Sisters and Brothers:
The first year in review of the office of the 4th Vice President. It has been a busy year for benefits with the Covid outbreak. We have been challenged with members requiring Special Leave for underlying. Even though the underlying medical was clearly stated by Public Health there were members who were denied the leave and it was a fight by the Local to get the benefits paid. Some members have had to grieve the issue and were placed on STDP by the Corporation.
Long Term disability was also increased over the past year, and mainly due to the pandemic for higher stress level at work. It has not been an easy year for some of our members. The officers are here everyday working on these leave issues and helping our members, we want you to know that we are available. Due to Public Health there are limits to the amount of members we can have at the hall, however all you need to do is book an appointment so that we know how many members will be at the hall on any particular day.
The Local has also had an increase in retirements since the signing of the Collective Agreement. To facilitate that we offer monthly pension courses so that our members can retire and be sure of their rights when they do. We also offer to help with pension packages and accommodate all of our members even if it means coming in on weekends. We are here to serve the membership.
Seniority issues were front and foremost on the top of the list, as our new members were hired and requested changes in their seniority under the collective agreement. This work is done daily to make sure that seniority is changed, and that staffing is aware of the changes so that members are not bypassed.
Acting APOC seniority is removed as soon as the status change forms are sent by the National Office. The seniority is removed and reset to the day they return to the bargaining unit as in our collective agreement.
As a Local we all have our duties to represent the members. It is important that grievances are filed, WSIB is appealed, and grievance hearings are scheduled, also that we attend all the Article 54 meetings in the Local which happen monthly. We also had the challenge of all virtual meetings scheduled by our Secretary Treasurer, which he organized smoothly so that we could continue our meetings with our membership. There is also consultations for staffing, annual leave, and monthly meetings to try to resolve issues on the floor and really the list is endless.
Our Local President is handling the day to day challenges of the pandemic, testing, and vaccination as well.
Stay Strong, Be Safe and know that we are always available if you need us.
In Solidarity
Jane Marsh
4th VP Toronto Local
CUPW
May 19, 2021
