Hello Sisters and Brothers,
Please find the remaining articles that, along with the Arbitrated Award, become the Collective Agreement.
For the remaining articles please click here —>Agreed to Items
The Agreement is a 2 year deal which extends from April 1, 2014 and expired on March 31, 2016.
Notice to bargain has already been filed with the Employer and that process will begin at some point down the road. More communication on that process will be posted once we are ready to begin.
In the meantime we ask that your review the attached document so that you are aware of any/all changes. To assist you with this, I will be available along with team members to answer any questions you may have.
In order to do this, we have set 4 evenings aside to answer your questions.
In order to facilitate such a large group, we have broken the evenings up into the various groups that you were in prior to this new Contract.
The sessions will be from 5 pm until 7 pm each night and will be at the OPSEU office located at 3005 Marentette Avenue ( just behind Devonshire Mall).
Drop by with your questions and one of the team or I will be happy to answer them for you.
Monday March 20th—For members previously in the Lab Xray group – Unifor- Met Hospital
Tuesday March 21st– For members previously in the OPSEU Local 142 group- Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital (Ouellette Campus)
Wednesday March 22nd– For Members previously in the Unifor Pharmacy Tech group and the Non Union group at the Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital ( Ouellette Campus)
Thursday March 23rd-For members previously from the OPSEU Local 143 group Windsor Regional Hospital (Met Campus)
Again, these are for you to drop by with any questions you may have and you are not required to remain for the full 2 hours. There will be no formal presentation, but simply to answer any questions.
As well, I would like to update you with the following information;
Wage increases– are targeted to be on or about the March 10th pay . Retro will follow within a few pay periods after that. Since both processes are quite complicated, every attempt is being made to ensure accuracy. However, if after you receive your increase or retro payment, you have any questions you can forward them to myself, at mforsyth@opseu.org or Sharon Morris at smorris@wrh.on.ca and we will get an answer to you as soon as possible keeping in mind that there are numerous issues that still need to be implemented, so your patience would be greatly appreciated.
Benefits—Benefit changes were effective on March 1st, however it will take a couple of months for Green Shield to move everyone into one group in their data system. Please keep any receipts that you have from March 1st with regard to benefit coverage and send into Green Shield for reimbursement. Further information will be forthcoming.
Vacations– Due to the fact that the award did not come down until February, and the fact that vacation planners/processes had already begun, any changes to vacations will not take effect until 2018. The new Vacation Planner process will begin in January 2018 and changes to vacation entitlement, lump sum etc will be in the 2018 vacation year. Therefore the vacation process for this year will remain intact.
Holidays—For those that had Easter Monday as a holiday, this year this will now be a ‘business as usual” day and instead you will have Remembrance Day as a holiday effective immediately. If there are any issue that arise with regard to the upcoming Easter Monday, please let your steward or contact me so that we can try to resolve the issue
Schedule changes—As the changes to schedules including the equalization of hours, rotation through shifts etc, is complicated, we will first need to determine the best possible time to start this. We are in the process of determining current schedule practices and attempting to set a date as to when we will begin the new process in all areas. Further information will be forthcoming once we have finalized this.
Again, I thank you for your patience and support as we make our way through the implementation of this new Collective Agreement and look forward to answering your questions at the sessions.
In Solidarity,
Marisa Forsyth
Staff Rep. Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Windsor Office
3005 Marentette Ave Suite 130
N8X 4G1
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