OPSEU Local 560
To:	All Members of OPSEU Local 560
From:	OPSEU Local 560 President Ted Montgomery
Date:	October 4, 2001
Subject:	Updates

NEW CONTRACT

On Wednesday, September 26th the new Collective Agreement was ratified by nearly 95% of the faculty voting that day.  We are now working on putting the contract language together and preparing for printing.  The salary improvements took effect as of September 1, so the College should be making the necessary retroactive payment right away.  The benefit level improvements kicked in as of October 1st.

Maximum salary:
If you are not eligible to advance to the maximum step on the salary grid, Step 20, then you should act immediately to gain that eligibility.  Article 14.03 A4 sets out the qualifications necessary for maximum step eligibility.  Article 14.03 A1(b) further details the effect of various qualifications.  There is also a Joint Educational Qualifications Subcommittee (JEQS) that reviews alternative or additional qualifications.  That subcommittee has already established a booklet of qualification equivalencies that may apply to your circumstances.  You might already be entitled to advance to the maximum but not eligible because your qualifications have not been fully credited.
Because the $700 recognition allowance is available only to persons who have been at Step 20 for one year, it is important that all faculty take the measures necessary to get themselves to that level.  The $700 is a part of pensionable earnings, so the impact can be long-lasting even for someone nearing retirement.
For employees with 15 years of service, enrolment in the In-Service Teacher Training Program (ISTTP) produces an immediate one-step increase.  That alone is worth over $2000 per year.  If you have been frozen at a maximum below Step 20, you should enroll in the ISTTP as soon as you can.  As well, if you have further qualifications of any sort, you should pursue credit for them with the College and with the JEQS if necessary.

Benefits:
The vision care benefit has been increased to $300 per period (two years for adults, one year for dependants under 18).  The two-year period ends September 1, 2002.  If you have claimed $200 already, you can claim another $100 for coverage accessed between now and then.  No retroactive claims are allowed. The purchases must be after October 1, 2001.
The hearing care has gone from $300 to $3000, and every three years rather than every five.  A new three-year period will begin in September 1, 2003.  If you have used your $300 eligibility, you can now use $2700 more up to that date, at which time the full $3000 benefit would again kick in.

Dental.  The additional $500 for orthodontics started October 1, but again there is no retroactivity. It can be used only for work done or appointments since that date.  And the $2500 is a lifetime limit. The other dental coverage is annual starting afresh January 1 of each year.  As of October 1, 2001, the $2000 coverage for crowns and bridges can be claimed without reduction for other dental claims

Paramedical coverage is also annual.  As of October 1, you and your dependants can each claim up to $1500 for any of the services for the rest of this year, less any amount already claimed under the old $300 per service limit.

NEW PRESIDENT:

Some of the faculty have expressed to me their disappointment that the new president did not come in and immediately sweep the place clean of those managers who have done such damage over the years to the quality of educational services the college provides.  While I understand that viewpoint, I do not share it.  It’s not that I don’t recognize the desirability of ridding the college of those who have injured us all — the injury to some members has been quite deliberate and personal.  But, I accept that the new president has to make assessments of personnel on his own terms.  Were he to act too quickly, it would surely not engender trust.  I understand the impatience for change.  I share it.  Nonetheless, we need to accept that the necessary cultural change is not going to take place overnight – if indeed it happens at all.  If we see the same old same old, we will recognize it soon enough.  And our disappointment then will be more than justified.

Certainly, it is good to know that there will be a new Director of Human Resources, where change has been long overdue.  I hope this new hire can bring a fair, respectful, and reasonable approach to labour relations.

As when we have had other new managerial appointments, I advocate a cautiously optimistic approach.  Last year, the union advised the consultant who had been hired by the Board of Governors to lead the presidential search, that we believed Seneca needed an outside hire, a person with a commitment to academic over entrepreneurial pursuits, with a background in academic leadership at the post-secondary level, preferably from the university sector.  President Miner acknowledged when I met with him in August that the union’s list was met when he was hired.  Let us hope that he takes a fresh approach, listens to all the voices in the College, and sets us a course which will enable us all to produce and deliver the high quality of education and training of which we are capable.
 

Ted Montgomery, President OPSEU Local 560
 
 

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