As the electoral officer for Local 415, I am pleased to announce the following two people have been acclaimed as stewards for Ottawa:
Richard Hagemeyer and Martin Lee
The following person has been acclaimed as the steward for Perth:
Patrick Murphy
—
Nelson Ross Laguna
OPSEU Region 4 Rep and
Electoral Officer for Local 415
| All 24 college locals are holding Day of Action activities on Monday, October 15th on the eve of the strike anniversary.
The two key themes for the day are: 1. Restore the Colleges Taskforce and 2. Protect Bill 148 and Decent Work Laws (including equal pay for contract workers). (Please see the attached Facts Sheet)
As it stands, Premier Ford has announced his intention to repeal parts of Bill 148, but has also been reluctant to follow through because of strong public opposition. It is extremely important to keep that opposition up in the coming days. |
RECOMMENDED FACULTY ACTION:
Sign the Petition
The petition is crucial to the political strategy. Please strongly encourage all of your members and community to sign it.
https://www.15andfairness.org/college_faculty
Tweet You MPP on October 15
We’re preparing for an exciting online Day of Action on October 15!
| Name | Constituency | |
| Progressive Conservative | ||
| Fullerton Merrilee | Kanata—Carleton | https://twitter.com/DrFullertonMPP |
| MacLeod Lisa | Nepean | https://twitter.com/MacLeodLisa |
| Roberts Jeremy | Ottawa West—Nepean | https://twitter.com/jr_ottawa |
| Yakabuski John | Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke | https://twitter.com/jyakabuskionpc |
| Ghamari Goldie | Carleton | https://twitter.com/gghamari |
| New Democratic | ||
| Harden Joel | Ottawa Centre | https://twitter.com/JoelHardenONDP |
| Liberal | ||
| Lalonde Marie-France | Orléans | https://twitter.com/mflalonde |
| Fraser John | Ottawa South | https://twitter.com/JohnFraserOS |
One local MPP’s change of face!
| Gharmari Goldie on Picket Line at Algonquin College Supporting Quality Education and Bill 148
|
It is rather ironic that we now find Goldie Ghamari as an MPP in a party that does not support Quality Education and Bill 148 |
We have reached a point where we need to ask what are we actually getting out of the college’s present administration. I have attached the link to a CBC interview that expresses the current administration’s view with respect to the sustainability of the Perth Campus. This view has not been shared with the Local through the College Employment Stability Committee. I can find no reference to this in the Board of Governors minutes, nor in any of the platitudes expressed at the various town halls. The only consistent element in this situation is the lack of transparency.
CBC Interview Link
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/algonquin-college-pay-equity-fees-hours-1.4847920
I have also attached here an Ontario Superior Court decision which I previously sent to you where the college was found to have misrepresented various facts in a case involving a lay off.
The Local has been threatened by the college with program closures at arbitrations. When I put this directly by e-mail to the college president there was no response. It looks as though there are different faces being put forth by the college to suit the occasion. Do you have any confidence in this type of approach? I don’t.
—
Pat Kennedy, President
OPSEU Local 415
There are three vacancies on the Local Executive Committee for two stewards from the Woodroffe Campus and one steward from the Perth Campus. The nomination form (see below) needs to be submitted to the Union Office (C215b) by noon, Wednesday, October 17, 2018.
In the event there are more nominations than positions, an election will be held Wednesday, October 24, 2018.
Nelson Ross Laguna
OPSEU Region 4 Rep and
Electoral Officer for Local 415
———————————–
Nomination Form
I __________________ (name of nominator) nominate __________________(name of nominee)
for the position of Steward on the __________________ (Woodroffe or Perth) Campus.
__________________ (signature of nominator).
I accept ____________________ (signature of nominee).
Submit to the Faculty Union Office (C215b) by noon, Wednesday, October 17, 2018.
Register NOW on the Partial-Load Registry
One of the major gains from this round of bargaining is the Partial Load Registry that serves to prioritize the hiring of Partial Load employees who have registered their interest in being employed as a partial load employee in the following calendar year.
All partial-load employees employed for all or part of the period from September 1 to December 31, 2017 will be deemed to have registered for the 2018-2019 academic year; however, by October 30th in each calendar year , a currently or previously employed partial-load employee must register their interest in being employed as a partial-load employee in the following calendar year.
Further employee information regarding the Partial-Load Registry may be found on the following college webpage:
http://www.algonquincollege.com/hr/pl-emp/
Register NOW on the Partial-Load Registry:
The college Partial-Load Registry Application Form for the 2019 Calendar Year is located at the following webpage:
http://www.algonquincollege.com/hr/pl-form/
Note that all requests to be added to the registry for the 2019 Calendar Year must come in before October 30th, 2018.
—
Pat Kennedy, President
OPSEU Local 415
Welcome back to members who were on annual vacation. For those members who were working at the college this summer, I hope you had a good Spring/Summer semester.
I want to take this opportunity to let you know about some of the union local’s priorities for the fall semester:
Since the Kaplan award was released, we have been attempting to engage the college regarding the changes to article 26 – Partial-Load (PL) Employees. Despite our efforts to get a clear response from the college on the partial-load registry, the college has been sending mixed messages about PL workloads and seniority.
Since the spring PL members have been advising us that their fall hours have been reduced and that the college is not following the new seniority language. In fact, a number of serving PL members have reported that they were not offered PL hours at all. PL members are frustrated that they have either received inadequate responses or no response at all from management when they inquire about their workloads. Unfortunately, we received even more inquiries from members over the summer.
We have also been advised that in light of the recent St Lawrence decision https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onla/doc/2018/2018canlii26586/2018canlii26586.html that member PL coordinators are being told they must choose between teaching and coordinating as the college will no longer be offering them layered contracts. The work still exists. Instead of acknowledging this as full-time work and doing the right thing by making these full-time positions, they are shuffling the work around as reported by a number of PL members this past spring.
This is no way to treat our dedicated colleagues. The local will continue to question the college on their decisions in regards to the Kaplan award. We are consulting with OPSEU legal and the DivEx on actions we can take as a local. We are also encouraging PL members to tell us their stories. The local will do everything in its power to ensure that our PL colleagues are treated fairly, and we will provide them of what their options are under the collective agreement.
Since January, the local and members of official union/college committees, such as the College Employment Stability Committee (CESC), have made requests for information from the college that they entitled to in the performance of their duties. In many cases, the college does not reply at all. In one case, a member of the CESC made an initial request of the college over 100 days ago. We are still awaiting a response, despite sending follow-up requests directly to the president of the college, who is also a member of the committee.
Since returning from the strike, the local has been made aware of several situations where members have brought issues to management’s attention that of gone largely ignored. Some of these situations are of a severe nature. They include, but are not limited to sexual harassment, racism and gender discrimination. These are very serious issues that the local is working with the affected members on. We will support them in making sure these issues are properly addressed by the college.
We have a particularly disturbing case brought to us in the past few weeks. A racialized female teacher has been denied a leave without pay for family reasons. When we reviewed our case files we found examples where non-racialized female members have been granted leave without pay for family reasons on two occasions.
Additionally, there has been a grievance filed stating that “The Employer has failed to address sexual harassment in the workplace creating a toxic and harmful workplace environment. As well the College has failed to provide a working environment that is physically and psychologically safe.”
I have been invited to the President’s Breakfast to say a few words about our priorities; however, I am on vacation until the end of August. Be rest assured, our priorities are simple – that the College follows the Collective Agreement.
If you have any questions or want to discuss issues you or your colleagues are facing, please feel free to stop by the union office or send us an e-mail to us: comms@locallines.org
In Solidarity,
Pat Kennedy
President, OPSEU Local 415
Hello Local Presidents and Highest Ranking CAAT, BPS, OPS:
We are asking that you please circulate this email and the attached application forms throughout your regions and locals.
The OPSEU Indigenous Circle is inviting OPSEU members who self-identify as Indigenous to apply for a position on the OPSEU Indigenous Circle to fill vacancies in Region 3, Region 4 and Region 7.
The role of the regional representative on the Indigenous Circle is to create and maintain networks within the region, to develop and promote programs, to encourage First Nation (Status or Non Status), Métis and Inuit members to participate in union activities and to increase the awareness and understanding of Indigenous issues throughout the OPSEU membership.
Application process attached here
Interested applicants shall submit a statement of interest that outlines:
1. Who are you? Describe the traditions or culture you are from, (if known).
2. How have you been involved in your community, union etc.?
3. What strengths (personal, social, cultural) do you bring to the Indigenous Circle?
4. Why do you want to be a Representative on the Indigenous Circle?
Selection process
The Equity Unit will ensure an anonymous selection process.
The Indigenous Circle will select the new Region 3, Region 4 and Region 7 representatives based on the following considerations:
· previous activist experience;
· willingness to share cultural knowledge to the Indigenous Circle and OPSEU; and
· openness to learning various Indigenous cultural activities.
A decision will be made at the Provincial Indigenous Circle meeting in September and all applicants will be notified accordingly.
Please forward completed statement of interest to the Equity Unit (e-mail to equity@opseu.org or fax to 416-448-7419) no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 24, 2018.
If you have any difficulty reading the attachment, please contact equity@opseu.org.
The faculty union recommends that Partial Load faculty who either do not have a full-load of 12 hours per week or who have been denied Partial Load employment status because their manager has advised them that there are no courses available, check out the Distance Education courses that are are available, using the following link: http://www.algonquincollege.com/ccol/online/
This link will take you to the Centre for On-Line Learning home page, where you can click on the various links there to determine if there are any courses that you have previously taught but are now not being offered through the regular process.
Where such cases exist, you are advised to contact your manager with a list of courses that you would like to teach as a Partial Load employee.
Should you be denied access to teach any of those courses, you are encouraged to contact the local with the specific details via comms@locallines.org. As a reminder, you should keep a copy of any correspondence between yourself and your manager.
—
Pat Kennedy, President
OPSEU Local 415
