Thursday, October 25, 2018
As members in the OPS are aware, when the new government took office it immediately reconfigured the number and composition of Ministries. In recent months, weeks and days, AMAPCEO has learned of downstream re-organizations taking place in a number of Ministries, with a very large one occurring late last week in Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC).
Article 12 of the OPS Collective Agreement states that the Employer must provide the Union a minimum of 14 days’ notice when anything affecting the workplace transpires. That includes activities such as re-organizations, relocations, changes in reporting structure, transfers of programs, and surplussing activity. However, as has been our experience when government transition occurs, the proverbial Employer (Treasury Board Secretariat) has a difficult time living up to its obligations, as new governments tend to move quickly in early days, unaware of their commitments as an Employer.
While re-organizations and, for that matter, most disclosures under Article 12 are routine and within the scope of management rights, AMAPCEO will be reiterating Employer obligations at our next AMAPCEO Central Employee Relations Committee (ACERC) meeting, so that rules are respected in advance of anything more serious being disclosed. Likewise, in the MOHLTC circumstance, AMAPCEO has asked for a special meeting of its AMAPCEO Ministry Employee Relations Committee (AMERC), so as to ascertain greater details on this and/or any future activity within the OPS’ largest Ministry.
Should any of our members, in any Ministry, have concerns with these types of restructuring actions occurring in their workplace—such issues should be directed to their AMERC. Our AMERCs consist of teams of veteran Workplace Representatives who regularly meet with Ministry-specific Strategic Business Unit management. A list of our teams and representatives can be found on our website, sorted by Ministry (log-in required). Lastly, though disclosure hasn’t always been prompt of late, in all instances we’ve received assurances that action is taking place solely to support the new government’s Ministry business models—and not for the purposes of involuntary job loss (surplussing). Rest assured, AMAPCEO will remain vigilant in defending all contract provisions and, in particular, our members’ job security as transition continues.