During the past several days, faculty have identified to the local that they are quite concerned regarding the safety of their personal and banking information on the college’s Workday system.

I asked the college president on February 6, if she could confirm that Social Insurance Numbers and banking information had not been compromised, given the Workday fiasco.

On the same day, she responded “Yes I can confirm that”; however, the local has since learned that at least a week earlier to this confirmation by the college president that a college employee was informed that his Workday account had been compromised during the phishing attack. The college offered “Identity Theft Protection Services” from ID Alerts for the next 2-years and advised the employee to change his bank password.

One has to wonder why the college was not aware of such phishing attack problems and Workday issues well before implementing Workday on January 7, 2019 given that this information has been widely published on the web since at least May 2017 as per the following article

https://www.carpedatumlaw.com/2017/05/protect-people-newest-workday-scam-reroutes-employee-direct-deposit-funds/

Additionally, Workday security issues have also be widely published as per this article.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/tag/workday-com/

If you suspect that your personal or banking information has been compromised, I recommend that you ask the college for  “Identity Theft Protection Services” from ID Alerts for the next 2-years.

Although there is no guarantee that all faculty will receive this email because of the state of the college’s email system, I would encourage you to pass this information along to coworkers so that they take action necessary to safeguard their personal and banking information.

Pat Kennedy, President
OPSEU Local 415

Sisters and brothers,

Please be advised that due to an aggressive snow storm due to take place on Tuesday February 12^th and Wednesday February 13^th, for the health and safety of OPSEU local 415 members and OPSEU staff, I have decided to cancel the election scheduled for Wednesday February 13^th. Some members and staff raised concerns in regards to the weather especially for our members living and working in rural areas.

“OPP detachments throughout Renfrew County put out a request on Twitter that the public postpone any unnecessary travel due to poor weather conditions and reduced/zero visibility. They listed the most affected areas as Eganville, Cobden, Horton, Admaston/Bromley and Pembroke”.

I will be rescheduling the election in the coming days. Please stay tuned for a new date.

In solidarity,

Nelson Ross Laguna

Nelson Ross Laguna

Staff Representative

Ontario Public Service Employees Union

Ottawa,On

18447651416 ext 5445 (office)

613-324-4174                (cell)

As previously communicated, there will be a by-election for the Second Vice President of OPSEU Local 415 at all three campuses. In order to better acquaint you with each of the nominees, they were asked to provide personal biographies to be sent out to all full-time and partial-load faculty.

The attachment contains the personal biographies of the two nominees.

• Annette Bouzi
• Tracy Henderson

The by-election will be held as follows on Wednesday February 13, 2019:

– Ottawa Campus: Union Faculty Office, C215B, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

– Pembroke Campus: Room 216, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Room 334 from 1 p.m. to 3 pm.

– Perth Campus: Room 101, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

All full-time and partial-load faculty who are members of the union are eligible to vote. We always welcome new members into OPSEU and membership forms will be available if you are not already a member and wish to sign up.

—

OPSEU Local 415 Communications Officer

You may have received an email with respect to your Union Membership from the college.

You should disregard this, as it did not come from our local.

Pat Kennedy, President

OPSEU Local 415

Sisters and brothers,

Local 415 will be conducting an election for the 2^nd Vice Presidents position. As you may recall the local held a by-election on December 5^th, however I was unable to determine a successful candidate in the election due to inaccuracies on the voters list provided to the Union by the Employer. Due to this unfortunate event, the local will be conducting another election on February 13^th, 2019.

In order to prevent the same issue of inaccurate lists I will be confirming members who are partial load or who are unsure of their status at the polling station. If you are partial load or believe you are partial load at the time of the vote in order to confirm you are in good standing with the local, you will be required to provide your pay statement to show Union dues deductions as well as hours worked. Your pay statement will need to show your name and employee number as well. If you wish to blackout other areas, you may. If you are partial load or believe you are partial load and you do not provide a pay statement, I will have to segregate your ballot and then confirm your status afterwards which may take days or weeks.

The process will be as usual for all other members who require to be a signed member of the Union in order to vote. If you have not signed a union membership card you can do so at the polling station.

The two candidates for the election are:

• Annette Bouzi
• Tracy Henderson

The by-election will be held as follows on Wednesday February 13, 2019:

– Ottawa Campus: Union Faculty Office, C215B, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

– Pembroke Campus: Room 216, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Room 334 from 1 p.m. to 3 pm.

– Perth Campus: Room 101, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

All full-time and partial-load faculty who are members of the union are eligible to vote.

In solidarity

Nelson Ross Laguna
OPSEU Region 4 Rep and
Electoral Officer for Local 415

It has come to the Local’s attention that Northern College, one of the colleges that Algonquin has partnered with under the recent Multi-College Collaboration Model agreement, offers “teacher-less courses”. Given the language of the agreement, and the parties’ commitment to “innovative delivery models”, everyone should take notice of the possible consequences of courses being delivered by technology rather than faculty.

This approach would have an enormous impact on securing new full-time positions, and could put existing full-time positions in jeopardy. Tracy Henderson, with support from our Divisional Executive, is in the process of reaching out to the Locals involved in the agreement to gather more information about what is happening at each college, and will be reporting back to DivEx with recommendations.

This is a significant development for our membership as “teacher-less” work forces do not make pension contributions, nor do they fund Long Term Disability programs.

We’ll be providing more information as it becomes known.

—

Pat Kennedy, President

OPSEU Local 415

From: RM Kennedy <rmatopseu@gmail.com>

Sent: Monday, January 28, 2019 9:24 AM

To: CAAT-A Presidents

Cc: Tracy Henderson

Subject: {CAATA-Pres} Research into Multi-College Collaboration Agreements

Hello Presidents,

As you may have heard, Algonquin College along with Sault, Lambton and Northern, have signed onto a “Multi-College Collaboration Model.”

Tracy Henderson (from Local 415 and Divex 1st Alternate) has volunteered to do some research and strategic planning on the topic for us. We are very concerned that this may become the system-wide template for cuts and we want to get out ahead of it. For example, we could imagine a scenario where Algonquin develops online curriculum, which is then passed on to Northern College to be delivered on their new automated platform, eliminating real faculty work there. There are other ways this could work, but almost all of them will likely involve attacks on Intellectual Property (IP), academic freedom, faculty decision-making. program quality and bargaining unit size. Tracy will be reaching out to talk with the affected locals, but if anyone has any additional information on such agreements please pass it on to her.

In solidarity,

RM

We all received the notice via email that the college entered into an agreement with Lambton, Sault, and Northern College last week; however, it is not clear to the Local that the other colleges have received this information. The details of that agreement are contained in the attached document: Multi-College Collaboration Model  MOU 190109.pdf

The Local is monitoring this situation with respect to impact on programs and full time positions. The bullet in the communication that references avoiding “duplication” is of particular concern.

We are reviewing this in conjunction with the 2017 Price Waterhouse report attached “Fiscal Sustainability of Ontario Colleges Final Copy.pdf”,  which called for a reduction in staff.

Pat Kennedy, President

OPSEU Local 415

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2019

Tuition cuts come with steep cost for students and education: OPSEU

TORONTO – OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas says Premier Doug Ford’s 10 per cent cut to college and university tuition fees is a recipe for disaster and is a full frontal attack on democracy.

“Today was really about cuts to funding for Ontario post-secondary institutions. That’s bad news for Ontario colleges and universities, and bad news for students,” said Thomas. “Ford is giving you a little extra cash, and then screwing you over.”

“Colleges and universities are getting cut to the bone. Student debt will not go down. Access to education will not improve. There are no winners today,” said Thomas.

“Ford just slammed the door on low income families who want to send their kids to college. 10 per cent tuition cuts across the board does nothing to level the playing field and make education more accessible.”

Thomas noted that Ford cancelled the College Task Force, which would have provided the consultation and advice to make better decisions. Ford also bypassed the legislature committee, which is travelling the province to hear from Ontarians about what they want to see in Ford’s first budget.

“Ford’s announcements on education and further restructuring health care this week have short circuited the committee’s work and turned it into a total sham,” Thomas said.  “The Premier is making a mockery of democracy.

“I’m especially worried about what this means for our northern communities,” said Kella Loschiavo, Chair of OPSEU’s Universities Sector. “Limiting access to tuition grants and cutting services will hit those students hard.”

RM Kennedy, OPSEU College Faculty Executive Chair, said the Ford government’s decision will be a disaster for the quality of Ontario’s education system, which already has the lowest per student funding in Canada. “They have just blasted a hole in the operating budgets of the colleges and universities. That means more precarious work, less services, and a further assault on the quality of education offered to our students.”

“Ford is coming after student services,” said OPSEU Support Staff Division Chair, Janice Hagan. “By making student fees optional, he is effectively cutting student events and activities, student newspapers and radio, all those things that make campus life great. Those are exactly the things that keep students in school.

“Student fees also fund peer support services that provide tutoring and mental health supports, and which provide jobs to so many students. The government just made everyone’s college years worse,” said Hagan.

OPSEU represents approximately 50,000 public post-secondary education workers across the province. This includes college faculty, full-time and part-time support staff, and university staff and faculty.

– 30 –

For more information:
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, OPSEU President, 613-329-1931
RM Kennedy, OPSEU College Faculty Division Chair, 416-346-8382
Janice Hagan, OPSEU College Support Division Chair, 416-540-9642

Sisters and brothers,

Local 415 will be conducting an election for the 2^nd Vice Presidents position. As you may recall the local held a by-election on December 5^th, however I was unable to determine a successful candidate in the election due to inaccuracies on the voters list provided to the Union by the Employer. Due to this unfortunate event, the local will be conducting another election on February 13^th, 2019.

In order to prevent the same issue of inaccurate lists I will be confirming members who are partial load or who are unsure of their status at the polling station. If you are partial load or believe you are partial load at the time of the vote in order to confirm you are in good standing with the local, you will be required to provide your pay statement to show Union dues deductions as well as hours worked. Your pay statement will need to show your name and employee number as well. If you wish to blackout other areas, you may. If you are partial load or believe you are partial load and you do not provide a pay statement, I will have to segregate your ballot and then confirm your status afterwards which may take days or weeks.

The process will be as usual for all other members who require to be a signed member of the Union in order to vote. If you have not signed a union membership card you can do so at the polling station.

The two candidates for the election are:

• Annette Bouzi
• Tracy Henderson

The by-election will be held as follows on Wednesday February 13, 2019:

– Ottawa Campus: Union Faculty Office, C215B, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

– Pembroke Campus: Room 216, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Room 334 from 1 p.m. to 3 pm.

– Perth Campus: Room 101, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

All full-time and partial-load faculty who are members of the union are eligible to vote.

In solidarity

Nelson Ross Laguna
OPSEU Region 4 Rep and
Electoral Officer for Local 415