OPSEU Local 560

In this issue....
 The Tilly Package
 Welcome-to-Seneca Dinner
 SuperBuild Safety
Union Membership
 The Back Page
 The Tory Record
 Leadership Changes at Seneca

When Dr. Tilly announced last year that he was receiving a sabbatical leave, we were curious because his e-mail announcement seemed clearly to indicate that he would not be returning. The Union Local asked Seneca’s Freedom of Information Officer what the college policies were regarding sabbaticals for administrative employees. We were informed that college administrators’ sabbaticals were governed by the same conditions as academic employees.

Our Collective Agreement spells out in Article 20.02 (iv) that "the employee, upon termination of the professional development leave, will return to the College granting the leave for a period of at least one year, failing which the employee shall repay the College all salaries and fringe benefits received by the employee while on professional development leave."

When we asked specifically about this provision, we were advised that Dr. Tilly would be returning to the College after his leave.

Dr. Tilly’s "retirement announcement" is troubling, therefore, in several respects.

Professional development leaves for teachers, counsellors and librarians are precious, and the resources devoted to them are scarce. Our Collective Agreement mandates a minimum number of P.D. (sabbatical) leaves. Last year, 45 faculty applied for leaves and 31 of them were denied. Only 14 faculty received the equivalent, in total, of 10.3 year-long leaves.

Sabbatical leaves are there to, "enhance the ability of the employee upon return to the College to fulfil professional responsibilities." (Article 20.01)

If the College wanted to favour Dr. Tilly with a sweet departure package, or even pay his way while he set up his next career, this should have been done in a forthright and open manner. The Seneca community is entitled to a truthful representation. We’re familiar with the custom of managerial perquisites, and — like them or not — we insist that they be open and transparent.

We endorse the extension of sabbatical leaves for administrative and support employees. Further, we believe the budget for academic professional development leaves should be expanded significantly to allow more than the contract minimum number of faculty to take PD leaves. It’s a sound investment for the College, provided the employees return.

The Vice-President of the College should be treated no differently than the faculty member or support staff member who gets a sabbatical. I’ll resist the temptation to suggest that anyone taking a sabbatical henceforth should be allowed to exit without returning, just as Dr. Tilly has done. Such a practice is contrary to the interests of the College and our students. We understand Dr. Tilly has his reasons to move on. However, while we can wish Dr. Tilly well on his next endeavours, we regret this serious stain his departure leaves. We had hoped that sort of thing was all behind us.

With SuperBuild construction underway at Seneca College, students and employees are experiencing varying degrees of inconvenience and discomfort. While this situation calls for flexibility on our parts, it should never be at the expense of our health and safety.

During periods of construction, despite precautions, many unhealthy conditions may arise. For instance, you may be exposed to high levels of particulates in the air, extremes of temperature, elevated levels of carbon dioxide, or noxious fumes emanating from building materials or from the construction process. As well, customary fire exits may be temporarily blocked, or the functioning of fire alarms may be impeded. Because of office reconstruction, you may find the office space provided no longer meets the minimum square footage stipulated by the Ontario Health and Safety Act.

Over the past weeks, union stewards have been contacted by faculty reporting symptoms such as headaches and allergic reactions and expressing concerns that these symptoms might be related to construction activities. For those affected by the campus construction, here are some steps you can take to ensure the maintenance of proper standards.

Report your concerns. Because the Ontario Health and Safety Act covers employees but not students at the college, your report must be based on a concern for the health and safety of employees. Officially, your report – in the form of a conversation, telephone call, e-mail or memo – should go to your immediate supervisor who is then supposed to investigate the problem within a reasonable period of time. However, in a situation calling for rapid response, or when your supervisor is not available, you can call Seneca’s health and safety office directly (416 491-5050, Extension 2669). The College employs a qualified technician who can conduct tests and recommend solutions. Each time you report a concern, be sure to inform your Local 560 Health and Safety Committee reps as well; widespread reporting allows the local to evaluate the overall situation, as well as ensure that your particular concern is addressed.

You can request that the College conduct specific tests to assess conditions of concern to you. Be sure to schedule the testing to coincide with the period of greatest discomfort/danger. Carbon dioxide levels, for instance, will be higher in a crowded space than in an empty one.

If colleagues in your area are reporting inhabitual symptoms, you may wish to circulate a petition announcing your belief that conditions in the College are making you ill and requesting investigation and action. The road to better conditions is basically complaint driven. If you say nothing, conditions will probably remain static. It’s also worth asking what steps the College is already routinely taking to assess and eliminate dangers to employees.

Air quality has been a major concern of the faculty we’ve spoken to. Small changes such as more frequent or more careful vacuuming or increased fresh air circulation in the air conditioning system may be all that’s required to produce great improvements during the construction period.

Please keep your union Health and Safety representatives informed of your concerns:

Central Committee:

Malcolm Archer (Co-Chair) 491-5050, Ext. 4374
Richard Duffy 491-5050, Ext. 4757
Dan Janjic 491-5050, Ext. 2404
Muriel McKenna 491-5050, Ext. 2026
Josef Stavroff  491-5050, Ext. 2208

Don Mills:
Ron Tarr (Co-Chair)  491-5050, Ext. 3707

Eglinton:
Marilyn Kisluk  510-3002

Jane:
Malcolm Archer  491-5050, Ext. 4374

King: Garriock Hall
Mark Rohlehr (Co-Chair) 491-5050, Ext. 5027
Ruthanna Dyer 491-5050, Ext. 5227

Newhnam:
Margo Godier 491-5050, Ext. 6332

Dan Janjic 491-5050, Ext. 2402
Muriel McKenna (Co-Chair) 491-5050, Ext. 2026
Peter Miller  491-5050, Ext. 6174

Seneca @ York:
Marion Kist 491-5050, Ext. 3244

Fifty faculty members and stewards gathered on February 6 at Seneca’s Flint and Feather for a "Welcome-to-Seneca Dinner." OPSEU Local 560 hosted this event to welcome Seneca faculty hired since January 2001 and introduce them to their union.

Seneca’s president, Rick Miner, spoke briefly, expressing his pleasure at meeting faculty from so many programs and his belief that a good working relation between the union locals and college management was crucial to Seneca’s continued development and success.

Support Staff president, Janice Hagan, spoke of the excellent relations between the two union locals and encouraged faculty to observe their working situations closely and communicate any concerns to their stewards and executive officers.

Likewise, Local 560 president, Ted Montgomery, stressed the important role of local members in determining the direction that their executive takes. He noted, for example, that the package of demands that the union bargaining team takes to the contract negotiations table originates with the demands passed by members at each of the College unions’ local demand-setting meetings.

Montgomery outlined the various functions of OPSEU at the local and provincial levels, explaining, for instance, how our local dues payments provide us with funds to considerably supplement basic strike pay and to seek legal counsel in members’ grievances. He illustrated the central role of the union in protecting faculty rights by referring to the reinstatement (with full back pay and benefits) of Vice President Larry Olivo after unjust termination, the redressing of an incorrect salary calculation (resulting in a payment of over $6,000), and a workload arbitration that provided Office Administration professors with an equitable amount of professional development time. He noted that the union also seeks to influence College policy and practices through initiatives like the College-wide Employee Attitude Survey undertaken in 1998-99 by the faculty and support-staff locals.

Another function of the union noted by Montgomery is to advance social issues and education issues in particular. He spoke, for example, of our links with the secondary school board unions (OSSTF, OECTA and OTF) and of an upcoming meeting with the president of the Metro Labour Council and the director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).

Montgomery encouraged new faculty to become involved in union activities so that their interests will be reflected in negotiation demands and union policies.

Full-time and partial-load professors, counsellors, and librarians are eligible to join OPSEU Local 560.
Call the union office (416 495-1599) or ask a steward for an application form.

Brought to you since 1995 by the Common Sense Revolution of the Mike Harris Tories:

• The minimum wage of $6.85/hour has never risen.
• People working full time at the minimum wage are living below the poverty line. Their real income has dropped by over 20% since 1995.
• Rent controls have been removed.
• Each day, over 150 families in Ontario lose their homes because they cannot afford to pay rent.
• The cost to get an education has more than doubled.
• Over 50% of tax cuts have gone to the top 18% of income earners.
• Business tax cuts have been $2.6 billion a year.
• Welfare has been cut by 21.6%.
• Before 1995, polluters paid $3.6 million a year in fines. In 1998, they paid less than $1 million.
• Provincial meat inspectors have been reduced from 150 to 8.
• Fresh produce inspectors have been eliminated completely.
• Water testing has been privatized, and not just in Walkerton.

• Students in Bluewater Ontario sell chocolate bars to raise money for operating costs, including teacher salaries. Yet private schools get a $300 million tax credit.
• The Kairos housing project in Peterborough was cancelled even though Peterborough tops Ontario’s list for residents at risk of homelessness.
• More miners in Marathon are making health claims for lung disease due to silica dust because the Ministry of Labour no longer tests to detect early signs.
• Kimberly Rogers of Sudbury, with her unborn baby, died of heat stroke, while under house arrest for violating the law prohibiting getting welfare at the same time as receiving a student loan.
• Don from Hearst is diagnosed with cancer and immediately referred for treatment in Thunder Bay for 4 weeks. His northern allowance does not cover the cost of meals while in care – he cannot afford to access the treatment.
• Theresa, a breast-cancer survivor in Scarborough, gets tested 3 times less frequently than her doctor recommends because she is disabled and cannot afford the additional test fee of $15 for someone to come to her home.
• Taxpayers in Hamilton had to fork out for the replacement of the electrical system for their water treatment plant when the private company it had been sold to failed to invest in the maintenance which it had contracted to do.