This link is for the OPSEU constitution it outline the responsibilities of the executive as well as the rights of the members. It is a downloadable PDF format. If you want to know what your rights are as members this is where it will be.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Personal Emergency Leave Days
Well the holidays are upon us and undoubtedly some of us will fall ill over the Christmas season. i encourage all of you to read the ESA standard on Personal Emergency leave days. I have included ESA enterpritation of Personal Emergency Leave days.
Personal Emergency Leave - E-Days
Some employees have the right to take up to 10 days of unpaid job-protected leave each calendar year due to illness, injury and certain other emergencies and urgent matters. This is known as personal emergency leave.
Regularly Employ 50 or More Employees
Only employees who work for employers that regularly employ at least 50 employees are eligible for personal emergency leave. When determining whether the 50-employee threshold has been met, all employees of the employer are counted. It is the number of employees that is counted, not the number of "full-time equivalents." Part-timers and casual employees are all included as one employee each in the count.
When a single employer has multiple locations, all employees employed at each location in Ontario are to be counted.
For example
An employer owns 5 sandwich shops with 12 employees employed in each shop. This employer regularly employs 60 employees. All employees at all 5 locations are entitled to personal emergency leave.
Reasons for Which an Unpaid Personal Emergency Leave May Be Taken
An employee who is entitled to personal emergency leave can take up to 10 days of unpaid leave due to:
* Personal illness, injury or medical emergency, or
* Death, illness, injury, medical emergency or urgent matter relating to the following family members:
o A spouse*;
o A parent, step-parent, foster parent, child, step-child, foster child, grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild or step- grandchild of the employee or the employee's spouse;
o The spouse of an employee's child;
o A brother or sister of the employee;
o A relative of the employee who is dependent on the employee for care or assistance.
*Note: “spouse” includes both married and unmarried couples, of the same sex or the opposite sex.
Illness, Injury or Medical Emergency
All illnesses, injuries and medical emergencies of the employee or of a specified family member, as listed above, will qualify an employee for personal emergency leave. It does not matter whether the illness, injury or medical emergency was caused by the employee's own actions or by external factors beyond the employee's control. For example, an employee who sprained his knee while showing off to his friends when waterskiing would still be entitled to personal emergency leave, even though the injury was a result of his own carelessness.
Generally, employees are entitled to take personal emergency leave for pre-planned (elective) surgery. Although such surgery is scheduled ahead of time (and therefore not a medical "emergency"), surgeries performed because of an illness or injury will entitle an employee to personal emergency leave.
Employees are not entitled to personal emergency leave for medically unnecessary cosmetic surgery unrelated to an illness or injury.
Urgent Matter
An employee is eligible for personal emergency leave because of the death, illness, injury or medical emergency of, or an “urgent matter” concerning, a specified family member, as listed above. An urgent matter is an event that is unplanned or out of the employee's control, and raises the possibility of serious negative consequences, including emotional harm, if not responded to.
Examples of an "urgent matter":
* The employee's babysitter calls in sick.
* The house of the employee's elderly parent is broken into, and the parent is very upset and needs the employee's help to deal with the situation.
* The employee has an appointment to meet with his or her child's counsellor to discuss behavioural problems at school. The appointment could not be scheduled outside the employee's working hours.
Examples of events that do not qualify as an urgent matter:
* an employee wants to leave work early to watch his daughter's track meet.
* An employee wants the day off in order to attend at her sister's wedding as a bridesmaid.
Interaction Between Personal Emergency Leave and Contracts that Provide Paid Sick Leave or Bereavement Leave
If a contract (which includes a collective agreement) provides a greater right or benefit than the personal emergency leave standard in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), then the terms of the contract apply instead of the personal emergency leave provisions of the ESA.
If the contract does not provide a greater right or benefit than the personal emergency leave standard in the ESA, the personal emergency leave provisions of the ESA will apply to the employee. The ministry will not get involved in determining how the leave provisions of the contract are applied.
For example, a contract only provides three paid personal sick days and three paid bereavement leave days per year. It does not provide job-protected time off for any other reason. This contract does not provide a greater right or benefit than the ESA's personal emergency leave provisions. This means that the employee will be entitled to 10 unpaid days of personal emergency leave per calendar year for any of the reasons listed in the ESA. If the employee takes 10 days of personal emergency leave for personal illness, the employee will have used up the entitlement under the ESA. Questions of whether any of those absences must be paid, and whether those absences draw down against the three paid sick leave days under the contract are not matters the ministry gets involved in answering.
Interaction Between Personal Emergency Leave and Family Medical Leave
Personal emergency leave and family medical leave are two different types of leave. Personal emergency leave is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 10 days each calendar year. Personal emergency leave may be taken in the case of personal illness, injury or medical emergency and the death, illness, injury, medical emergency of, or urgent matter relating to, certain family members, including dependent relatives.
Family medical leave, on the other hand, is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to eight (8) weeks in a 26 week period. Family medical leave is taken to provide care or support to certain family members and people who consider the employee to be like a family member in respect of whom a qualified health practitioner has issued a certificate stating that he or she has a serious illness with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks.
Further, while only employees who work for employers that regularly employ at least 50 employees are entitled to personal emergency leave, this is not a requirement for family medical leave.
The list of persons for whom a family medical leave may be taken is not identical to the list of persons specified for personal emergency leave.
See the "Family Medical Leave" chapter of this Guide for further information. An employee may be entitled to both leaves. They are separate leaves and the right to each leave is independent of any right an employee may have to the other leave. An employee who qualifies for both leaves would have full entitlement to each leave.
Length of Personal Emergency Leave
Employees are entitled to up to 10 full days of personal emergency leave every calendar year, whether they are employed on a full time or part time basis.
There is no pro-rating of the 10-day entitlement. An employee who begins work part way through a calendar year is still entitled to 10 emergency days during the remainder of that year.
Employees cannot carry over unused personal emergency leave days to the next calendar year. The 10 days of personal emergency leave do not have to be taken consecutively. Employees can take personal emergency leave in part days, full days, or in periods of more than one day. If an employee takes only part of a day as personal emergency leave, the employer can count it as a full day of leave.
Part-day personal emergency leave
Kevin's daughter is sick and her doctor has scheduled some tests at the hospital. Kevin tells his employer that he has to be away from work in the morning to take his daughter for tests.
Kevin has the right to be on personal emergency leave for the half-day needed to take his daughter for the tests. His employer does not have to count the absence as a full day of leave but can if it wishes. Because Kevin only needed half of the day, he did not have the right to take the entire day off as personal emergency leave even if his employer counted the half-day absence as a full day of leave.
The employer can only count the half-day absence as a full day of leave for the purpose of determining whether Kevin's 10 day entitlement has been used up. For example, the employer still has to pay Kevin for the half day that he worked, and has to include the hours worked for the purpose of determining whether Kevin has worked overtime or has reached his daily or weekly limit on hours of work.
Notice Requirements
Generally, an employee must inform the employer before starting the leave that he or she will be taking a personal emergency leave of absence.
If an employee has to begin a personal emergency leave before notifying the employer, the employee must inform the employer as soon as possible. Notice does not have to be given in writing. Oral notice is sufficient.
While an employee is required to tell the employer in advance that he or she is taking a leave (or, if this is not feasible, as soon as possible after starting the leave), the employee will not lose the right to take personal emergency leave if the employee fails to do so. An employer may discipline an employee who does not properly inform the employer, but only if the reason for the discipline is the failure to properly notify the employer and not in any way because the employee took the leave.
Proof of Entitlement
An employer may require an employee to provide evidence reasonable in the circumstances that he or she is eligible for a personal emergency leave of absence. What will be reasonable in the circumstances will depend on all of the facts of any given situation, such as the duration of the leave, whether there is a pattern of absences, whether any evidence is available, and the cost of the evidence.
Medical Notes where the Employee Was Away Because of Personal Illness, Injury or Medical Emergency
If the circumstances are such that it is reasonable for the employer to require the employee to provide a doctor's note, the employer can ask only for the following information:
* The duration or expected duration of the absence,
* The date the employee was seen by a health care professional,
* Whether the patient was examined in person by the health care professional issuing the certificate.
Employers are not allowed to require information about the diagnosis or treatment of the medical condition of the employee.
Medical Notes Where the Employee Was Away Because of the Illness, Injury or Medical Emergency of a Specified Relative
The employer is not allowed to require a medical note in respect of the relative, nor can the employee be required to give details of the medical condition of the relative. The employer may only require the employee to disclose the name of the relative and his or her relationship to the employee, and to state that the absence was required because of the relative's injury, illness or medical emergency.
Rights During Leave
Employees who take personal emergency leave are entitled to the same rights as employees who take pregnancy or parental leave. For example, employers cannot threaten, fire or penalize in any other way an employee who takes or plans on taking a personal emergency leave. See "Rights During Pregnancy and Parental Leaves" in the Pregnancy and Parental Leave chapter.
Special Rule Re: Personal Emergency Leave
Certain professionals may not take personal emergency leave where it would constitute an act of professional misconduct or a dereliction of professional duty. For a list of professions to which this special rule applies, please refer to Professionals in the chart Industries and Jobs with ESA Exemptions and Special Rules.
Personal Emergency Leave - E-Days
Some employees have the right to take up to 10 days of unpaid job-protected leave each calendar year due to illness, injury and certain other emergencies and urgent matters. This is known as personal emergency leave.
Regularly Employ 50 or More Employees
Only employees who work for employers that regularly employ at least 50 employees are eligible for personal emergency leave. When determining whether the 50-employee threshold has been met, all employees of the employer are counted. It is the number of employees that is counted, not the number of "full-time equivalents." Part-timers and casual employees are all included as one employee each in the count.
When a single employer has multiple locations, all employees employed at each location in Ontario are to be counted.
For example
An employer owns 5 sandwich shops with 12 employees employed in each shop. This employer regularly employs 60 employees. All employees at all 5 locations are entitled to personal emergency leave.
Reasons for Which an Unpaid Personal Emergency Leave May Be Taken
An employee who is entitled to personal emergency leave can take up to 10 days of unpaid leave due to:
* Personal illness, injury or medical emergency, or
* Death, illness, injury, medical emergency or urgent matter relating to the following family members:
o A spouse*;
o A parent, step-parent, foster parent, child, step-child, foster child, grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild or step- grandchild of the employee or the employee's spouse;
o The spouse of an employee's child;
o A brother or sister of the employee;
o A relative of the employee who is dependent on the employee for care or assistance.
*Note: “spouse” includes both married and unmarried couples, of the same sex or the opposite sex.
Illness, Injury or Medical Emergency
All illnesses, injuries and medical emergencies of the employee or of a specified family member, as listed above, will qualify an employee for personal emergency leave. It does not matter whether the illness, injury or medical emergency was caused by the employee's own actions or by external factors beyond the employee's control. For example, an employee who sprained his knee while showing off to his friends when waterskiing would still be entitled to personal emergency leave, even though the injury was a result of his own carelessness.
Generally, employees are entitled to take personal emergency leave for pre-planned (elective) surgery. Although such surgery is scheduled ahead of time (and therefore not a medical "emergency"), surgeries performed because of an illness or injury will entitle an employee to personal emergency leave.
Employees are not entitled to personal emergency leave for medically unnecessary cosmetic surgery unrelated to an illness or injury.
Urgent Matter
An employee is eligible for personal emergency leave because of the death, illness, injury or medical emergency of, or an “urgent matter” concerning, a specified family member, as listed above. An urgent matter is an event that is unplanned or out of the employee's control, and raises the possibility of serious negative consequences, including emotional harm, if not responded to.
Examples of an "urgent matter":
* The employee's babysitter calls in sick.
* The house of the employee's elderly parent is broken into, and the parent is very upset and needs the employee's help to deal with the situation.
* The employee has an appointment to meet with his or her child's counsellor to discuss behavioural problems at school. The appointment could not be scheduled outside the employee's working hours.
Examples of events that do not qualify as an urgent matter:
* an employee wants to leave work early to watch his daughter's track meet.
* An employee wants the day off in order to attend at her sister's wedding as a bridesmaid.
Interaction Between Personal Emergency Leave and Contracts that Provide Paid Sick Leave or Bereavement Leave
If a contract (which includes a collective agreement) provides a greater right or benefit than the personal emergency leave standard in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), then the terms of the contract apply instead of the personal emergency leave provisions of the ESA.
If the contract does not provide a greater right or benefit than the personal emergency leave standard in the ESA, the personal emergency leave provisions of the ESA will apply to the employee. The ministry will not get involved in determining how the leave provisions of the contract are applied.
For example, a contract only provides three paid personal sick days and three paid bereavement leave days per year. It does not provide job-protected time off for any other reason. This contract does not provide a greater right or benefit than the ESA's personal emergency leave provisions. This means that the employee will be entitled to 10 unpaid days of personal emergency leave per calendar year for any of the reasons listed in the ESA. If the employee takes 10 days of personal emergency leave for personal illness, the employee will have used up the entitlement under the ESA. Questions of whether any of those absences must be paid, and whether those absences draw down against the three paid sick leave days under the contract are not matters the ministry gets involved in answering.
Interaction Between Personal Emergency Leave and Family Medical Leave
Personal emergency leave and family medical leave are two different types of leave. Personal emergency leave is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 10 days each calendar year. Personal emergency leave may be taken in the case of personal illness, injury or medical emergency and the death, illness, injury, medical emergency of, or urgent matter relating to, certain family members, including dependent relatives.
Family medical leave, on the other hand, is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to eight (8) weeks in a 26 week period. Family medical leave is taken to provide care or support to certain family members and people who consider the employee to be like a family member in respect of whom a qualified health practitioner has issued a certificate stating that he or she has a serious illness with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks.
Further, while only employees who work for employers that regularly employ at least 50 employees are entitled to personal emergency leave, this is not a requirement for family medical leave.
The list of persons for whom a family medical leave may be taken is not identical to the list of persons specified for personal emergency leave.
See the "Family Medical Leave" chapter of this Guide for further information. An employee may be entitled to both leaves. They are separate leaves and the right to each leave is independent of any right an employee may have to the other leave. An employee who qualifies for both leaves would have full entitlement to each leave.
Length of Personal Emergency Leave
Employees are entitled to up to 10 full days of personal emergency leave every calendar year, whether they are employed on a full time or part time basis.
There is no pro-rating of the 10-day entitlement. An employee who begins work part way through a calendar year is still entitled to 10 emergency days during the remainder of that year.
Employees cannot carry over unused personal emergency leave days to the next calendar year. The 10 days of personal emergency leave do not have to be taken consecutively. Employees can take personal emergency leave in part days, full days, or in periods of more than one day. If an employee takes only part of a day as personal emergency leave, the employer can count it as a full day of leave.
Part-day personal emergency leave
Kevin's daughter is sick and her doctor has scheduled some tests at the hospital. Kevin tells his employer that he has to be away from work in the morning to take his daughter for tests.
Kevin has the right to be on personal emergency leave for the half-day needed to take his daughter for the tests. His employer does not have to count the absence as a full day of leave but can if it wishes. Because Kevin only needed half of the day, he did not have the right to take the entire day off as personal emergency leave even if his employer counted the half-day absence as a full day of leave.
The employer can only count the half-day absence as a full day of leave for the purpose of determining whether Kevin's 10 day entitlement has been used up. For example, the employer still has to pay Kevin for the half day that he worked, and has to include the hours worked for the purpose of determining whether Kevin has worked overtime or has reached his daily or weekly limit on hours of work.
Notice Requirements
Generally, an employee must inform the employer before starting the leave that he or she will be taking a personal emergency leave of absence.
If an employee has to begin a personal emergency leave before notifying the employer, the employee must inform the employer as soon as possible. Notice does not have to be given in writing. Oral notice is sufficient.
While an employee is required to tell the employer in advance that he or she is taking a leave (or, if this is not feasible, as soon as possible after starting the leave), the employee will not lose the right to take personal emergency leave if the employee fails to do so. An employer may discipline an employee who does not properly inform the employer, but only if the reason for the discipline is the failure to properly notify the employer and not in any way because the employee took the leave.
Proof of Entitlement
An employer may require an employee to provide evidence reasonable in the circumstances that he or she is eligible for a personal emergency leave of absence. What will be reasonable in the circumstances will depend on all of the facts of any given situation, such as the duration of the leave, whether there is a pattern of absences, whether any evidence is available, and the cost of the evidence.
Medical Notes where the Employee Was Away Because of Personal Illness, Injury or Medical Emergency
If the circumstances are such that it is reasonable for the employer to require the employee to provide a doctor's note, the employer can ask only for the following information:
* The duration or expected duration of the absence,
* The date the employee was seen by a health care professional,
* Whether the patient was examined in person by the health care professional issuing the certificate.
Employers are not allowed to require information about the diagnosis or treatment of the medical condition of the employee.
Medical Notes Where the Employee Was Away Because of the Illness, Injury or Medical Emergency of a Specified Relative
The employer is not allowed to require a medical note in respect of the relative, nor can the employee be required to give details of the medical condition of the relative. The employer may only require the employee to disclose the name of the relative and his or her relationship to the employee, and to state that the absence was required because of the relative's injury, illness or medical emergency.
Rights During Leave
Employees who take personal emergency leave are entitled to the same rights as employees who take pregnancy or parental leave. For example, employers cannot threaten, fire or penalize in any other way an employee who takes or plans on taking a personal emergency leave. See "Rights During Pregnancy and Parental Leaves" in the Pregnancy and Parental Leave chapter.
Special Rule Re: Personal Emergency Leave
Certain professionals may not take personal emergency leave where it would constitute an act of professional misconduct or a dereliction of professional duty. For a list of professions to which this special rule applies, please refer to Professionals in the chart Industries and Jobs with ESA Exemptions and Special Rules.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Chiropractic Coverage
Just to inform all of you that the union and Dr. Cordasco from Cordasco Chiropractic and Massage in Niagara Falls have come to an arrangement regarding Chiropractic services. Dr Cordasco has agreed to charge only 25.00 per visit for Chiropractic services. This charge reflects the per visit cap stated in our Collective Agreement. This offer is only open to Unionized associates and their families. In order to take advantage of this offer you need to bring your swipe badge with you as proof of employment.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day
I am going to stray a little off topic with this post, but it is something that is near and dear to my heart, and maybe to some of you as well. Remembrance Day is upon is again and once again we will all think about the sacrifices that Canadians have made in the defence of this great Nation of ours. I thought this would be a great time, for those that want to, to voice what makes this day important to them.
For me, this day is important for a couple of reasons, the first being my own family history. My family has served in armed forces around the world for more than 100 years. I come from a very long line of fighting men and women. In my family there were Dutch Royal Marines, Tank drivers, Airborne Troopers, Medics and Combat Engineers. They have served in every conflict in the last century from the Dutch East Indies as colonial troops to the 101st Airborne in Iraq. They fought in some of the toughest fights that anyone could ever be in, from the fall of Saigon in Vietnam, to fighting in the jungles of Borneo as the Armies of Imperial Japan Invaded. In 1962 they were at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin as the world held its breath, as it sat at the brink of World War Three. My family has defended the rule of law and democracy with the belief that fear and oppression have no place in the hearts of free men. They would rather lift a weapon and die than live under the blackened boot of oppression and hatred.
The second reason that this day is important to me is that I was born in a country that felt the sting of cruelty levelled at them by the Nazi regime. I grew up hearing the story of how it was Canadian soldiers that saved the country of my birth. I marvelled at the respect my parents showed Canadian Vets. I saw these men as heroes and gods; I wanted to be one of these men one day. These soldiers showed kindness and compassion when dealing with the people of Holland, but an unrelenting ferocity when dealing with the enemy.
So for me Remembrance Day is the day that I think about a dept that is owed by me to the men and women that came from across the ocean. It is about tradition and honour, loyalty and respect. They sacrificed so that my family might live and carry on and in so doing the memory of those that died will live on in me and those that come after. A soldier only wants two things should he fall in battle, and those things are for his actions not to be a waste, and to be remembered in death. They protected me with their life, so now; I will protect them in their death
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Something needs to be clarified here...
There appears to be some discontent and misconception on how the arbitrators ruling was arrived at. There are some allegations that there was some sort of trade off made by the Union and the Employer. There is no evidence to support those allegations, and allegations without evidence of their validity serve no purpose other than to cause mistrust and anger.
When issues are taken to the Labour Board they are being taken to a Provincial Court. When at the Labour board the issues are heard and decided on based on testimony and evidence presented by both parties involved. The court is bound by specific rules as is the judge or arbitrator that sits at the hearing. The arbitrator must base his judgment on the evidence provided and must follow rules of conduct because if he doesn't he will have to face what is called a Judicial Review, which brings into question every action the board of arbitration takes.
When a ruling is made it is almost never what we want it to be. I have been a member of Teamsters, CAW, and OPSEU and I have never seen an arbitration go exactly as anticipated.
If the union wanted a trade off, they could have done it when these grievances were initially filed and then again when bargaining our last agreement.
The employers intent was to force us to pay back the 9 month over payment, and based on the physical number printed in the collective agreement the arbitrator ruled that they had made an error in what they paid us, leading to what was ruled as an over payment. The arbitrator also ruled that based on that same number we were not entitled to have the extra nickel added to our hourly wage. They Employer also filed a counter grievance to claw back the over payment, but was forced to withdraw it based on the physical dollar amount printed in the collective agreement. So as I said previously the company has to absorb the loss of the 9 month over payment. It is not perfect win, but it is still a success. The Union went ahead with the support of many people from all shifts, I personally spoke to at least 30 people, and there was not a single one that did not want this to go forward on principle alone. Not one officer I spoke to really cared about the money, it was the principle of the matter that drove their resolve.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Some info about the executive is working on: Benefits and Pension
Benefits
If you are accessing your extended benefits (ie. orthotics, Registered Clinical Psychologist).Please review to ensure that sunlife coverage is correct. All extended benefits are outlined in your collective agreement. There is an issue with member accessing the benefits and being told: "the coverage is not there" "that is not how much you are covered for" or " that there is a daily visit cap" not all benefits have daily visit caps. If it is in your collective agreement then you receive it. If you find you are having a problem contact a steward.
Pension Plan
Members are inquiring about the OPSEU pension plan. The plan is called TOPPS and the local is working on setting up a meeting. The meeting will be for all Members to attend. It will be an information session that will be presented by OPSEU. You will receive a package that you can take with you and review. Once the presentation is set up it will be posted. Once the presentation is made to the members only then will it be presented the employer.
If you have any questions contact your respective Chief Stewards,
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
If you are accessing your extended benefits (ie. orthotics, Registered Clinical Psychologist).Please review to ensure that sunlife coverage is correct. All extended benefits are outlined in your collective agreement. There is an issue with member accessing the benefits and being told: "the coverage is not there" "that is not how much you are covered for" or " that there is a daily visit cap" not all benefits have daily visit caps. If it is in your collective agreement then you receive it. If you find you are having a problem contact a steward.
Pension Plan
Members are inquiring about the OPSEU pension plan. The plan is called TOPPS and the local is working on setting up a meeting. The meeting will be for all Members to attend. It will be an information session that will be presented by OPSEU. You will receive a package that you can take with you and review. Once the presentation is set up it will be posted. Once the presentation is made to the members only then will it be presented the employer.
If you have any questions contact your respective Chief Stewards,
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Friday, October 15, 2010
Let's get Connected
Follow us on twitter at Security_loc278 to stay in touch as we continue to post in an attempt to establish communication with all unionized gaming facilities in Ontario to create a structure of support move forward as an industry instead of individuals. We believe in solidarity and need to lead the way amongst ALL UNIONS. Join the movement.
Thank you
Rob Gale
President local 278
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Thank you
Rob Gale
President local 278
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Just a Quick Update:
Just a quick up date:
Thanks for coming to check out the Security Officer’s page. As was stated earlier the ability has been disabled for the time being, that may change later on.
This page is for the benefit of the Unionized Officers of the Niagara Casinos, it is not a place that will be used to slam the employer or anything like that. It is just intended to pass information and to try and keep the membership informed. The local has undertaken a number of initiatives directed at increasing the level of communication particularly in the realm of social media.
As most of you already know the local has a Blog and a Youtube site, but in addition to this we now also have a twitter account and now a Facebook page and group as well. We hope to use these different tools to keep out members informed. Please feel free to suggest these sites to all your contacts so that all members of our department will have access.
For Those of your friends that are not on Facebook you can direct them to our Blog and Youtube accounts all the same information will be posted there as well.
Blog http://local278.blogspot.com/
Twitter http://twitter.com/security_loc278
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/Local278?feature=mhum
Thanks for coming to check out the Security Officer’s page. As was stated earlier the ability has been disabled for the time being, that may change later on.
This page is for the benefit of the Unionized Officers of the Niagara Casinos, it is not a place that will be used to slam the employer or anything like that. It is just intended to pass information and to try and keep the membership informed. The local has undertaken a number of initiatives directed at increasing the level of communication particularly in the realm of social media.
As most of you already know the local has a Blog and a Youtube site, but in addition to this we now also have a twitter account and now a Facebook page and group as well. We hope to use these different tools to keep out members informed. Please feel free to suggest these sites to all your contacts so that all members of our department will have access.
For Those of your friends that are not on Facebook you can direct them to our Blog and Youtube accounts all the same information will be posted there as well.
Blog http://local278.blogspot.com/
Twitter http://twitter.com/security_loc278
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/Local278?feature=mhum
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Let's stop the bleeding.
Let's stop the Bleeding
Something that was made very clear at our last round of bargaining was that our local was butting heads with a very big and determined opponent. Time and time again when items were tabled the employer implied that what our demands were, were not in line with the rest of the Gaming industry. They stated on many occasions that if the Non-Unionized staff didn't have something then we shouldn't have it either, unless we wanted to "come back into the fold". We also began to find it difficult to determine what was beneficial and what was not due to the fact that there were so many collective agreements out there to consider. One collective agreement may have said one thing and another may have said something else. We noticed that there was too much division between locals and what was being bargained at different sites.
This is where the employer had the advantage. All casino associates province wide obviously all work for the same industry, and a great majority also work for the same Crown Corporation. The only exceptions to this are the three commercial properties that are run by a third party operator. However that operator is still under the authority of the Crown Corporation as far as regulation and internal controls. So what we face is one big massive crown corporation that has a united front and has the resources to sustain a long and drawn out fight, against small and fragmented, unionized bargaining units.
So what do we do? Well we can just throw our hands up and say were screwed, or we can come up with a plan. One of the biggest things that need to be done is to find out what the main issues are for unionized and Non-Unionized casino associates province wide. The reason being, we may all have the same work related problems and not even know it. You better believe that the employer knows exactly what those issues are.
The second thing that may need to be done is to foster continued communication, education and inter local discussions with other units, so that we can begin to develop a better understanding of the industry and where it is going. We all know that the industry has faced some difficulties over the past couple of years from passport regulations, to the financial crisis that rocked the US. Based on these difficulties the decision makers in the industry will try to find a way to protect the bottom line. It is precisely because of these hardships that communication among Unions and Locals is key, in formulating a common defence strategy to protect the workers that staff the facilities.
We all know that the face of the gaming industry in the province of Ontario is changing rapidly. Every day we see more and more good jobs going out the door just to be replaced by contract employees. We are not just numbers; we are all living breathing people that helped make this province Billions and Billions of dollars over the past 15 to 20 years. So maybe it's time to step it up a notch, and see what can be done to stem the bleeding of good solid well paid jobs.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Friday, October 8, 2010
Fw: Surveillance Operator Job - KINGSTON - Ontario Lottery and Gaming(OLG) Job Id: 8962319 -WowJobs Canada
Follow the link below, Job opportunity!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
-----Original Message-----
From: local278_mediaspecialist@rogers.blackberry.net
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 14:57:38
To: Facebook update email<bazar126gismo@m.facebook.com>
Reply-To: local278_mediaspecialist@rogers.blackberry.net
Subject: Surveillance Operator Job - KINGSTON - Ontario Lottery and Gaming(OLG) Job Id: 8962319 -WowJobs Canada
http://www.google.com/gwt/x?source=reader&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3DX%26q%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.wowjobs.ca%2Fjob%2FSurveillance%252BOperator-ontario%252Blottery%252Band%252Bgaming%252Bolg-kingston%252Bon-8962319%26ct%3Dga%26cad%3D%3As7%3Af1%3Av0%3Ad2%3Ai1%3Ald%3Ae0%3Ap0%3At1286548848%3A%26cd%3D58hDl6UtzAk%26usg%3DAFQjCNHNakfUXmRE5Xhu4EmxzyGm-mLx0Q
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Another Foxxcom suicide
The following link is very disturbing, it talks about the stresses that are placed on employees. This is something that everyone should take notice of.
http://ctv.qwapi.com/site?t=g851etkP8e3B50eo84UPXg&sid=ctv
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
http://ctv.qwapi.com/site?t=g851etkP8e3B50eo84UPXg&sid=ctv
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Good news For Niagara.
Well the announcement this morning for General Motors workers in the province of Ontario is a good one. The Provincial Government announced that there will be a new investment of $ 235 million dollars into the auto plants of Niagara. This is good news for Union workers, and the Province. Many workers that had been laid off will now be able to get back to work. I t also shows the advantages of a good collective agreement that guarantees call back rights for Union workers. The auto industry in St. Catharines has always been one of highs and lows, depending on the economy and other factors. Let's hope this is the beginning of a trend towards prosperity and some better times all around.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
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