are appropriate as not being excluded by the provisions of the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, 1993. Such negotiations shall not be subject to the mediation and arbitration procedures under the Act, provided however, that nothing shall preclude a grievance alleging a violation of the Central Collective Agreement, as provided in the said Act. We took the position that if the MERC table, which is where this issue belonged from the beginning, cannot come to an amicable agreement then:1. We expect the Employer to abide by those local agreements, a number of which do not have expiry dates or caps attached to them. In total, we will be reviewing 31 adult institutions and 4 youth facilities to determine the contents of each agreement, which includes various notice period for change. A Policy Grievance for the Youth facilities has also been filed.2. No corporate direction can nullify all of the bona fide local agreement where the Collective Agreement language (which did not change), and the long-standing history supports these very agreements.3. Compensating time off allows staff to decompress and to cope with life/workplace stressors which is important to avoid further absences due to illness which could push the total absences over the target thresholds. Failure to meet the threshold on January 1, 2010 is a lose-lose situation for everyone.4. We are not conceding at this point in time that proper notice was provided to the Union prior to the ratification of the current Collective Agreement.5. A labour dispute that eliminates CWWA and the HPRO system are again in no one’s best interest and that chaos will ensue within the institutions if a resolution is not agreed to.Marg Welch assured us that there would be a speedy response to the Stage 2 meeting. During our conversation we also questioned why the line staff were being treated one way, yet managers and others were not being treated the same way in regards to compensating time off being removed, as the management rank have the same issues as the correctional officers regarding sick time and pyramiding? They informed us that management is governed by different policy and that’s why they were not given the same letter/memo. Our response was; “Are they still not ultimately governed under Ministry of Government Services”….after some thought the answer was “yes managers are still managed by MGS”. The Ministers Office of MCSCS has contacted the Presidents office, we are still waiting to confirm on a meeting date with Minister and the Deputy. Spoke with Glenna and she has her first MERC meeting with employer tomorrow. In Solidarity, Eddy

OPSEU This Week

2009-04-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

Your guide to the OPSEU website - www.opseu.org - April 6, 2009

LIQUOR BOARD EMPLOYEES DIVISIONOPSEU files for conciliation to encourage employer to bargain2009 Bargaining Bulletin, Issue 4: "Filing for conciliation means we’re at the table to bargain and we’re serious." more...

PART-TIME COLLEGE WORKERS Colleges continue to block vote count at Labour BoardThe Part-Time Times: Colleges fail to provide key information; next meeting set for June 12. more...

NEWS RELEASE Niagara Parks Commission slashes hours of low income earnersThe Niagara Parks Commission will slash hours for up to 500 seasonal workers, a move that will not only hurt the workers but will contribute to the ever-worsening conditions of Niagara’s parklands. more...

HEALTH CARE DIVISIONAL COUNCIL Upcoming protests and town hall meetings around hospital cutsDespite more than $4 billions in corporate tax cuts announced in the provincial budget, the McGuinty government could not find $268 million (1.4%) more to stem the cuts to Ontario's hospitals. more...

HEALTH CARE DIVISIONAL COUNCIL Durham Summit to discuss Central East LHIN Clinical Service PlanThe Ontario Health Coalition is organizing a regional summit April 20 to plan a response to the Central East LHIN’s Clinical Services Plan. more...

SAFER NEEDLES Needle safety regulation expandedOPSEU is providing detailed information to assist Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSCs) and Health and Safety (H&S) Representatives with their work convincing employers to remove or control, as appropriate, medical sharps hazards in their workplaces. more...

NEWS RELEASE Ontario must follow Canada-Québec model on tax harmonizationOPSEU opposes a blended GST-PST tax, but if it goes ahead we must follow the Canada-Québec model to save public sector jobs. more...

HEALTH AND SAFETY National Day of Mourning April 28, 2009Join us on April 28, as we remember those killed or injured at work and recommit to the challenge of preventing, reducing and eliminating workplace deaths and injuries. more...

ORGANIZING Welcome to our newest membersOPSEU welcomes our newest members at Huron House Boys' Residential Home in Brights' Grove, near Sarnia. more...

For more information please visit: www.opseu.org

News from 517 Web site

2009-04-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

I have been following what has been transpiring and here is an update on what we have accomplished so far.1.We have gotten the attention of MGS who made this decision.2.Our policy grievance will have a stage two hearing this coming Tuesday.3.The heads of Corporate OPSEU and the Ministry are meeting this coming Week.4.The MERC will soon table CTO at the first meeting scheduled.
From the information I have, each local is setting up General Membership meetings. I believe these meetings can be used to empower all of us as a united group to discussed strategies for change. I prefer to see us move forward united and with strength. We should turn this situation into a positive one. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down. ~ Mary Pickford
If we choose to rescind our notification of withdrawing from the CWW agreement at this time we should all do it as one collective. We have shown our resolve. We have forced the employer back to the table to negotiate. We have shown we will fight hard for our CWW agreement. We wanted an action for CTO and are still on high alert. We have a lot more fight left in us.We can use this as an opportunity to move forward. We can all hold our heads up knowing how difficult this is and that we need to remain united.
In Solidarity,Dan S.