Working together
Discount for Local 331 Members
In addition to the member discount through OPSEU (e.g. Bell Mobility, Insurance), we are please to inform you that your Local has joined the Union Saving.ca. Members can get discount on various services .
Find out more: 
Union Savings.ca
August 16, 2023
General membership meeting
Thank you to all member that participated in the Local Election process and attend the meeting on August 14, 2023 both in-person and virtually.
Congratulation to Amy D , winner of the visa card.
August 16, 2023
Your New Local Executive Committee
President: Jonathan Leung
Vice- President: Michelle Bakracevski
Secretary: Jackie Schumacher
Treasurer: Leanne Beaudry
Chief Steward: Taryn McDiarmid
Stewards:
Denise Wagler-Allan (FPRU)
Gabriela Turnbull (FRU)
Joanna Holley (GNOS)
Kristina Walters (FRU) - Equity Rep
Justin Baldoria (CGPD)
Raymond Mitchell (CGPD)
Carey Demareski (HIM)
Jolene Blanchette (GPU)
----------------------------------------------
Trustee:
Scott Sarginson
Trenton Vey
August 17, 2023
Did you know…….
Article 25.02
After 3 consecutive days of absence caused by sickness or injury the Employee will be required to provide a medical certificate supporting such absence. Notwithstanding this provision, where it is suspected that there may be an abuse of sick leave, the employee’s manager may require an employee to submit a medical certificate for a period of less than (3) days. Any such certificate requested by the Centre, shall be paid by the Centre.
Requests for further medical documentation shall be reasonable and take into consideration of the illness or injury.
July 21, 2023
ONA & CUPE Awards
Many of you may have heard about the recent Awards from ONA (wage reopener and New Collective Agreement) and CUPE (Wage re-opener). Those awards applied only to members of their respective Locals. As the joint memo, sent out on July 18, 2023, stated we are still working on Pay Equity and the Wage reopener negotiation will take place in late summer. If we are not successful on reaching agreement on the reopener, we have arbitration date scheduled in October. Once Pay Equity is completed, we will move into bargaining the next Collective agreement (April 1, 2023 onwards).
July 22, 2023
General Membership Meeting (Hybrid)
Monday August 14, 2023
11:00am to 1:00pm (revolving)
Conference Room B
and
Virtual
(The link to the meeting and on-line voting will be sent to those that has provided us your personal email address. Please email communication@opseu331.org if you have not provide us your personal email address or phone number)
Agenda
- Nominations / Elections of Local Executives & 2 Trustees
- Updates on activities
Lunch will be provided if attend on-site
All attendees (on-site or virtual) will have a chance to win a $500 pre-paid visa gift card
from the area July 22, 2023
Local 331 Election
It’s time once again to elect your OPSEU Local. Local elections are the foundation of OPSEU democracy.
Nomination forms are available from the Union Office and must be returned to our office by August 11, 2023. This will allow a few days for election lists to be finalized for the membership meeting. Please email executive331@opseu331.org or hand delivered to the Union Office.
There are 5 Executive Positions up for election:
●President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Chief Steward;
●2 Trustee positions; (Trustees cannot hold any other position within our Local or any other Local)
●Multiple steward positions
Please submit a form for each position you wish to be elected to.
Each Steward must have two nominators listed on the form from the department/ area they are elected from. Candidates for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Chief Steward must first be an elected steward.
Stewards will be confirmed at the August 14, 2023 Meeting.
Executive nominees will then be nominated. Any acclimations will occur at this meeting for all positions. Should an election be necessary, on-line voting will be held on August 21,2023
Please contact the Local at extension 6478/6351 if you would like further information.
It is with deep sadness to share the passing of our Sister Mary Bloomfield. Mary was a dedicated Union member working as a Mental Health nurse for almost three decades. She was a compassionate, kind soul who impacted everyone who came across her path. Mary has always gone above and beyond the call of duty and has mentored many members throughout her career with her expertise and knowledge being a true asset.
Mary has been a labour activist with OPSEU Local 331 for many years. She was a picket captain during our strikes, attended and actively participated in OPSEU rallies, co-facilitated at Regional Educationals, was on the executive team for several years, the Co-chair of Joint Heath and Safety Committee and was a staple on the Pay Equity committee.
Mary was a selfless, caring, and fierce advocate for her family, friends, members, and strangers. She brightened the room with her kindness, caring nature and was loved by so many.
During this time, we offer deepest condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. Mary will truly be missed by all.
A funeral service will take place at Lakeland Funeral Centre on July 13, 2023 at 11:00 AM followed by a reception and private burial at Little Britain Christian Cemetery.
March 11, 2023
Delegates & Alternates for OPSEU Convention 2023
The elected Representatives to the Convention are:
Delegates:
1. Jonathan Leung (automatic)
2. Michelle Bakracevski
3. Leanne Beaudry
4. Jackie Schumacher
5. Mary Bloomfield
6. Taryn McDiarmid
Alternates:
1. Gabriela Turnbull
2. Kristina Walters
March 11, 2023
Door Prize for General Membership Meeting
Thank you everyone for attending the meeting.
Congratulations to Carrol Espie , the lucky winner of the $500 Visa card .
December 18, 2022
Did you know.....
Acting pay
Article 34.04 b) Where an employee is assigned temporarily to perform the duties of a position in a classification with a higher salary, he or she shall be paid acting pay from that day in accordance with the next higher rate in the higher classification, providing he or she has performed the duties for the full day.
Article December 18, 2022
Did you know.......
Medical Documentation
New Article 25.02 After three consecutive days of absence caused by sickness or injury the Employee will be required to provide a medical certificate supporting such absence. Notwithstanding this provision, where it is suspected there may be an abuse of sick leave, the employee’s manager may require an employee to submit a medical certificate for a period of absence of less than three (3) days. Any such certificate requested by the Hospital, shall be paid by the Hospital.
Requests for further medical documentation shall be reasonable
and take into consideration the nature of the illness or injury.
November 4, 2022
For member information
During previous round of bargaining, we gave noticed to the Employer that we will enforce specific language in the Collective Agreement on the following;
Overtime Calculation
Article 35.03 ……The overtime rate shall be one-and-one-half (1 1/2) times the regular straight time hourly rate of pay calculated to the nearest half-hour.
e.g. OT work of 25 minutes, our position is 25 minx 1.5(OT rate) = 37.5 min at straight time rate, then round to the half hour = 1 hour.
Vs.
Previous calculation: 25 minutes OT work will be paid 37.5 minutes straight time rate.
This method of calculation should apply to a full shift as well (e.g. 11.25 hr shift)
Article 37.08 Reporting Pay
We took the position this Article applies regardless of whether it is an extension of shift or not.
Union Dues on Nursing Retention Fund
OPSEU will not deduct dues off on the Nursing Retention Fund
Tentative Agreement
Please see below. Subjected to Ratification.
Tentative Agreement below had been ratified by the membership on June 30, 2022
Bill 124
OPSEU is proceeding with a Charter Challenge on Bill 124
We will have our first Court Day scheduled in September 2022
on
Pay Equity
April 4, 2022
For member information
The Employer sent a letter out on Thursday, March 31, 2022 providing an update regarding the Pay Equity process. In it they state that the parties were unable to resolve their issues and the Employer felt it was important to move forward and implement what they are calling an Interim Pay Equity Plan.
For some historical context, the parties have been engaging in Pay Equity Negotiations since 2011. This process has included many parts including but not limited to the data collection in 2013 with the submission of the Job Evaluation Questionnaires (JIQ) to the evaluation of those JIQ. The parties were able to meet and work through many issues up to November of 2020 when the process became stalled in some part due to the pandemic. The Union made multiple attempts to schedule further meetings with no success until January 2022. At this point, the Employer had engaged a Consultant who, despite the work the Committee had done, had some issues with the results.
Despite multiple meetings in January, February and March of 2022, the parties were not able to reach agreement on both the content of the plan and the retroactive date. This has brought us to today, where the Employer indicated they had created an Interim Pay Equity Plan. We are not in agreement with this Plan. We will make every reasonable effort to continue to work with the Employer to negotiate an agreed to Pay Equity Plan. If it remains unsuccessful, we will utilize every avenue that we have in order to bring a fair and correct result to the membership.
Should you have any questions regarding the Interim Pay Equity Plan, please direct your questions to the Employer.
We will continue to provide you updates on how things are progressing.
February 12, 2022
Local Election Result
Thank you to all our members who participated.
Your new Local Executive is as follows:
President – Jonathan Leung
Vice President - Brian Costello
Chief Steward - Gabriela Turnbull
Treasurer - Leanne Beaudry
Secretary – Michelle Bakracevski
Stewards:
Brian Costello
Denise Wagler-Allan
Gabriela Turnbull
Jackie Schumacher
Joanna Holley
Jonathan Leung
Leanne Beaudry
Mary Bloomfield
Michelle Bakracevski
Sarah Carde
Taryn McDiarmid
Trustees:
Scott Sarginson
Trenton Vey
January 20, 2022
LOCAL 331
Settlement Highlights
What the arbitrator decided:
TERM
April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022
WAGES
Effective April 1, 2020 - General Wage increase 1.0%
Effective April 1, 2021 – General Wage Increase 1.0%
PCF PREMIUMS
- increased to $2.10 / hour
Lead-hand/ in-charge PREMIUMS
– increased to $1.00/hour
Physician Assistant
Effective the date of the award, will be added to Psychometrist classification of the wage grid.
General issues and language:
- 25.02: New language on medical certificate and documentation
- New language (35.09) – choosing lines on the master schedule
- Language improvement in Article 41
Note regarding Retroactivity
Retroactivity shall be paid on wage increase within 4 full pay periods. Specific instruction for former employee.
Items agreed to prior to arbitration:
- New Letter of Understanding – related to a Whistleblowing policy
- Add clarification on the process for addressing Workload issue in Article 44
- 3.04 : Mandatory education will not be considered as work for the purpose of working a shift in the 4 month period.
- Language improvement in Article 27 - Vacation schedules and requests
We also put the Employer on notice to strict adherence to certain Articles.
Members are encouraged to read the Dissent by our Nominee in the Award
January 13, 2022
Recent changes
In response to the recent increase in the prevalence of COVID cases, the Employer had made many rapid changes in their protocols.
The Employer has determined to reduce the staffing level to the weekend numbers. Although we have significant staffing shortage, but it is not business as usual. If you are facing increased workload, discussed with your Manager to prioritize the tasks. While caring for the patients is our priority, we need to look after ourselves to prevent burnt out.
If you have concerns with workload, please email executive@opseu331.org or filled out a workload form or contact the Union Office @ Ext 6351.
If you have a Health and Safety concerns, please contact a worker member of JHSC or email JHSC@opseu331.org or contact the Union Office @ Ext. 6351
If there is an urgent Health and safety concern, please call/ text the H&S phone. (The number is on the Union Notice Board in your staff room)
Please ensure your Manager is aware of your concerns.
January 13, 2022
FAQs about WSIB claims and COVID-19
I think I contracted coronavirus (COVID-19) at work. Should I file a claim?
How will the WSIB determine if a COVID-19 claim will be allowed?
I had a reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine. Can I get WSIB benefits/file a claim?
December 24, 2020
Did you know…….
The Collective Agreement has a provision regarding the effect on sick benefit whenever a sick leave of absence commences in one calendar year and continues into the following calendar year?
Article 25.01 (c) where an employee is on sick leave of absence which commences in one (1) calendar year and continues into the following calendar year, they are not entitled to refresh their annual sick leave bank, until the employee has returned to work for a period of fifteen (15) consecutive working days. For clarity, such an employee is not entitled to sick leave of absence with pay for more than 130 working days in the 2 calendar years combined, unless the employee has returned to work for a period of fifteen (15) consecutive working days prior to being entitled to further sick leave.Click to edit text.
Directed to stay home
December 7, 2020
We have a different interpretation with the Employer on Article 18.06 (c). Please contact the Union Office if you are affected.
