OPSEU Local 247

HWDC Local 248

Borrowed from the PO rapsheet 3 Blog

#425 | 08-Mar-09, 8:05 pm, EDT | Ida Rosati | Location Hamilton Convention Centre
Congratulations Catherine David! Thank you for continuing to make history and representing PPOs and Women with such grace, dedication, dignity and good humour.

In good company, and also on International Women's Day, Andrea Horwath made history this weekend as the first woman leader of the Ontario NDP Party!

And while I'm at it, it was Andrea Horwath who most recently spoke to the legislature about the deplorable conditions in our jails and the issues of Correctional Officers and Probation Officers.

And, at the NDP Leadership Convention this weekend, there were only three speakers to an emergency resolution addressing conditions in correctional facilities--and all three were women! (One Youth Officer, one Probation & Parole Officer, and another OPSEU sister).

The resolution CARRIED as follows:

"-Immediate action to address the overcrowding in Ontario Correctional Facilities
-The development of a long-term plan to prevent the overcrowding of Correctional Facilities in the future
-Massive improvements to the deteriorating physical conditions of Correctional Facilities
-Implementation of strategies to address systemic discrimination and violence faced by workers in correctional facilities
-improved training for staff on communicable disease control andidentification of gang activity
-Support to Correctional Workers in fair compensation for difficult and necessary work they do
-The reinstatement of inmate programs
-Continuing to meaningfully address the health and safety crisis facing the working conditions of Correctional Workers and living conditions of inmates."

FYI: The next provincial election will take place before our next contract negotiations. Let's hold our politicians accountable NOW and start preparing for our next contract NOW. Get to know who your MPPs are and ask them what they are doing to address all our issues, especially safety issues

Keep the letters going to the MPP's

To our elected bargaining Team- regardless of the vote outcome....I will say this now.

You have worked hard to bargain with a tuff player under most difficult conditions and you returned with a deal we should and can accept. You did your jobs well (especially saving article 44) and made a few other gains for us. In light of today's economic realities I recommended to my Corrections members to ratify this contract. Some members opposed it. That's democracy in action.

We asked a lot of you and you delivered.
Thanks to all of you.

Jim Fraser
Secretary
Local 247
Brantford Jail
Probation and Parole

Congrats on your site and all for of us yes and no's for another 4 yrs of local BS.

P.S.
Do we really have to take Ward?
Oldscrew

ANYONE who did not vote today from 247 can vote elsewhere ....call me for locations if you wish, or never BITCH about the results to me..........in Solidarity Mitch

The team has told everyone that will listen that this is the best offer that we can expect. To vote against this is telling the team and Management that we have no confidence in our elected team. THAT IS NOT A SOLID UNION ! How stupid will we look? This team is comprised of people that I respect. People with knowledge. To go against them at this time puts management in the drivers seat. We start a square one again. Won't that be great! Suck it up, move on to fight another day. Creativity sharpens the mind.....Mitch

We voted today with less than 24 hrs notice.....75% turn-out. Thanks to the Staff and mobilizers, it was a good day....

STELCO is going "tits up " -
You really want to chance going on strike in this economic state....GET OUT AND VOTE!....The contract being offered is the best that the team thinks possible.... If we end up on strike because people were to lazy to VOTE, but not to lazy to BITCH later.......We know who votes.....We keep lists, we count things.
Mitch

March 2 2130hrs.
The team was given the task of barganing a general wage increase and keeping the sick time as it was ( article 44 ) They accomplished this through a strong NO VOTE, great support at the work sites and off-site activities and creativity.

The question now is, do you want to strike for overtime? - the major change to the contract- which states that a sick day causes a future O.T. shift to be at regular pay during a 2 pay period.
Also - A Supreme Court ruling has stated that the Government has the right to operate during a strike. It also says that it is the duty of the staff to insure the safety of all. (scabs) This means that the ESSENTIAL SERVICE #s of real CO's could almost double!!! and 30 % of your wages will still be taken!!

The team feels that they have the best possible deal for this economic time.
An information meeting and vote time has yet to be chosen. STAY TUNED.
I gotta say vote YES to this offer....

IN SOLIDARITY Mitch

posted on PO rap sheet this evening - see P & P link
avid Kerr, you have a number of unhappy people in P & P, and for the life of me I don't know why. Thank you for doing a great job. Hey Wayne # 270 etc. my heart bleeds for you and your 72 tho. a year! I've got 28 years in and $62.000 is my best - this year! I don't work OT and I don't abuse sick time. I do my job like 95 % of the Sisters and Brothers out there! You're over paid! Tax bracket -3% - your a whiner! Do you really think that C.O.s can make the target with management doing the counting? DREAM ON BROTHER!! The privatization of sick time is off the table - we won! that is the bottom line. That is a huge issue. It would have affected everyone in OPSEU sooner that 2012. If you were not so concerned with staying ahead of CO's you would see that. Hey Not Impressed - man up and print your name...PO days and you don't know what to do with them? That sucks....See you at the food bank......peace love out! oh ya, ROCK SOLID! John Mitchell Loc. 247

I think it is a good deal....If you don't back it up, freedom of speech is a right.

hey john
just wanted to thank you for keeping everyone in the loop, the constant encourgement, the updates regarding negiations. thanks again to Niki for the great job on the web site. i hope the scabs get what they deserve
ken

Great news........just remember who supported the bargaining team and who DID NOT!! A scab is a scab is a SCAB! Look forward to seeing the details of the contract - I know that the team hammered out the best deal possible for us. GREAT JOB TEAM.

ps no new boat or car this time at our expense, so sad. LOL.

Bargaining 2008

Tentative settlement at Corrections table


March 1, 2009

The union and the OPS employer reached a tentative settlement at the Corrections bargaining table early Sunday morning,
March 1.

The team is unanimously recommending that members ratify the settlement.

?This settlement reflects the hard work and determination of members to protect our sick leave plan,? said team chair David Kerr. ?Our thanks to the members who helped us achieve it.

Kerr said any activities to support the team should be put on hold pending ratification.

?We will get details of the settlement posted on the OPSEU website as soon as possible. We encourage everyone to take the time to read it. Locals will be organizing information and vote meetings very soon,? Kerr said.

Just wanna say thanks to the CO's/PPO's for a good turnout tonight at our local meeting. Lots was said and lots heard. We're on the same page. We're moving forward. In fact Corrections is ROCK SOLID!!!

D-Day........March 02, 2009 -- Rock Solid! --- Corrections! --

We ask all OPSEU members in the OPS to not participate in any or all voluntary
activities of the employer?s, including the completion of the OPS Employment Survey, until such time as Corrections has a negotiated settlement. Please pass this guidance along to your members in OPS worksites.
Thank you in advance for your solidarity and support of our Corrections sisters and
brothers so they can reach a fair and reasonable settlement.
In solidarity,
Warren (Smokey) Thomas

Everyone should know that Mr Ted McMeekin and Mr McGuinty are the main focus why we do not have a contract!!!! every member should be sending an email to them on a daily basis lets show them we care and we want a fair contract the more we do now can make a difference whether we strike or not.

Subject:
Info Picket & Hamilton Bulldogs hockey game
HI Everyone,

We are having an information picket FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008, starting at 11am.
11:00am-1:00pm (299 Dundas St E, Waterdown)
We will be picketing MPP Ted McMeekin's office first. He is the Minister of Government Services, and is in charge of government finances. He has a great deal to do with what is going on at the Corrections bargaining table.

1:30pm-3:30pm (760 Brant Street, #44, Burlington)
We will be heading to Burlington to picket MPP Joyce Salvoline's office. She is the MPP that publicly stated Correctional Officers have "CUSHY JOBS"!!

From there we will be heading to a Hamilton Bulldogs hockey game. Lunch and beverages will be provided outside McMeekin's office.
Let's get as many people to this picket as we can!

In Sol.,
Kristy

Mr. Ted McMeekin (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Aldershot): On October 1, 2006, Premier Dalton McGuinty. at a memorial service honouring firefighters. uttered these words: "It takes a special kind of person to crash through a door of a building filled with smoke, to face chemicals that are as dangerous as they are invisible. It takes a special kind of person, one who is prepared to die so that others might live. In a world coloured with so many shades of grey, we don't often speak of heroes. But when danger strikes, when the world is black and white, we need heroes."



It also takes a special person to walk into a jail full of disease and extremely dangerous criminals. It also takes a special person who is prepared to die at a young age due to the constant stress of unsafe working conditions. We as correctional officers face dangers on the job every day, but what some forget are those same dangers face us when we go out in the public with our families and run into criminals that have been released from jails.

We do a job no one wants to hear about or know about, they just want to feel safe in there homes knowing someone is keeping the criminals in jail. But what they don?t know is that danger strikes every day and officers are hurt physically and mentally and in most cases emotionally and these symptoms are hard to recover from.

We need Correctional Officers

We need a fair contract.

OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas will be interviewed in English by Fortunato Rao on Toronto's Voces Latino radio station 1610 AM (Rogers digital cable 951) on Thursday, Feb. 19, from 8-9 p.m.