OPSEU Region 2

The Developmental Services Sector continues to be ignored by Minister John Milloy.  He will not return calls, emails nor set meeting dates.
The sector continues to be underfunded and the crisis continues.  With over 20000 people in Ontario waiting for services, what is he doing?
Nothing!!!!  

Lay-offs of full and part time staff is happening at Community Living London.  The type of service people receive are changing.

This is not right!!!

We are asking for your assistance.  On Friday January 20, 2012 at 1130am, we are picketing MPP Milloy’s Kitchener Constituency office.
We are not going to let him continue to hide.

Please see attached flyer and share and encourage your members to join us. 

FLYER: Click Here!!

In Solidarity
Debbie

Debbie Morphew
President
OPSEU Local 166
519-671-2121 (cell)
519-649-7737 (office)
debbiem144@sympatico.ca

Please see the attatched link for an NDP Social Event.

CLICK HERE

Gap between rich and poor growing by the hour

                        Derek Abma
                Edmonton Journal , Jan. 3, 2012

Another day, another dollar? For Canada’s top executives, it’s more like
another half-day, another $44,366.

That’s how much the average member of the 100 top-paid chief executives of
companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange’s composite index was
projected to earn by noon on Tuesday, the first working day of the year.
That’s according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alter-natives, which for
the fifth straight year has measured how long it takes for Canada’s richest
chief executives to make the average Canadian’s annual pay.

The think-tank based its report on data from 2010. Its previous re-port,
based on numbers from 2009, showed the average CEO among Canada’s top 100
making the aver-age person’s pay by 2: 30 p.m. on the year’s first working
day.

The latest report showed Canada’s top executives earned, on average, $8.4
million in 2010, including salary, bonuses, stock grants and options. That
was up 27 per cent from a year earlier. The average person, on the other
hand, is actually earning less than during the 2008-09 recession, if
inflation is taken into account, the centre said. The report says those
working minimum wage jobs on a full-time basis made an average of $19,798 in
2010.

Not only is the gap between the county’s elite money earners and regular
people big, but it’s getting bigger, the report said.

“The average of Canada’s CEO elite 100 make 189 times more than Canadians
earning the average wage,” the report’s author, economist Hugh Mackenzie,
said in a statement. “If you think that’s normal, it’s not. In 1998, the
highest paid 100 Canadian CEOs earned 105 times more than the average wage,
itself likely more than double the figure for a decade earlier.”

The centre said no comparable data are available for the 1980s. The report
says inequality between Canada’s richest and the rest has been growing since
the mid-1980s, reversing a trend since the 1930s.

Hello everyone;

My name is Michael Abraham. Some of you know me as an ESL Teacher or Librarian with
at the Peel School Board or met me through OPSEU and Local 283
activities.

I’m writing to tell you about a Fundraising event for our son Gabriel. He tripped,
fell downstairs and injured his spinal cord in June. In a minute he became a
quadriplegic. After five weeks at Sunnybrook Hospital he transferred to
Lyndhurst Rehab Hospital. Since then, he has made wonderful progress. While he
spends most of his day in a wheelchair, now he can stand up and take a few
tentative steps. He has a strong program inside and outside the hospital.

Recently he met Rick Hansen and participated in the Man in Motion 25th Anniversary Relay in Toronto. See it on
CityTV http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/videos/166254

This is him and his mother in the relay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YP6DYtUTHc&feature=related

The pictures included show Gabe with Rick Hanson and in the relay with us on Pape Avenue.

See him in rehab action in his YouTube video “Gabe on the Lokomat” Click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRFDaz5Csvs

He will leave the hospital in the new year and that’s when the big job begins. You
can be the village that supports and inspires him to live a more independent and
capable life. He will need equipment like a bed lift, medical supplies, a
hospital bed, an outdoor lift and renovations. His therapy will continue, but
not all of these things are funded.

The event is at Faema Cafe on Dupont at Christie Street in Toronto on Sunday November 27 from 5 to 8pm.  So click the link below to go to the event website to see more about Gabe, register to attend or to just make an online donation. Please RSVP on the site if you
plan to go – we need to know how many to feed! There’s no fee to
register.

http://gabesbackontrack.eventbrite.com/

Hope to see you there!

Thanks,

Michael Abraham & Brenda Parris

Rainbow Alliance and Fruits of Labour Sub-committee are still requiring some activists in some regions (2, 6, 7 and supports in other regions for PRIDEs). In your networks, do you have any LGBT reps activists, or friends and allies that may be interested in participating in various levels of activity, we will be talking about this at our upcoming meeting on November 16. We have requested in our terms of reference that members be activists in their locals, communities and/or regions.
 
In Solidarity
 
Philip Shearer V-P Rainbow Alliance

If you are aware or know of any women in distress or in danger, refer them to AWHL: Assaulted Women’s Helpline which is available 24/7 and is 100% anonymous – you don’t have to give your name or your abusers name. http://awhl.org/

Dear friends, family, colleagues:
 
It is the final week before election week, and the NDP momentum has reached new heights in Hamilton-Mountain. Monique Taylor has shown that she has massive support here, and we are glad to invite you to two events to thank you for that support. No candidate can do anything without people like you.
 
First, this coming Wednesday, September 28th, we are thrilled to receive the Leader’s tour at our office on 841 Upper Wentworth. Andrea Horwath and her team will be stopping in for a rally and speeches.
 
What: Leader’s tour at Monique Taylor’s office
When: Wednsday September 28th at 6pm
Where: Monique Taylor’s campaign office at 841 upper Wentworth
 
Second, this Saturday, October 1st, Monique invites all to the big campaign BBQ. This is an opportunity to re-group together, on the final canvassing weekend before Election Day. We look forward to chatting with all of our friends and family that have been so present and generous.
 
What: BBQ
When: Saturday, October 1st from 12-1pm
Where: Parking lot of Monique Taylor’s campaign office at 841 upper Wentworth
 
We could not have gotten this far without every single one of you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
 
Monique Taylor

Hi everyone, the final touches are being put on a CAAT(S) rally for Tuesday morning 8 AM – 10 AM at the Council’s offices, 20 Bay Street.  It is my understanding that the Region 5 Locals should have approx. 400 people, there will also be buses/vans from Niagara/Mohawk, Durham, St. Clair/Lambton/Conestoga, St. Lawrence/Loyalist, and Georgian college.   Brenda Wall is co-ordinating with other Labour leaders and organizations.
 
The reason why this date and location was chosen, is that the Committee of President’s are scheduled to meet on Monday and Tuesday at Council’s offices in the building.  I understand also that a number of other activities will be happening at some of the northern colleges as well as Fanshawe college.  Any help you can provide to the Locals trying to organize this would be much appreciated.
 
We hope to see you there.
 
In Solidarity
Rod

Brothers and Sisters, 

Regarding the audio conference from Lancaster House: Finding the “Right” Accommodation: Adjusting the work environment for disabled employees without causing the employer undue hardship Parts 1 & 2, are currently available at the Hamilton, Guelph, Niagara, and Owen Sound OPSEU Offices. 

YOU WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE YOUR FULL NAME AND CONTACT NUMBER (PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT OTHERS WOULD LIKE TO GET ACCESS TO THEM AS WELL) TO THE FOLLOWING:

GUELPH – GWEN MERRITT - gmaerritt@opseu.org

OWEN SOUND – WENDY WILLIAMS - wwilliams@opseu.org

NIAGARA – JOANNE KOPCZINSKI - jkopczinski@opseu.org

HAMILTON – SANDRA SOSTAR - ssostar@opseu.org

Thank you for your patience.

IS

Marco Costa, PHRC Region 2