Ontario Public Service: Members encouraged to enrol in courses

Taxing Times A newsletter for OPSEU members working for the Ministry of Finance

As part of the divestment of the provincial Retail Sales Tax to the federal government, now known as the Harmonized Sales Tax, many jobs that were previously in the OPS will disappear.  Staff will be looking for new opportunities, either inside the OPS with CRA/CBSA, or other options.  Some of these options will require additional training for our members. 

If you need to complete some courses for your accounting designation or a French-language course to make you better qualified to redeploy in the OPS, you should talk to your manager about getting the training you need.  No training should be unreasonably denied.  The employer has created a situation where members are going to be faced with some life-changing events, and we want to make sure they support you through this transition.

 If you have any challenges in getting the education that you need for your future plans, in addition to your steward, please let the COR member who did your Rights and Entitlements seminar know so we can raise these concerns with the employer.

Education may be the key to your future and we want to make sure you take advantage of any and all possibilities with the Ministry to give you the best career options possible.

Rights and Entitlements

The COR working group members went across the province to speak with the members about their rights and entitlements under our collective agreement with particular respect to Appendix 40 and Article 20 rights. There was a lot of information provided during those sessions. Please use the handouts provided as a guide. 

At the same time, you also received instructions on preparing your employee Portfolio.  This is a very important document for people who elect to remain in the OPS and for anyone who may not get a job offer from the federal government.

Please make sure you have completed the portfolio and reviewed it with your Change Management Transition Advisor (CMTA).  This is the document that will be used to match you to opportunities and vacancies in the OPS.

It was great to meet many of you and to speak to you about your concerns for this process. We hope we were able to answer your questions about how redeployment inside the OPS works. If you have any additional concerns feel free to contact us and we will continue to try and answer your questions.

Human Resources Agreement (HRA) Delayed

As most of you are aware by now, the HRA between the federal government and the Ministry of Revenue was not completed by the end of 2009 as planned.  This is a key document in determining the future of OPSEU members in the Ministry of Revenue.  We look forward to the employer completing  its HRA negotiation with the federal government so that we can get on with the work of  maximizing the options available for members.  The employer now intends to complete its negotiations by the end of February. 

Your COR working group will be traveling across the province again to talk to the members once the HRA is finalized.

Personnel Changes

Your MERC  and your COR Working Group Team would  like to thank Art Slade for his work and dedication on behalf of the members. Art has been the MERC health and safety co-chair of the MERC, and a member of the COR working group.  Art has moved on to a new career with OPSEU.  Benjamin NG will be replacing Art as health and safety co-chair.

Lisa Kingston, an Insolvency Collector from Local 340 in Oshawa, has joined the COR working group.  We look forward to Lisa’s continuing contribution on the team. The team will continue to ensure that the employer does everything in its power to assist our members through the divestment processes by upholding the collective agreement.

The COR working Group

How to Request Training    

• Review courses in the Training Centre for those that meet your needs
• Review courses from other sources for opportunities that will benefit your career goals
• Request approval from your manager for taking courses
• Once approval received, sign up for course with provider
• If training is denied, contact your steward and your COR working group representative
• Attend course