Jason Namechange has a history of trauma; at an earlier point in life he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which he subsequently sought treatment for and overcame. He is also an OPSEU member working in a public-facing capacity in a remote location in Ontario. One day, Jason was threatened with assault by a member of the public.  All the pain and anxiety from days gone by returned. Jason had suffered a relapse of PTSD.

Nearly 20 years ago, after months of strenuous bargaining, OPSEU engaged in one of the most political, most intense strike actions in its 114 year history.  On February 28^th, 1996, 50,000 members walked off the job to protest the collective agreement proposed by the Mike Harris government. His “Common Sense Revolution” included an agenda of mass privatization and the loss or out-sourcing of 15,000 public sector jobs.  

OCOT (OPS below)

From Article 20 of our Collective Agreement:

20.1: A full-time employee shall earn vacation credits at the following rates:

Here are a few of the events OPSEU invites all members to, each year:

• Convention
• Regional meetings
• Divisional meetings
• BPS meetings
• Campaign meetings
• Equity conferences
• Quarterly regional Educational meetings
• Other planning/solidarity events

I thank outgoing President Laurie Simmons for granting me the opportunity to represent an OPS member in an Attendance Support Management Program meeting earlier this year.

It was a positive learning opportunity for me because it afforded me a more fulsome understanding of the impressive infrastructure (MERCs, LERCs and CERCs) in place to attend to the system-wide LR issues that inevitably pop up over time.

Our OCOT members are outside of that structure; its officers are tasked with creating a miniaturized version of that system, to enforce the members’ CA rights and benefits. We call that version the Employee Relations Committee (ERC).

For information on the OPS issues of the day, I encourage you to reach out to Jennie Miller, who can forward you information and put you in contact with participants in that structure.

Today, I am more of an authority on the OCOT issues-at-hand. We are working with our HR team to install a system where our members may view our progress to the fullest extent confidentiality and discretion will allow. For now, I leave you with one example:

Within OPSEU there are 7 geographical regions, each having their own branches, sectors, divisions, locals and units. We are in:

• Region 5
• Sector 9
• Composite Local with Ontario Public Service and Broader Public Service divisions

Interagency co-operation is where OPSEU draws its strength. Local 503 is in talks with sister Local 502 to work together on a flyering event for the We Own It anti-privatization campaign, and for a second solidarity event involving free lunch for as many members as we can get to.

Grievances are costly, laborious, and sometimes necessary affairs. They are our last resort, with many intervening steps beforehand, to ensure that the procedures which carry out the policies in our Collective Agreement are enforced.

OPSEU Local 503 is working with our legal team to prepare final paperwork for 4 OCOT grievances heading for mediation this year. They all relate to differences of opinion in the interpretation of our CA and need outside mediation/arbitration to sort out.