Greetings,
 
On Wednesday, September 20^th, ultra-conservative right-wing hate groups have planned nationwide events to protest teaching 2SLGBTQIA+ content in schools under the pretence of protecting children. 
 
These groups are being supported by American hate groups who are behind much of the anti-trans and anti-gay legislation we are seeing in the U.S.
 
They have learned to frame their hateful ideologies in false narratives of “choice” and “freedom”, when really this is about discrimination and intolerance.
 
To learn more about these groups’ real beliefs, including the leaders behind these movements, please visit antihate.ca.  
 
Preying on peoples fear and anxieties to promote misinformation will have real devastating impacts for already marginalized communities.
 
If you are interested in joining the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Rapid Response team to join a counter protest in your area, please RSVP here.
 
Join our “No Space for Hate” movement and let us uphold the protection of human rights in Canada and stop the right-wing American influence from spreading hate in our communities. 
 
In Solidarity,
 
Craig Reynolds,
PSAC Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President

Cheques have gone out to more than 100 of you.  However, PSAC tells us there are more than 50 of you that haven’t completed the claim process we asked you to do on May 29th.

Reminder:

1. No stub, no cheque

(July 19, 2023 pay day or prior to be emailed to localceiu581@gmail.com)

2. No google form, no cheque

(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdn-64BioIDaHRQim5SOyN84b_QNNOI7UgosfKJnMZEGXxi1g/viewform?usp=sf_link)

At this point we now need to receive funds from CEIU Ontario Region to issue any more cheques. We can’t ask for any money from them until enough of our members actually make claims. So, get those claims in. Encourage your peers to get their claims in if they haven’t already. The sooner the remaining members do that, the sooner we can mail out more cheques.

Dear members,

Our public health care in Ontario is in jeopardy, with the government’s continued underfunding of our system and the expansion of privatization that further degrades universal access to care.

We cannot let this happen!

The Ontario Health Coalition, community groups and unions across the province have joined together to demand the government invest in our public system and stop privatization and contracting out.

        What:             Protest to Defend Public Health Care
        When:            Monday, September 25, 2023 at 12 PM
        Where:           Queen’s Park in Toronto

There are also several protests taking place on the 25th in Thunder Bay, Dryden and Algoma. A second protest will be held at Queen’s Park in Toronto on September 26th at 12 PM for members of Jewish communities, as the 25th is Yom Kippur. You can find out more information here.

Free buses are being organized across the province. Please contact bus organizers in your area to reserve your seat.

LONDON

• General community members- There will be two buses departing from London arena parking lot (Wellington Rd & 401). Bus departs at 7:45 am. Contact Peter at 519-860-4403 or pbergmanis@rogers.com for a seat on the bus.
• CUPE Ontario members –  Pick up at White Oaks Mall, 1105 Wellington Rd. Bus departs at 7:00am.  Contact https://cupe.on.ca/ontario-health-coalition-rally/ for a seat on the bus.
• OPSEU members – OPSEU London Regional Office, 1092 Dearness Ave. Bus departs at 8:15 am. Go to  https://opseu.org/information/bus-sign-up-for-sept-25-health-care-rally-inoronto/198903/   for a seat on the bus. 
• Unifor members – Pick up details for buses from locals 27 and 302 to be confirmed but there are buses! Go to https://form.jotform.com/UniforCanada/masshealthcareprotests for a seat on the bus.

In recent months, the Ford government has been moving ahead with contracts to privatize our public hospitals’ core services, to close essential local public hospital services like emergency departments and urgent care centres, to privatize primary care clinics, to allow online doctors to charge patients for access to services, and to privatize long-term care for the next 30 years.

Please join the movement to protect our public health care system and let’s show this government that our health care is not for sale!

In Solidarity,

Craig Reynolds,
PSAC Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President

Greetings PSAC Ontario members,

You are invited to register for Basic Union Education course Talking Union Basics (Virtual) on Oct 14 and Oct 15, 2023.

TALKING UNION BASICS introduces members to the PSAC, and prepares them for more advanced union education. It provides an historical and structural overview of the union, introduces participants to the collective agreement, and gives them a chance for hands-on practice in problem-solving.

This course will be delivered VIRTUALLY over 2 separate days. Please read the dates and times carefully.
Location: ZOOM
Session 1 – Saturday, October 14th, 2023 – 9:00AM to 1200PM & 1:00PM to 4:00pm
Session 2 – Sunday, October 15th, 2023 – 9:00AM to 1200PM & 1:00PM to 4:00pm

Registration deadline: Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 1159pm. All members in good standing are welcome to register. The course will be limited to 20 participants. Approvals will be given on a “first come, first served” basis, so please register early to secure your spot. Applicants will be notified by October 4, 2023 @ 4pm.

For more information and to register, click here!

https://www.ceiu-seic.ca/2023_ceiu_national_scholarships

Top up cheques for CEIU local have been mailed out today, and should be received over the next few days.

They were sent to all members that filled out the required google form, provided a supporting pay stub (pre- August 2, 2023 pay period), and were confirmed members of CEIU local 581 at the time of the strike.

This includes most of our members that picketed.

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Cheques were mailed to the address you provided on the google form.

Each cheque includes an explanation of its calculation. This is in the following format:

[(Daily net rate of pay) – $125] x (The number of days you picketed)

Where your daily net rate of pay was determined by the pay stub you provided; the $125 is the $75 from PSAC plus the $50 from CEIU Ontario region; and the days you picketed were determined by your statements on the google form local strike pay request, as verified against PSAC records.

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It is the wish of CEIU Ontario region that all of its members who picketed receive a top up to their net pay for those days. As such, they will ensure CEIU local 581 has sufficient funds to top up all members of our local for their days on the picket line.

If you picketed, but have not yet filled out the google form and provided a supporting pay stub, it’s not too late to do so. Please provide the required information ASAP and we will work to verify that submission, and send out a top up cheque in due course.

As always, your local executive can be reached at localceiu581@gmail.com if you have any questions.