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Welcome to the
Website of Local 524 |
Local 524
represents OPSEU members working
at the Ministry of Attorney General,
720 Bay Street, 700 Bay Street, 400 University Avenue
and 21 College Street.
Represented as well, are members of the
Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.

OPSEU 2008 CONVENTION
April 17-19 at the Sheraton
Local 524 attendees included:
Lois L. Scott, President, 1st Delegate
Liisa Glover, Vice President, 2nd Delegate
Alyssa Dickey, 1st alternate
Delegates spent Day 2 of the OPSEU Convention
debating resolutions and constitutional amendments, learned about bad trade legislation
and cheered on the days awards winners.
Summary
and Daily Slide Shows

Day
3 Update - Stephen Lewis presents award, Resolutions and
Constitutional Amendments, more
Day
2 Update- Smokey and Patty open the 2008 annual Convention: There is real
power in our union
Day 1 Update
- An impressive list of award winners this year.
President, Lois L. Scott was very
much commended for her quick and decisive action regarding security at 720 Bay by the MAG
MERC team and fellow MAG members! |
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| NEWS |
Court
workers ratify changes
November 5, 2007 |
The results are in and
Flexible Part Time (FPT) workers have approved, by a large margin, improvements to the FPT
provisions of the collective agreement at the Ministry of the Attorney General.
Following 10 days of ratification voting the agreement was approved by more than 80 per
cent of FPTs across the province. More than 70 per cent of eligible voters took part in
the ratification process.
The agreement followed a lengthy survey process earlier this year when court workers were
asked to recommend changes to the current FPT provisions. Those recommendations were
incorporated into the demands OPSEU negotiated at the table.
The improvements include changes to the annual hours category, overtime payment, holiday
pay and the ability to opt in, or out, of benefits.
Its been a complicated process but I think FPTs across Ontario can all take
credit for participating in a process that improves their working conditions, said
Julie Weber, chair of the MAG MERC team.
We wish to thank everyone for their patience and support throughout the
process.To download the PDF, click here. |
Incident
at 720 Bay Street, MAG
November 2, 2007 |
| One of the washrooms at 720
Bay was vandalized with hateful and intolerant graffiti. Deputy
Attorney General Murray Segal, released a statement about the above, which said in part:
"This is
unacceptable behavior and it will not be tolerated.
I wanted to take this opportunity to
express my regret and disappointment that such an incident occurred in our workplace
regardless of who is responsible. I am
concerned that employees who may have seen the offending graffiti may be experiencing some
distress. If you have been affected, please
speak to your manager to discuss available support resources.
My regret over this incident is about
more than our legal responsibilities or our workplace policies and practices, it also
stems from the fact that this behaviour offends the common decency and respect that runs
through our organization.
Intolerance and discrimination hurt us
all. We each have the right to feel safe and secure in our daily lives, including in our
workplaces, and incidents like this have no place in that vision."
We, at OPSEU and Local 524, want to reiterate that
harassment or discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.
The OPSEU Constitution states that every
member has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. ..[and] be free from
discrimination, interference, restriction, coercion, harassment, intimidation or
disciplinary action exercised or practised by a member with respect to another member,
both within the Union and in the workplace, by reason of race, colour, age, national or
ethnic origin, political or religious affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, family status,
marital status, record of offences, physical characteristics or physical or mental
disability.
We, at Local 524, are very
distressed and extremely disappointed that this has taken place at 720 Bay Street.
Offended members should contact their local union representative should they wish further
information and support. |
New
Staff Representative for Local 524: Joe Baron
October 24, 2007 |
| We would
like to thank our last Staff Representative, Maurice Gabay for all his hard work and
dedication to our local. We recently received the following letter from him advising us of
his departure and we welcome our new Staff Representative on board, Joe Barron. Good luck
Maurice and a warm welcome to Joe! Hi everyone,
I wanted to let you all know that I have accepted an assignment at OPSEU's head office.
Your new staff rep will be Joe Barron. I understand that he is an experienced staff rep
coming in from another region to help out until a more permanent solution is determined. I
will be meeting with him tomorrow to update him on any ongoing issues within your locals,
and try to bring him up to speed. I assume that he will be in the office on Wednesday, and
will be using the same phone number as me - (416) 928-2479.
It was a pleasure working with you for the past 18 months, and I wish you all the best
going forward.
In solidarity,
Maurice Gabay
a/Staff Representative, OPSEU
phone: (416) 928-2479
fax: (416) 944-0288 |
President's
Message
On October 10...
Boost your governments performance
Vote mixed member proportional |
October 10, 2007 is not just Election Day
in Ontario. Its also our chance to boost the performance of every Ontario government
we elect from now on.
For the first time ever, Ontarians will vote in a referendum to choose between two
different ways of electing our MPPs. Option 1 is to keep things the way they are now.
Option 2 is to improve the current voting system by upgrading it to a system called Mixed
Member Proportional.
I am not one of these people who says the way we elect our MPPs now is terrible. That
being said, it does have some pretty big drawbacks, and if we can fix them, we should. We
need a better voting system. Heres why:
We need politicians to work together. When I have a choice
between negotiation and confrontation, I pick negotiation every time. Mixed Member Proportional
will re-balance the Legislature. It will make politicians listen more, negotiate more, and
cooperate more. That can only be good.
We
need new ideas in politics. Today were facing new problems we need to solve (like
global warming) and old problems we havent solved (like child poverty). I think we
need to give folks like the Green Party a voice, and I think we need more women
MPPs. According to polls, close to 90 percent of Ontarians
want to see more women in our Legislature, and why not? Based on results in
other countries, upgrading our voting system is a quick and easy way to make it happen. The number of seats a party gets at Queens Park should
be closely tied to the number of votes it gets on Election Day. In the 1995 election, the
Mike Harris Tories got 45 per cent of the votes but 66 per cent of the seats. The
opposition got 55 per cent of the votes but 34 per cent of the seats. Our voting system
gave the Tories absolute power, and they used that power to ignore opposition voices and
slash public services at will. I believe that upgrading our voting system will reduce
these extreme swings and help create a stable, long-term foundation for the public
services we deliver.
The proposed Mixed Member Proportional system addresses all the issues
listed above while keeping strong democratic representation at the community level. It
will be a big improvement.
On Oct. 10, help boost your governments performance. Vote for Mixed Member
Proportional.
In solidarity,
Warren (Smokey) Thomas
President
.voteformmp.ca , or www.equalvoice.ca .
|
OPSEU
Trustees Wanted
April 19 - 21, 2007 |
TRUSTEE CANDIDATES WANTED!
The OPSEU Joint Trusteed Benefit Fund is seeking OPSEU members who are part
of the Trust, to join our Board of Trustees.
Established through OPSEU sponsorship in 1996, today the Trust Fund has grown to over 95
participating groups, insuring over 6,500 people. Trustees play a crucial role in the
growth of the Trust Fund. The equal numbers of union and employer trustees represent the
partnership nature of the trust. The Trust Fund maintains a pool of OPSEU and Employer
Trustee candidates from which Trustees are selected. Trustees are selected in a manner
that assures diversity and geographic representation. Trustees are appointed for a 2 year
term.
Please become a Trustee candidate by submitting a letter of interest and your resume
(including two references) to:
The Trustee Selection Committee
OPSEU Joint Trusteed Benefit Fund
515 Consumers Road, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M2J 4Z2
Tel: 1-877-766-7823
Come have a voice in our future!For more information
or to request a presentation or application package, please contact:
Website
Direct Line: 416-443-9223
Toll Free: 1-877-766-7823
Fax: 416-443-3185
General Email: benefits@ojtbf.ca
OJTBF Staff Directory |
Warren
"Smokey" Thomas elected sixth president of OPSEU at Convention
April 20, 2007 |
Apr
20, 2007 The Ontario Public Service Employees Union today elected Warren
Smokey Thomas as its sixth president at its 32nd Convention, held at the
Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto. April 20, 2007 Thomas: I wont let you
down. In a rousing speech to convention delegates, OPSEUs newly-elected
president Warren Smokey Thomas promised to empower members and staff and move
the union into the future. In a rousing speech to convention delegates, OPSEUs
newly-elected president Warren Smokey Thomas promised to empower members and
staff and move the union into the future.
Thomas, a long-time union activist and the 1st Vice-President/Treasurer for the past six
years, says his gut instinct for what is right and wrong will serve him well as president.
We are going to re-ignite the fire, he said. We are going to build on
our strengths. I promise I wont let you down. Thomas reflected on his roots,
growing up in Kingston, and marveled at the opportunities he has had. Where else but
OPSEU could someone like me get to do something like this?
Thomas told an anecdote on how his kids once threatened to go on strike at home. I
told them they werent going on strike, because I was going to lock them out. That
backfired when they started job actions. I quickly learned not to threaten a
lockout. When the laughter died down, Thomas was thankful for the support he has
received from his wife Val and his family. They are behind me 100 per cent, he
said. I would have never have ran for this job otherwise.
Thomas said it is an enormous honour to represent the members, and congratulated
candidates Nancy Pridham and David Rapaport on their campaigns. I look forward to
working with both of you, he said. I look forward to working with this entire
Executive Board. Were good, were all good. We are going to do great
things.
Thomas becomes the sixth president in OPSEUs history. |
|
Local Executive
Lois L. Scott
President
(416) 326-4461
Cell (416) 459-3768
Ministry of the
Attorney General
Constitutional
Law Branch
4th Floor
720 Bay Street
Toronto, ON
M5G 2K1
Liisa Glover
Vice President/
Webmaster
(416) 326-4647
Yasmin Van Tassel
Secretary/Treasurer
(416) 326-4184
Anjum Zia
Chief Steward
(416) 212-4982
Josephine Clark
Steward
(416) 326-4620
Alyssa Dickey
Steward
(416) 326-4642
Susan Dizon
Information Steward
(416) 326-2500
Martha Calder
Information Steward
(416) 326-4561
Ernie Forsyth
Trustee
(416) 326-2426
Lynn Allong
Trustee
(416) 326-0543
Twila Marston
OSPEU Regional Representative Region 5
(416) 928-2479
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