PSSP Bargaining Unit Newsletter:

Volume 4, Issue 1: October 18, 2005

President’s Message

Welcome to the 2005-06 school year. I would like to introduce myself to the PSSP Bargaining Unit as well as introduce your executive. My name is Sandra Miller, Attendance Counsellor, and I am your Bargaining Unit President. Janet Donkevoort, Speech Pathologist, is Vice President and Grievance Officer. Craig Read, Attendance Counsellor, is Chief Negotiator. Please see the full list of Job Class Representatives to become acquainted with the “go to” person within your job class.

This will be an exciting year and I look forward to getting to know you and your groups. I would like to congratulate all new hires to the Thames Valley District School Board and remind Contract Staff to please feel free to contact us should you have any questions regarding your rights and responsibilities.

The PSSP Bargaining Unit will be entering into Negotiations with the Board this fall and ask that you, as members, support your Collective Bargaining Committee members as they try to improve on our current collective agreement. Please familiarize yourselves with your contracts and again do not hesitate to inquire on anything that is unclear to you. We are currently working with Pay Equity Maintenance and hope to get closer to resolution in the coming months.

The District is in the process of printing cards for each member that will provide pertinent, at your fingertips information. As well, within PSSP we are striving toward improved communication with this diverse group and are supporting our Job Class Reps. with forms to help keep you updated. Did you know we have ten different job classes in this group and isolation of members remains a concern that we continue to address?

Please remember the Bishop Townsend Award and Award of Distinction and submit nominations of your colleagues for these very worthwhile awards. Your Job Class Reps. will inform you of nomination deadlines.

Remember to know your rights under Health and Safety. Also, there are a number of OSSTF District 11 and Provincial committees that need PSSP involvement. I strongly encourage you to participate in an area of interest as the more we have members participate, the stronger your union will be. Please contact me or anyone on the Executive for more information.

In signing off, I wish everyone a happy, successful year.

Collective Bargaining Committee (CBC)

By R. Craig Read, PSSP Chief Negotiator

The CBC met on Sept. 22/05 at our District Office with Nancianne Speare, our provincial liaison from Mobile Dr. in Toronto. After three hours, we had completed our initial task of reviewing our Brief. We have some minor wording to re-work prior to entering negotiations with the Board. Once formal negotiations begin, the information I can bring to the general membership will be limited to meeting dates and a general sense of progress (or lack thereof) being made. I will attempt to add something to each newsletter to keep members informed. Members of the CBC Table Team include Rob Guthrie, Audrey Cooley, Cindy Woo, Val Hopkins, Sandra Miller (PSSP Pres), Nancy McDougall (Federation Services Officer), Craig Read (Chief Negotiator) and Nancianne Speare (PSSP Liaison-Provincial Office).

Know Your Contract

By R. Craig Read, PSSP Chief Negotiator

I would like to begin a series of articles to assist members in better understanding their Collective Agreement. In each newsletter I will highlight at least one article from our Contract. The Board and the Union, by signing the Collective Agreement have agreed to all Articles of the Contract, and all Articles remain in force while a new Agreement is being negotiated.

Article 1.04
The Employer further recognizes the right of O.S.S.T.F. to represent a member at the member’s request at any meeting when the conduct or competence of the member is being considered. The Employer or worksite administrator shall notify the member of his/her right to Union representation.

I wanted to highlight one of the most basic rights that all members have - the right to have a Union rep. with you whenever you meet with your Coordinator/Supervisor, Learning Supervisor, Learning Coordinator or Superintendent (you get the picture) where your conduct (how you act at work) or competence (how capable you are at your job) are to be discussed. Not only are you entitled to representation, the Employer agrees that they shall notify each member, before each such meeting, of that entitlement.

You may bring the rep. of your choice. In most cases it will be your job class rep., the Grievance Officer, the President or our assigned Federation Services Officer, but you are not limited to these individuals. The role of that representative is to provide the member with support, take accurate notes of the meeting and act as spokesperson for the member if the member wishes. If the member’s conduct or competence is being questioned or scrutinized, it is completely reasonable to simply record the information provided by the Board and ask to be given adequate time to respond at a later date to the information.

You may want a rep. with you when you are called in to discuss how you handled a specific situation, when you are involved in a Performance Appraisal or when a complaint has been made by any stakeholder about your work or a decision you’ve made.

If you have questions about this or any Article of the Contract, please contact Nancy McDougall (FSO) at the District Office (659-6588), or Craig Read (Chief Negotiator) by leaving a message at the District Office.

(See also "Your Right to Representation" in the February 2005 issue of Education Matters Online.)

The Full Service School: An All Inclusive Model

OSSTF will promote the Full Service School Model both within OSSTF and within the broader educational community and will continue to lobby the government regarding the importance of all educational workers being necessary to a successful education for all students. Posters, flyers and brochures will be created and distributed to schools to promote OSSTF’s belief that the school is the most appropriate and natural place for the provision of integrated services for all students. It is also the most cost efficient place to provide professional services for students at risk.

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Let us not take thought for our separate interests, but let us help one another.
(OSSTF Motto)

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