OPSEU members in government worksites wore blue April 30 to show solidarity for their AMAPCEO colleagues who face deep cuts to their contract.
AMAPCEO is the first union in the Ontario Public Service in bargaining this year. The employer has requested a 'no board' which would trigger a 17-day timeline to a legal lockout by the employer or strike by AMAPCEO.
The major concessions faced by AMAPCEO include:
- the replacement of current paramedical coverage with a single amount, $600, to cover the employee and their family, with the exception of psychology and speech therapy;
- punitive changes to Long Term Income Protection (LTIP) that will reduce employees' current income and their pensions;
- changes to Workplace Safety and Insurance that will cut pay during the waiting period and when the WSIB loss of earning award is made for the first three months;
- Extension of the wage freeze for another year and any wage increases after that to be offset by an equivalent concession: in other words, employees have to pay for their own wage increase;
- termination pay to be capped at accrual of entitlement up to April 1, 2014, payable at the wage rages applicable on April 1, 2014;
- Elimination of the one-time five-day vacation leave at the 25-year anniversary mark and for 64-year-olds with 25 years of service;
It is clear that if these concessions are not fought off they will come to the tables of the other OPS unions, including OPSEU. Our contract expires at the end of December with bargaining scheduled to begin in November.
Locals are currently voting on the priority demands that the bargaining teams will present to the employer and are electing delegates to the Regional Bargaining Conferences, June 7. The conferences are the first of a two-step process for the election of the two bargaining teams, Central/Unified and Corrections.