The president of OPSEU Local 677, the union representing striking Northern Ontario School of Medicine workers, said the union is working closely with Greater Sudbury Police to ensure lineups along Ramsey Lake Road caused by picketers don’t get out of hand.

There have been reports over the last few days of lineups stretching all the way down the road from Sudbury Regional Hospital to the entrance to the university.

Union members stop cars entering the university, and hand the occupants fliers about the three-week-old labour dispute.

When Northern Life visited the picket line early Sept. 9, there were only about 10 cars lined up at the entrance to the university. There were a lot of students dropped off at the entrance to the university by city buses, as the buses are not crossing the picket lines.

England said representatives of the union meet with the police to discuss the traffic situation “almost daily.”

He said the union has one person stationed near the hospital to let the picketers know if the line is getting too long.

“We’ve been monitoring the length of the lineup to ensure that we’re not creating public safety issues,” England said.

“By doing that, we are letting more traffic through than we were before, because the volumes are a lot higher now that school has started.”
The lineups to get into the university will likely get smaller in a few weeks, because there’s normally less traffic as the school year progresses, he said.

Erica Bonds, a second year concurrent education student at Laurentian, said so far this year, she’s waited an extra 10 or 15 minutes to get her car into the university campus.

“(The union members) just kind of give you the same spiel, about how they’re in negotiations and hopefully they’re going to get what they want so they’re not going to obstruct everything,” she said.

“They give you updates about what’s going on. I’m pretty sure they hand out different fliers. I have a few different fliers from them.”

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The union representing striking Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) workers said it will do its best to keep traffic flowing through its picket lines at the entrance to Laurentian University as students return to class this week.

Tyler England, chair of OPSEU Local 677′s bargaining team, said he has met with representatives of Laurentian and Greater Sudbury Police about the traffic issue on several occasions.

“We realize that this time of year is always busier on campus, and there’s always heavier traffic flow than there would be in the summer period,” he said.

“We’re going to do our best to manage that traffic and keep it flowing as best as possible, while still exercising our right to inform the public of our struggle.

“We’re looking at different creative ways to manage that, such as leafleting more than talking to the people in vehicles, maybe letting more vehicles flow through and maybe not stopping each individual vehicle.”

Despite England’s statements, Northern Life has received several reports of traffic tie-ups by those attempting to enter or exit the university Sept. 8.

England said his members — clerical, administrative and technical workers who have been on strike against NOSM since Aug. 16 — are being supported by other union members at the university, as well as the student associations.

He said students, along with union members representing faculty and staff at the university, will visit Local 677′s picket lines Sept. 9 as part of a “solidarity day.”

Chris Mercer, chief of staff at Laurentian University, said because Greater Sudbury Transit has been dropping students off at the entrance to the university instead of within the campus during the strike, Laurentian has set up a shuttle system to bring students who take the bus  to their classroom buildings.

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Two consecutive days of mediation will resume Sept. 1 between striking members of OPSEU Local 677 and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

“We’re pleased to be heading back to the table but the effort will be worthless unless we see real progress on the 19 outstanding issues that the employer seems very reluctant to negotiate,” said Tyler England, chair of the bargaining team for Local 677 representing more than 150 administrative, clerical and technical staff at Laurentian University in Sudbury and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. NOSM also operates satellite campuses in Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins.

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Toronto (6 Aug. 2010) – Youth Employment Services (YES) workers in Toronto have rejected a tentative settlement offering a wage increase of just 1% over two years.

The members of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) Local 512 will be in a legal position as of midnight Aug. 10.

“I am proud of our members today. They rejected the employer’s offer of what amounts to a pay cut,” said Michael Louca, chair of the union’s bargaining committee.

“We think it’s wrong that we are the lowest paid in our sector when the agency has managed to support one manager for every two employees. Our members struggle to get by – with some living in subsidized housing, supporting single-income households and carrying crippling student debts.”

This is the second time YES workers have rejected a tentative settlement since bargaining started in December 2009.

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Clerical, administrative and technical staff at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) could go on strike as soon as Aug. 16.

The 152 OPSEU Local 677 members voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike mandate at membership meetings July 29 and Aug. 3. The union represents workers at NOSM’s Sudbury and Thunder Bay campuses.

Mediation between the two parties is scheduled to take place Aug. 11-13. Negotiations have been taking place between the two parties since October 2009.

“We are not here to negotiate a strike; we are here to negotiate an agreement that our members can accept,” Tyler England, chair of the OPSEU bargaining team for members of Local 677, said in a press release.

“The results of this vote sent a clear message to the employer that our members stand united behind their negotiating team.”

Outstanding issues include overtime, workloads, job classification and sick leaves, according to a press release from the union.

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