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For The Members: New Year Update

Tuesday, 02 February 2010 00:00 | Author: Administrator |

Local 369

Brothers and Sisters,

As you know the Correctional Officers and the Nurses are starting on a new schedule starting on Monday January 9, 2010. With these changes to the schedules there are also some changes to our daily operations. Therefore the post orders have also been changed. I understand there is some frustration on the floor about these changes and some of the wording. These post orders were reviewed by members of the Policy Review committee however keep in mind this committees function in not to write policy they are to “review” them to ensure they are not contradicting other existing policy’s. It is also my understanding that all draft post orders were on the units approximately 4 weeks ago for input and suggestions. The post orders are now on all of the units. Please review them, as there are some changes that were added, as a result of both management and member input. I want everyone to understand that all post orders and even the local standards are living documents and they are always subject to change. So if there is something that doesn’t work for your area then there will be a section in the post orders that will walk you through the procedures for getting them changed. I am also asking that everyone try and be patient over the next while as there will be some transitional issues as we are starting our new schedules and possibly new posts.

On another note, I had the pleasure of meeting with our MPP Garfield Dunlop on January 7, 2010 in his office. In this meeting I brought forward some of the issues that have been plaguing the Corrections Division. The issues that we spoke about were, ASMPP, Binding Arbitration, and Corrections professionalism in general.

Regarding the ASMPP I would like to take the time to thank brother Steve Scott for his continued contributions to his fight against this ridiculous policy. For those of you that don’t know, brother Scott has already had dealings with Mr. Dunlop regarding this issue and it was brought forward in the House of Commons.

Mr. Dunlop stated that he would continue to support us in this fight against this policy.

I inquired about “Binding Arbitration” and what he required of the members for this issue to be raised. He responded by saying that the members put forth a cabinet submission and sign a formal petition. He also stated that he would assist me in language for this submission and for the petition. My thoughts are we will come up with some standard language for this and share it with the rest of the division. I am expecting to have this process started by the end of January.

The majority of our meeting was about Corrections and our continued fight for respect. The majority of these issues stem from the corporate level and because there is little respect for each other at that level the membership suffers. The question is, do I start acting more professional to get treated as such? Or, when they start treating me with respect I will act that way? I believe that neither is the right answer. It has to be a combination of both.

Unfortunately we can’t wait for the corporate levels to make progress. Our image in general is poor in the public eye right now. We have many great opportunities to change this starting at CNCC. If our institution sets an example for the rest of the Province it is possible that over time others will follow. This is not going to happen over night; this will be a long process and will take years. In the end it will be all worth it. Here are two examples of where we can start; we should align ourselves with a reputable charity or organization. I was thinking of “MADD” as this has some relevance to where we work. We need to get out in the public and get some positive media attention. I would like to see at least one billboard in our community making a statement to the public “Support Corrections in Ontario”.

In conclusion, I want to say that we have a very busy time ahead and the Executive is asking for not only support from the members, we are asking for some help to accomplish some of our common goals. In the near future we will be holding an LEC and a General Membership meeting to give you the opportunity to give us your direction.

In Solidarity,
Derek Ainsworth
President, OPSEU
Local 369
Central North Correctional Centre

Last Updated (Tuesday, 02 February 2010 19:00)

Management's Attack: Time Tech Agreement

Tuesday, 02 June 2009 15:10 | Author: Administrator |

Local 369

Brothers and Sisters,

Adam and I spoke with Ms. Kasha this morning and the employer has realized the backlash of the position that they have taken. As of 10 am the employer has agreed to re-evaluate the claw back of hours.

Our position was clear and we expect the employer to follow what was previously discussed. We are following the commitments that were made on the LERC table. We are going to have input into the policy that has yet to be drafted.

There will be more to follow as this issue unfolds. At this point I am asking that all who are intending to grieve this, to hold off for now and we will wait for the employers final position.

In Solidarity

Derek Ainsworth

President, OPSEU

Local 369

Management's Attack: Time Tech

Tuesday, 02 June 2009 15:06 | Author: Administrator |

Brothers and Sisters,

This is a short communication to inform you that our employer has made themselves very clear that they have no respect for YOU the members or the Union.

The "Time Tec, or Swipe System" is something that has caused great concern here at CNCC. In addition to us being the only institution in the Province that uses it, we are now being penalized for the alleged misuse of it.

This was brought to our attention when our unclassified staff were being penalized for swiping out after they were relieved from duty. However, this was not the case for classified staff because we are positively paid on our hours and unclassified staff are paid for hours actually worked.

So we have had discussions about what is an acceptable window for swiping out early? This has yet to be determined however, it was made clear to us that they do not have to give us any window! This is another attempt to intimidate us and bully us. We will not be part of any further discussions with the employer if this is how they want to do business!

On a go forward approach in the last LERC meeting the union was asking for a memo to all staff explaining the expectations for the use of the system. What is an acceptable window for swiping out early after you have been relieved? The employer was proposing a 7 minute window and we suggested a 15 minute window. This is reflected in the lasted LERC minutes on the "P" Drive.

One other point that was discussed was the employer stated that they were going to review the time tec printouts dating back to January and there was a possibility that they were going to claw back hours from as far back as 6 months ago.

My suggestion at that point was to move ahead and get on with business and not to claw back any of our pay, but rather put a memo out to all staff explaining the rules so that we are all on the same page. From that day on then we would all know the rules and if we were to swipe out early then that would be our choice and then we would be expecting a pay deduction. This was agreed to in principle, but not reflected in the minutes.

The "P" drive was checked today and there is not one single memo on the TIME TEC and how to use it. So my question is how they can claw back money from 6 months ago and take it off our pay? Yes that is what they are doing to ALL Staff, not just unclassified. Some of you might have already received and email from Kaz asking you to explain yourself and to let the employer know what credits that you want to use if you intend to not have a future cheque deducted!

My suggestion to anyone affected by this is to grieve. I will provide Mr. Watson some grievance wording for you if you wish to file. I suggest that you do. The MERC team has been contacted in this matter.

In Solidarity,

Derek Ainsworth

President, OPSEU

Local 369

Central North C.C.

Last Updated (Tuesday, 02 June 2009 15:10)

We Won't Back Down

Thursday, 28 May 2009 15:51 | Author: Administrator

Brothers and Sisters,

There have been a lot of rumours circulating around our facility in recent weeks. I would hope this communication dispels these rumours and gives you all a clear understanding as to where we are now.

Our employer headed by David Logan from the Ministry of Government Services (MGS) is attacking our Corrections Division. This first started with the attack of our Compensating Time Off (CTO) agreements. Since that attack, I was in contact with all other Local Presidents and our Ministry Enforcement Renewal Committee (MERC). There was an agreement made by all, for a Province wide initiative for the immediate withdrawal of our Acting Managers, the H-Pro and our Compressed Work Week (CWW) agreements. As you are all aware our Acting Managers refused to step down and fight this battle with us. And the withdrawal of the CWW was of great concern. Not to mention not every local followed through with his or her previous commitments.

As stated at the last General Membership Meeting, I was asked to rescind the withdrawal of the CWW. This was done on your request the following Tuesday. Mr. Valaitis first response to me was that this was out of his hands at this point however he would get back to me. When he did, the response was that the employer was "not going to entertain this request at this time". This was not a surprise to me. They are going to play games with us for a while and attempt to control us by means of fear mongering and spreading rumours. Don’t listen to them and don’t be afraid. Even the Ministries "Bean Counters" know that if we were to work an eight hour schedule they would spend 100 times more money than they would on our invented pyramiding of CTO. Our employer saw a crack in our division and is now trying to exploit it. I want to be very clear with you, this employer thrives on us being divided. When we divide ourselves it makes their job much easier and that is why it is absolutely imperative that we stick together and fight this battle as a united front. We will get what we want at the end of the day!

This past week I had the opportunity to take part in a "President Only Meeting" with the other Local Presidents at Convention. We worked through some of our differences and then moved on.

Everyone but mainly the employer, wanted to know what was going to happen in this meeting. They are concerned that if our division is no longer divided then what kind of battle are they in for?

OPSEU President Mr. Thomas was in attendance for the first part of the meeting. He stated that the whole of OPSEU is behind the Corrections Division. If we needed anything, let him know. Without getting into all of the details of the meeting, believe me, we as the Corrections Division came out of that meeting as a United Front. The employer should be worried about what is coming!

We are not going to back down until they start treating the members of the Correctional Division as professionals, also with the dignity and respect that we deserve. We, as the members of the Correctional Division, pride ourselves on the work that we do to protect the public from some of the deadliest members of society.

If the employer doesn’t want to listen to us, then we will make them. The noise that the Correctional Division will cause will be deafening!

In conclusion I want to be clear that we do have a hard battle ahead and more consideration will be granted to the members of this Local. We as the Executive will be calling on your ideas and thoughts about what YOU want to bring to the table. We do have the power to move the employer, and get them off this senseless attack. We just have to demonstrate to them what we are capable of when we are threatened.

There will be a GMM booked in the very near future. Please make your voice heard, and when we come back to Central North make your voice loud enough so that the employer can hear us loud and clear. STOP THIS ATTACK, OR ELSE!!!!

In Solidarity,

Derek Ainsworth
President, OPSEU
Local 369
Central North Correctional Centre
Cell: (705) 534-0655
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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