August 26, 2007
TO: ALL LOCAL PRESIDENTS and L.E.C. MEMBERS IN REGION
FOUR
Re: REGION FOUR WEEKEND EDUCATIONAL - October 27 and 28,
2007
Delta Ottawa Hotel, Ottawa, Ontario
The courses being offered are:
1. New Stewards - Part Two
2. Advanced Grievance Handling
3. Contract Interpretation
4. Employee Benefits
5. WSIB - Level One
6. WSIB - Level Two
Applications must be approved by one of your Local
Officers (ie. President, Vice-President, Secretary,
Treasurer or Chief Steward), and must be received in
the Ottawa Regional Office no later than FRIDAY, September
21, 2007. There will be no extension of this
deadline and no applications will be accepted by telephone.
Students will be selected by the Regional Vice-President and
Board Members.
Local Presidents should be aware that, according to Board
Policy, the Local is responsible for each member who attends
such a course. When an applicant does not attend and the Regional
Office has not been so advised 48 hours prior to the commencement
of the educational, the Local will be assessed a $50 penalty,
to be deducted from the next Local rebate. Extenuating circumstances
will be taken into consideration.
Bedroom accommodation requests should be submitted directly
to the Hotel. A reservation sheet is enclosed. All billings
must be paid upon checkout and you will be reimbursed on submission
of your expense claim. Members who live within 60 km. of the
Hotel are entitled to accommodation for Saturday night
only. Expenses for family and dependent care will be paid
or provided in accordance with OPSEU's Policy. (Please see
the attached Expense Guidelines.)
The Policy regarding payment of wages at the Educational
was changed at the Annual Convention held in April 1999. Please
see the attached information regarding this matter.
Please distribute the enclosed forms to interested members
in your Local. If you have any questions, please direct them
to Carol Woolford in the Ottawa Regional Office at: 1-800-268-7376.
ON BEHALF OF REGION FOUR'S EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS AND
STAFF:
Carol Woolford, Regional Secretary, Ottawa
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COURSE OUTLINES
OPSEU Region Four Educational October 27 & 28, 2007
The Delta Ottawa Hotel, Ottawa
|
| New
Stewards - Part Two |
Prerequisite: Part OneThis course aims to
strengthen the new steward's skills to act effectively
as part of the local leadership team. It focuses on writing
and filing a grievance and understanding the grievance
procedure, facing management and mobilizing members around
specific issues. |
| Advanced
Grievance Handling |
Members will build on skills and confidence
to effectively represent fellow members. The focus will
be on collecting information; effective investigations.
They will develop technical skills in preparing and presenting
effective arguments. |
| Contract
Interpretation |
The primary purpose of this course is to
help members develop greater competence in the daily application
of their Collective Agreement. The course should also
help members to understand the common methods of interpreting
the contract.
This course is designed for general use in any class,
whether the participants are from the Ontario Public Service,
Community Colleges or the Broader Public Service. |
| Employee
Benefits |
This course is designed to provide members
with an understanding of benefit entitlements. Our benefit
plans are increasingly at risk. How can we fight the Employer's
attempts to take away from this important part of our
financial package? What can we do collectively to protect
the gains we have made? This course will provide you with
the information you need to enhance and protect your benefits. |
| Workplace
Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) - Level One |
The first level is designed to provide an
overview of the Workplace Safety and Insurance system.
Participants will review the statutory obligations of
both workers and employers mandated by the Workplace Safety
and Insurance Act. The course content includes other basic
knowledge of the Workplace Safety and Insurance system. |
| Workplace
Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) - Level Two |
The second level is designed to provide
participants with the knowledge of the benefits and service
available. This level is designed to build on the knowledge
attained in Level One. Benefits and services will be detailed,
including changes as a result of legislation. |
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EXPENSE GUIDELINES
OPSEU REGION FOUR EDUCATIONAL
OTTAWA - OCTOBER 27-28, 2007
|
The following Expenses will be covered by
OPSEU Head Office. Claim forms will be provided at the Educational.
Travelling:
To and from the meeting by the MOST ECONOMICAL MEANS available.
Mileage Rate: 40¢ per km.
Accommodation is at the Delta Ottawa Hotel
Accommodation is reimbursed on the basis of twin occupancy.
If you request single or double accommodation, you are responsible
for the additional cost.
Room Rates for the weekend: Single $ 139.00 + taxes
Double $ 139.00 + taxes
Shared (with Member) $ 69.50 + taxes (per person)
Parking: Parking is NOT included in the price of your
hotel room.
Lost Wages:
Lost wages can be claimed for attendance at a weekend educational
in accordance with the policy only if the request
for time off or, at the very least, an intention to claim
for time off is submitted at the time that the registration
for the educational is submitted.
Meal Claim Allowance:
Breakfast: $11.00
Lunch: $15.00
Dinner: $24.00
Family and Attendant Care:
Members who choose homecare providers can submit a claim for
childcare at the rate of $5.00 per hour to a maximum of 12
hours. Overnight fee is $40.00 to a maximum of $100.00 per
24-hour period, as per Board Policy.
Wage Claims for Educationals
A resolution was passed at Convention 1999 to reinstate a
member's ability to claim for lost wages to attend Educationals.
The thinking at the time was that is wasn't fair for members
who work weekends to have to take vacation days or comp days
to attend an educational when members who don't work weekends
didn't have a problem attending on their regularly scheduled
time off. On the other hand, there were some who felt it wasn't
fair for those who work weekends to be paid to attend an educational
and still get their time off during the week. Clearly there
were two sides to the issue, but the delegates decided to
pay time off for members who work shifts.
At the next meeting of the officers, they decided that the
intent of the motion will have been honoured if a region dedicates
10% of its education budget for lost wages. The officers left
it up to each region to establish their own rules about how
to pay lost wage claims. In Region Four we place a lot of
importance on educating our members. We will do our best to
compensate those who need time off while remaining within
budget.
The Education Committee has decided that it will dedicate
$10,000 to pay lost wages this year. As two Regional Educationals
are being planned, each will have $5,000 allotted to pay for
lost wages. The money will be distributed among all
wage claimers - pro-rated up to 100% of actual wages for each
educational. For example, this means that if $6,000
in lost wages is claimed for the Spring Educational, each
of the wage claimers will get 83.3% of their claim. Hopefully
the local would see fit to top up the difference.
This formula was used for previous educationals and has worked
reasonably well. However, the following issues need to be
addressed.
1. The request for time off or, at the very least,
an intention to claim for time off must be submitted at
the time that the registration for the educational is
submitted.
One time a number of wage claims came in after an educational,
when the members submitted their expense claims. The members
explained they did not know when they submitted their registration
forms whether or not they would be scheduled to work. If the
work schedule isn't made up yet and your members know they
wish to attend the weekend educational being held, then they
should ask their employer not to be scheduled for work that
weekend. Furthermore, late wage claims make it impossible
for the staff coordinating the educational to let others know
in advance how much their claim is actually worth.
2. Proof of time off in the form of a letter from the
employer must accompany the claim - lost wages will only
be paid for prescheduled shifts on Saturday and Sunday (at
straight time).
Time off will not be paid for travel time on Friday and time
off will not be paid for anything other than straight time.
The letter from the employer must give full details of the
basis for the claim.
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