OPSEU LOCAL 206

SJH Demand Set Meeting

Wednesday September 15, 2010

Agenda Items Include:

1. Presentation of Central Recommendations
2. Presentation of the Local Demands forms as submitted by to your stewards by July 9, 2010
3. Nominations and Elections of Bargaining Team
4. Central verses Local process vote

LOCATION:
Courtyard by Marriott
1224 Upper James, Hamilton
South of the Linc and north of Stonechurch

Time:
Meal from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Meeting to start promptly @ 6:30 p.m.

You can view this story at: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/837616--public-sector-austerity-unreasonable-and-irrational

Re. St. Joseph's Ratified Contract

"Many of the Social Workers have asked me to pass on to the Negotiating Committee sincere thanks and gratitude for the hard work the committee did, and appreciation that we have a new collective agreement that they feel positive about. In fact, I think it is the first time I have had so many people respond in thanks.  I am sure many other members feel the same way.

Betty Palmieri"

International Youth Day Conference

August 13-14th, 2010 (Registration June 25th, 2010)

Please find attached an application for the International Youth Day Conference.  This Provincial Young Workers (PYC) event is being held in Toronto from August 13-14th, 2010.  This event is for young workers age 30 and under. 

Click here for application and details

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

Please read an important message from Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of OPSEU at
www.opseu.org/presidentsmessage/oct-23-2009.htm.
The message is in response to the Economic Statement delivered Thursday October 22nd by the provincial Finance Minister.

In Solidarity,
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
100 Lesmill Road,
Toronto, Ontario
M3B 3P8
1-800-268-7376
www.opseu.org

Hospital Professionals at the Table

Public, professional and proud
$1 Billion Dollar for Consultants ... delays for Professionals
At arbitration in late June, the Hospitals told us there
was no money to pay for the improvements that we
are seeking – even though our proposals are
relatively modest...

Click here for more details.

2009-2010 HAPS Initiative
for St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
[top]

The impact to the bargaining unit due to the 2009-2010 HAPS initiative for the St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton are as follows:

• 6FTE - 2 Occupational Therapists
• 1 Occupational Therapist assistant
• 1 Vocational Counsellor
• 1 Recreational Therapist
• 1 Non certified EEG Technician and

Please be advised that I and Ed met with the employer around the final steps required for the HAPS initiatives and the impacted members. Of the 11 positions that were impacted, 6 being full time and 5 being part time, the employer will need to issue 2 layoff notices to full time employees.

With all the cuts taking place in today's economic state, I feel that the membership has come out of this storm fairly well. I know that some of the members have had to make some very difficult decisions and the process has been very frustrating and stressful at times for individuals.

We have worked very hard to minimize the effect of the hospital's decision on our membership. The impacted individuals have been contacted and will have made a decision based on Article 11.04 Layoff and Recall in our collective agreement. If they choose to displace an employee of lesser bargaining unit seniority who is the least senior in their classification, then those members will then be given their options under the same provision of the collective agreement.

Click here for more details.

In solidarity,
Betty Palmieri,
President Local 206
[top]

Brockville Mental Health Centre
[top]

...excerpts and links were taken from OPSEU Central: http://www.opseu.org/bps/health/mental/index.htm

Royal Ottawa announced in June that the Brockville
Mental Health Centre (BMHC) will close its transitional
care unit by March 2011, taking the equivalent of
136.5 full-time jobs out of the community. OPSEU
argues the actual number of people left jobless will
be much higher.

Last week, OPSEU president Warren (Smokey)
Thomas accused Royal Ottawa of ignoring its
obligations to workers facing the loss of their jobs by
not setting up a human resources labour adjustment
plan.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)
has filed an application under the Public Sector
Labour Relations Transition Act (PSLRTA). If the
application is successful, skilled professionals
currently working at the BMHC would be allowed to
follow their work when programs move to Ottawa on
March 31, 2011.

Weber, Royal Ottawa's CEO,  last week said applying
the labour adjustment plan to this situation is "a little
bit of apples and oranges being mixed up,”.

Cal Crocker, Royal Ottawa's acting CEO in Weber's
absence, said the labour adjustment plan applies to
cases in which entire services are transferred from
one institution to another.

Such is the case with the BMHC's transfer of the
Elmgrove Unit to Brockville General Hospital , noted
Crocker, and there is a labour adjustment plan in
that case.

But the template does not apply for the transitional
care beds, said Crocker.

In that case, he said, patients are moving not to a
single institution, but to a wide variety of places,
including the community.

The Tier 3 Divestment Final Report, at the link
below, suggests that:

The objectives of Tier 3 divestment are to preserve
existing capacity and build new capacity in the
mental health care system. For programs under
negotiation for transfer to community agencies, this
principle suggests that staff in sending organizations
be encouraged to follow their work whenever
possible, while also being apprised of their options
with respect to transfer (e.g., reassignment,
severance, early retirement,etc.). Program transfers
would maintain program staff and preserve continuity
of care and service.

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/
mentalhealth/mohtier3/tier3_pab/tier3_planning_
principles.pdf

It would seem that in Brockville they are trying to get
around the principle of staff following their work.

Submitted by Michael Greaves, Steward
[top]

LEC Meetings
[top]

LEC meetings are held at 5:30PM every 3rd Wednesday of each month at the Frid St. Region 2 OPSEU office

Click here for directions

Unions Rally To Protest Hospital Layoffs
[top]

Approximately 100 members of OPSEU, CUPE and USW Local 1005 rallied outside and inside of St. Joseph's Healthcare, Centre for Mountain Health Services on Saturday morning determined to send a message to Deputy Premier George Smitherman that the layoff of healthcare workers will not be tolerated. The Deputy Premier and CEO Dr. Kevin Smith were at the Mountain site to signal the redevelopment of the facility, a P3 undertaking that has been criticized as misuse of public funds...

Click here for more details.
[top]

St. Joe's Plans 300-bed Mountain Hospital
[top]

Please see the attached article regarding the demonstration saturday at the SJHH unvieling of the proposed building of a new mental health centre copied from today's spectator. We were lucky to have the support of other OPSEU Region 2 members, members of the steelworkers union, Andrea Horvath, NDP, MPP and of course CUPE. We hope for more presence from within our own local at any future events.

Click here for more details.
[top]

New Health and Safety Rep. for Joseph Brant
[top]

We are excited to welcome Debbie Harris as the new Health and Safety Rep. for Joseph Brant.

Convention 2010 Update
[top]

Click here for more details.

Privatization and Poverty
[top]

The Social Planning and Research Council in Hamilton estimates that there are over 95,000 people in Hamilton living in poverty. For them, the privatization of the community labs will be a particular hardship.

The fees that the labs will charge for diagnostic tests are covered by no program that we are aware of. We have been in touch with various government Ministries and city officials to see what help is available. There is none. St. Joseph's Healthcare has no plan to assist these individuals.

They will be faced with the choice between paying rent, buying groceries or getting their lab work done. People are likely to defer the lab work even though the tests might help them to get well and stay well...[more]
[top]