Of beliefs, jobs, unions, OPSEU, rants, and Kathleen Wynne

Let me tell you a little bit about myself; I'm a law clerk for the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in the province of Ontario.

Contrary to public misconception I don't actually make a lot of money; in fact I make 20 to 40k LESS than my counterparts in the private sector. It's true I don't work the long hours that many private sector clerks work, but that's neither by choice nor due to lack of work. I've been told by the employer I'm not allowed to work overtime unless it’s considered urgent or critical.

In the private sector I would have worked for one to five lawyers max, and I would have had my own office. In the government I work for EIGHTEEN lawyers and I have a cubicle. Yes I get a benefits package; guess what? So do most private sector firms. Okay, I have a pension plan, but so do a lot of the bigger private sector places these days.

Many people think government workers have it easy. Again I remind you that one clerk works for eighteen lawyers; plus I do a lot of things not in my job description.

I'm good with computers so I'm the go-to-girl when things go screwy since IT is so busy and understaffed. Otherwise it would take days to get a response and get things fixed. I'm also the one worrying about how our records are kept, how our documents are gathered and preserved. Oh, and I sit on the joint health and safety committee so when there's an issue I have to investigate and make sure it's resolved. And I also co-chair the ministry health and wellness committee.

Did I mention that I'm a union steward and am responsible for assisting all the OPSEU members in my local with issues big and small; from the need to vent about their boss to filing a grievance and arguing it on their behalf?  But none of that gets done on tax payer time; it's done on my breaks and days off and after work. I don't get paid to do it; I do it because I genuinely believe that both what I do for a living and what I do for my union matters and makes a difference. I do it to help people.

I come from a family of civil servants, and by family I mean extended family. My father worked for Hydro, my mum was a grade school teacher; one brother works for a municipal government while another works for the LCBO. I have cousins serving in the armed forces, others working for the federal government, others who teach, an aunt who worked for Canada Post. Like I said, there are a lot of public servants in my family tree.

I BELIEVE in helping people; in working for my province and helping to make it a better place for all Ontarians to live. I BELIEVE in the work my ministry does; rebuilding relationships with First Nations, honouring the treaties made by the founders of our province and country and making right the wrongs our forefathers did to the indigenous peoples of this country.

But I'm not sure I believe that our provincial government and our leader - my former minister and the woman I voted for - believes in the work we do. Not anymore.

She says the cupboards are bare; that it's a ‘Net Zero’ increase is because they have no money to spend on their employees. And yet the government overpaid eight billion dollars in private contracts according to the Auditor General. The Wynne government has, in the last three weeks alone, given away one hundred and thirty eight million dollars in grants - free money - to private businesses.

The Ontario government cost of living adjustment, when it’s not 0%, is well below the rest of Canada and the private sector - but let's not quibble about that. According to the new Stats Canada definition of middle class, my gross annual salary is considered a poverty wage, but again - let’s not get into that. The very fact that, at 45 years old, the only reason I have any money saved at all for retirement is due to the mandatory pension plan and the fact that I got very lucky and won a contest that let me put a little away - but that’s neither here nor there.

Let’s talk about what Premier Wynne’s Net Zero wage increase really means.

If Net Zero  truly meant what it sounds like, I might be - well not okay with it but - more understanding of what my government was doing to my contract. But that's not what it means at all. It's just a catchy little ear worm meant to placate the media and deceive the public as to the true meaning of cuts the province is trying to force on us.

Net Zero means starting anyone newly hired by the government – or anyone moving into a new position – at 8% less salary than other people who started in the job even six months ago.

It means that it would take twelve years, instead of the current six, to earn their top salary. Well, actually, it means that it would take people sixteen years to get to their top salary since the employer also wants to freeze any wage or merit increase for another four years.

Net Zero means attacking and taking away our termination pay; basically letting an employee go with nothing, not even a thank you for time served.

Net Zero means cutting our long term disability as well as making us continue to pay into pension, supplementing any WSIB award, and taking a hit in how much we would be getting – 70% salary down to 66%.

Net Zero means that if you get hurt at work, the government is going to hurt your pocketbook; they want to deny us the right to use our vacation days and credits to top up our salary.

Net Zero means forcing an employee on medical or disability leave back to work before they’re ready because they’ll have a ‘mandatory rehabilitation plan’ to follow.

Net Zero means the government is going to start denying it’s employees certain classes of drugs, only paying a small portion of others and, most likely, agreeing to pay 80% on only the cheapest classes of drugs. Even though we’re already having to get generic instead of what the doctors really want to give us.

Basically, that means if a doctor prescribes a class of drugs – say for chemo treatments or MS or diabetes – which isn't on the approved list it comes out of our pocket entirely or we tell our doctor to prescribe us something that is on the list. And I should mention that the person deciding what classes of drugs are too expensive for the government to allow us to have isn't even a licensed medical practitioner, just some private company with a connection to the Liberal party. What a shock.

It kind of sounds like the employer is trying to get us to die a lot faster if we’re sick.

This is what Net Zero really looks like; this is what the provincial government isn't saying in the news when they use the cute little catch phrase of Net Zero that their spin doctors came up with.

This is how much they believe in the value and worth of their lowest paid - and largest portion of the Ontario Public Service - employees.

Oh yeah, here’s one final set of numbers for you. At the last strike OPSEU was 110,000 members strong. This time around we only have 35,000 members. 

Do the math. Those are the job cuts already made; people who already lost their jobs due to government downsizing and 'restructuring'. Those are the seventy five thousand less jobs in the OPS that the government is already saving on. Those are seventy five thousand less people able to assist the Ontario public with whatever services they require to live their lives; seventy five thousand less administrative staff, corrections officers, prison guards, front line workers, law clerks, ODSP officers and vehicle safety inspectors.

So where did that money go? Good question. 

Unfortunately, what the politicians do with the money isn't something civil servants can control. We just work for them; it was the people of Ontario elected them and gave them the money to govern their province. Your tax money - yours and mine and every other OPSEU member's tax money.

They squandered it. The LIBERAL PARTY OF ONTARIO squandered, mismanaged it and used it for their own political gain. KATHLEEN WYNNE’s party frittered away Ontario's money - my tax dollars and yours. 

So my question is, why do I have to pay for the Liberal party's mistakes and misspent money when all I want to serve my province, be a good employee and make a difference in the lives of my fellow Ontarians? 

Why do any of the unions? Because all any of us want to do is be good at our jobs, serve the public in whatever capacity our position allows us, and make a difference in the lives of the people of our province.