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“Pay equity is a simple matter of fairness for our members. And it’s fundamental principle of the trade union movement,” said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas.
Toronto (26 Aprl 2013) –The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) has filed an unfair labour practice complaint against the OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust).
OPTrust is an arms-length organization that administers the $13.7 billion pension plan on behalf of the union, the Government of Ontario and more than 80,000 OPSEU/NUPGE members and retirees.
OPTrust faces unfair labour practices complaint
OPSEU/NUPGE filed a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board on behalf of 145 unionized OPTrust employees who are members of the union.
The complaint was sparked by OPTrust’s demand that the union sign a letter agreeing that the pension administrator has met its obligations under the Pay Equity Act. The two sides are in the late stages of negotiations for a new collective agreement, and OPTrust has refused to sign a deal without a letter on pay equity.
“Pay equity is a simple matter of fairness for our members. And it’s fundamental principle of the trade union movement,” said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas.
OPTrust needs to live up to legal obligations
“The Act sets out a clear process for ensuring that both parties meet their legal obligations. Until we go through that process, we are not going to give any employer a free pass,” Thomas said. “On the other hand, we have a number of legal opinions showing clearly that this employer is violating our members’ rights by bargaining to impasse over this issue.”
There is a simple solution, Thomas added. “All OPTrust needs to do to solve this problem is agree to review pay equity through a separate process after a new collective agreement is ratified.”
OPTrust refuses to deal with pay equity separately
OPSEU/NUPGE and OPTrust have been in bargaining for more than six months.
Prior to the start of bargaining, OPSEU/NUPGE members at OPTrust voted unanimously to deal with pay equity separately, rather than putting the principle of equal pay at play in the trade-offs that happen in collective bargaining.
In February, the members of Local 568 voted 100 per cent in favour of strike action, if necessary, to achieve a fair contract.
“Since its launch in 1995, OPTrust has never completed any kind of pay equity review with the union,” said OPSEU Staff Negotiator, Bernard King.
“We are not claiming that there are major pay equity issues in this workplace. But we are also not prepared to give this employer a pass without going through a fair and transparent review process.”
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE