Those Who Were There Tell The Truth.

Having studied the following letter closely, I felt it was too important and compelling not to post it verbatim.  It needs no further comment.  Be sure to read all the way to the last paragraph.

Solidarity.

_________________________

Hello Smokey, we the undersigned felt that it was important that we not sit by and watch the membership be ill informed about what happened during the wage freeze discussions with the Ontario Government.  We have decided to send you a message to set the record straight.   You can share this accounting of the facts as we witnessed them with the membership if you wish.

People have been providing information that is unsupported and unsubstantiated.  As a matter of fact, it is quite disconcerting how people, who were not even present, are trying to convince the membership of what happened during these meetings with distorted information.   We were present.  As leaders of the different sectors we were asked to be present at each and every one of those meetings representing our respective membership.  There were several other people in attendance at those meetings.  The majority of them were staff and of course OPSEU’s lawyer David Wright.  Board member Gino Franche was also present. Board member Claire Rowatt joined us at one of the meetings.  Each and every one of us heard how you were crystal clear with the government representative about where the union stood; forcefully you told them that if the talks were to continue, they would only do so if the government stated their intentions in a clear and transparent manner. 

This all commenced August 9^th, 2010.  The first meeting was just a set up meeting.  So we thought.   Actually the govt. had the intention that we would be staying there for a week until we hammered out a deal, even if we had to work night and day at it.  They even provided us with a schedule as to how they planned to wrap up these discussions with each and every union and the timelines they had established for themselves.  You advised them,   again in no uncertain terms, that that was not going to happen.

During those frustrating discussions, we heard you advise the govt. rep. that the group that was present was there only to listen to what they had to say, they were not there to make any deals on behalf of the entire union.  The group present was simply the conduit between the parties. You kept hammering at the govt. rep. asking why their decision makers were not present and why they sent a functionary.

At those meetings, there were about 40 to 50 people present, composed of 13 from OPSEU, representatives from various management groups and only 3 govt. reps.  After that first meeting we as the Division leaders requested an all "executive" meeting.  It was at that meeting that the Division leadership made a recommendation to the Board to have an All Presidents meeting. The Board at that time approved the September 13 meeting that would include the Sector/Division leadership and Equity Groups.

 It was further decided that a conference call with the OPSEU board was in order to go over what went on and what the next steps should be.  It was confirmed that a meeting of the local presidents would keep them informed and that they would give input as to what direction should be taken.

On Sept. 13, 2010, OPSEU called a local president’s meeting.  We won’t re-iterate what went on that day, over 600 people attended.  In the end, all the various members, with the exception of the corrections group, agreed that we should carry on and consult with the government to see what they had to offer.

September 30, 2010 was the date of the so called consultation meeting.  It was obvious, at that time, that the McGuinty Government did not have anything substantive to discuss or continue to consult on.  The rest is history. 

After being present at all those meetings Gino Franche made the comment that ” Smokey was a much better man than him in getting the government to say that they did not have more for OPSEU.”

It is mind boggling how people could think, that you, as the elected leader of this large union, having as every other member only one vote, could usurp the course of these meetings.   It is important for the membership to know that this was a multi step process and it took the time that was needed to attain approval for the second and last meeting with the government.

People have a right to make statements, but they must be able to back them up with facts rather than distort and misrepresent those facts!

In Solidarity

Jamie Ramage, Chair BPS All Chairs Committee

Roxanne Barnes, CERC Chair OPS

Benoit Dupuis, CAAT Academic DIVEX Chair

Betty Cree, CAAT Support DIVEX Vice-Chair