No. 6All the News for OPSEU Local 420Monday13 Mar 2006

The Bottom Line

No. 6All the news for OPSEU Local 420Monday13 Mar 2006

OPSEU Arranged to Keep Your Benefits Intact

By Harry Plummer, Chief Steward OPSEU Local 420

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The Bottom Line

No. 6All the news for OPSEU Local 420Monday13 Mar 2006

At 1:30 Friday Bernie Belanger tried to deliver to John Rigsby a cheque for almost $48,000. The cheque was from OPSEU head office to cover our benefits. A major condition of continuing the benefits was the delivery of one month’s premium no later than March 10. But John was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t answering his cell phone or his college phone and neither was his secretary. That put Bernie in an awkward position; he had to deliver that cheque that day or risk losing the benefit continuation for our members. Bernie tried Maureen Piercy – same result; Joe Hotts – same result; Karen

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Benefits for Strikers Intact

Cullen – same result. No responsible senior administrator could be found! In desperation Bernie called Mike Meehan, a member of the Support Staff Local and Mike agreed to carry the cheque into the college and deliver it to John Rigsby.

In a later phone call John confirmed that he had received the cheque.

Now that the money has changed hands we can confirm the arrangements. OPSEU is paying the premiums to the college so you get to keep your extended health, hearing,vision, dental and basic life insurance. Other arrangements will ensure the continuation of your supplementary life, optional life, dependent life, and long-term disability coverage. These benefits will be paid for by charging them against the deposit funds held in trust by the insurance company. Effectively we are paying for them ourselves but with savings that have, over the years, accumulated in the policies. There are no funds available to pay the premiums on the Critical Illness Insurance. Consequently, although arrangements have been made to continue that insurance, anyone who has it (and there are very few) will have to pay back the missed premiums when the strike is over.

Now that these arrangements have been finalized and the cheque delivered we can guarantee you there will be no change to the coverage you had before the strike. And there is no change in the way you would go about claiming reimbursement from Sun Life.

If you have questions about your insurance coverage, feel free to contact Harry Plummer ().

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Benefits for Strikers Intact

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The Strike and Your Pension

How the strike will or will not affect your pension

By Harry Plummer, Chief Steward OPSEU Local 420

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The Strike and Your Pension

Are you worried that being on strike will lose you some part of your eventual pension?

Well, you can stop worrying; it needn’t.

The pension you will eventually receive will be based on how long you worked (called service time) and how much income you had in the last 60 months before you retire.

Service time is counted in months and months are defined in the pension plan as any calendar month during which you worked one or more days. This strike did not begin until 7 March, consequently the month of March will count as a month of service. As long as the strike is ended before April 30, the month of April will also count.

Earnings will only be a factor to those who expect to retire within the next five years. Fortunately, the pension plan provides the option of paying into the plan to restore the pension. By paying whatever additional contribution would have been made by you and by your employer your recorded earnings will be deemed to be what you would have earned had there been no strike. If you have no plan to retire within the next five years you may choose not to make this additional contribution and your pension will almost certainly never be affected.

If you have questions, contact Harry Plummer ().

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The Strike and Your Pension

WE’RE ON THE WEB!!

We’re making our newsletters available as .PDF files for the World to read as fast as we can! Missed a copy due to the rain? Not on the strike line some day? Want to see our promotional leaflets (available as .PDFs soon)? Log-on to the Web, go to , and follow the links. Hope this helps!

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History of the Strike Fund

History of the Strike Fund

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History of the Strike Fund

As you know, the Local has accumulated $140,000 in a specially designated fund to provide each of us with supplementary strike pay. That amount is sufficient to provide every member with an extra $275.00 each week for up to three weeks. Hopefully the strike will not last that long.

Having a strike fund is a great comfort. In 1984 we had no such fund. When we returned to work the membership considered raising local dues to incorporate a defined contribution to a strike fund. The proposal was rejected.

When we had to strike again in 1989 we still had no strike fund. Again the membership debated a dues assessment earmarked for a strike fund. Again the members voted against.

How then did we manage to amass the current fund in the 16½ years since the last strike?

The major portion of this money is a byproduct of the esteem one member of our Local Executive is held in by fellow unionists across the province.

Harry Plummer, who has served this Local as President for 16 years and Chief Steward for the last six, has been chosen on several occasions to represent CAAT Academic employees on provincial committees. Harry has been on six negotiating teams, has served on three joint union/management committees and on two internal OPSEU committees. This service generated significant savings for this Local.

Ordinarily the Local pays Loyalist College for time release for 22 contact hours a week for Local Executive officers. This release can cost as much as $32,000 a year at current wage levels. Whenever Harry was involved in negotiations he was granted leave of absence at no cost to the union. Consequently the Local did not have to pay for Harry’s release time. When he was not on leave, the Local was paid on a daily basis for the time Harry was engaged in committee work.

The rest of the fund is the result of decisions by our President, Bernie Belanger to forego up to half of his allotted release time every year since he was first elected President.

The current fund is going to be substantially reduced, perhaps emptied, by this strike. After Harry retires this Fall it is unlikely that anyone from our Local will enjoy the level of Provincial involvement Harry has had and so there will not be any large surplus to feed the fund. The only way our strike fund can be restored is through a Local Dues Assessment specifically earmarked for the fund. It is time revisit the issue!

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History of the Strike Fund

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Caption Contest

CAPTION CONTEST

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Fun and Games

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF INTERNATIONAL CUISINE

Match the cuisine with the locale

1.Crepes suzetteIndia

2.BobotieUnited states

3.Peach cobblerItaly

4.TempuraThailand

5.MoussakaScotland

6.Nam plaSpain

7.ShrikhaindJapan

8.Panna cottaFrance

9.RumbledethumpsMorocco

10.YabbySouth Africa

11.Tarte flambeeRussia

12.Arroz con polloAlsace

13.KulebyakaAustralia

14.Cheesw foundueSwitzerland

15.HariraEngland

16.Fat rascalGreece

LABOUR PAINS

Courtesy Carol Simpson Productions © 2004. Reprinted with permission of the artists. Visit their website for more workplace cartoons,

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Keeping in Touch

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Local 420 President Bernie Belanger is available to speak to, or visit with, all members of the media and general public, daily during weekdays, 8:30 am – 9:30 am, at Local 420 Head Office. At other times of the day, join him as he walks the line, or phone him at the number listed below. When you need the facts, go to the source!

Local 420 Address

205 North Front, Suite 1; E-mail: union @ opseu420.org; Fax: (613) 966-7933

Answers to Today’s Cuisine Trivia Column

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A Special Thank You

Thank You, Harry!!

It is fitting that we take the time to recognize Harry Plummer. The benefits we have during this strike have come from his selflessness and foresight, borne of the hardship faced by faculty during previous strikes. Behind the scenes, and out of sight of most, Harry continues to serve as an advisor and mentor. We’re richer for his presence. Cheers, Harry, and Thank You!! – OPSEU Local 420 Strike Committee

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