A few clarifications before the election

Good afternoon OPSEU Local 596 members!

We apologize for the length of this message but we are compelled to set the record straight.

Election day is tomorrow and as you prepare to cast your vote, we thought we should clarify some rumors and misconceptions that have been intentionally circulated to undermine our team’s campaign. Throughout our campaign we aimed to provide you with information and evidence of our qualifications to be your union representatives at the officers level. We never saw the point in engaging in personal attacks that do not help anyone in any way. However, in the last message from our current president via the official opseu-l listserv (which we were told was not to be used for campaigning by HQ and by the current president), there were accusations regarding our teams integrity that we find important to address.

1. On the issue of Job Security: Our team is proud of the accomplishments of the whole Bargaining team (of which 2 of our slate candidates Elizabeth Mobeen and Aneesh Tiberias Murali were also members) in securing transition money for Contract Employees that are funded via OTO (one-time-only funding) into FTCE (Full Time Continuing Employee). However, this process of conversion, through the actions of the current local president, has not been transparent and even members of the current executive team were not made aware of the outcomes. How was the selection process determined? Or administered? And how were targeted zones chosen? None of this information was shared with the other officers or shared with the LEC (the governing body of the Local). We ask why the secrecy? Why the lack of transparency even to the local’s leadership team? Which faculties, departments, and schools benefited from these transitions?

We will do better by making sure that information concerning transitions are shared with the local executive committee (LEC) so that the LEC can hold the officers accountable.

2. On the issue of Budget Cuts: Information has been recently circulating that the budget cuts for 2020 are not going to be as sharp as 2019. Additionally, the resounding message from the highest office in the university is that staff jobs are to be protected at all costs. The fear-mongering that has been perpetuated by the current local president and his team is disappointing. Instead of seeking facts to reassure you, his strategy has been to frighten you. We urge you not to be taken-in by fear.

We will work with management to make sure that all OPSEU staff jobs are protected and we will build a team of trained and competent stewards to address issues across campus. Additionally, by building a strong Local Executive Committee (with 4x officers, 32x Stewards from Unit-1 and 6x stewards from Unit-2) we will restore power back to the governing body of the local in accordance with the constitution. Rest assured that each officer candidate in our slate comes with professional credentials and considerable experience in their career-fields to optimize the performance of their respective portfolios.

3. On the issue of Flex-time: The current leadership was “crystal clear” in their message. If you are a front-end worker the current president will not fight for you for flex-time.

We believe in creative solutions for front-end workers with regards to flex-time. We understand that this will be on a case-by-case basis but with managerial, fellow OPSEU staff, and other staff supporting our creative solutions we strongly believe that even front-end employees can enjoy the benefit of flex-time. Our initial conversations with some managers have borne fruitful discourse and we feel strongly that our solution would be an acceptable alternative to what the current president is promising you, which is nothing.

4. On the issue of Fiscal Transparency: Here are some facts about the BBQ and Festive Lunch for you to digest: Firstly, our treasurer candidate for Change, Aneesh Tiberias Murali, volunteered and was appointed by the current President/Vice President to be the Chair of the Social Committee. This is an inconvenient truth that was missing in the message that was released last Thursday. Secondly, the budget for the BBQ and the Festive lunch was unanimously approved and passed by the general membership in the May 2019 GMM. Thirdly, the line budget breakdown was unanimously approved by the 5x person social committee and both events came under budget in the actuals report included in the 2019 treasury report.

Here are some other “inconvenient facts” that the current president did not share with you:

• 54K out of the 61K (not 75K as was reported by the current President), which represents 88-90% of the total expenses that were incurred by the 2019 BBQ and Festive lunch, went to Ryerson University – RAC/Food Services to pay for the venue, food, staff, tables/chairs, linens and other sundries (please see the detailed 2019 treasury report that was released last Friday for details).

• These 2x social occasions are a direct return on membership dues, collected by the local (around 54$ per annum), for the vast majority of our members who attend these events annually.

• The other 7% of the total expenses were used for Gift Cards that are won through mass ballot at these events. Again, a direct return to a smaller minority of members (around 10%) that are lucky enough to be drawn. The new delivery method engineered by the social committee Chair has streamlined this process on-mass (for better time management at the event) and allowed for greater equitability and transparency.

• These funds (the 52K for 2019) goes to supporting the baseline budget of food services for the continued employment of food service staff and other deliverables. A 52K+ annual client is a major revenue line item for our Ryerson food services department. Though Ryerson’s prices are higher, these events directly help support our food services OPSEU members by providing work to an already precarious job classification.

• These events are fun and the vast majority of our members enjoy it. They enjoy the food, they enjoy the chance of gifts, they enjoy spending time with friends they don't see regularly, and they enjoy the music. How do we know this? We ask. In the last 3 years the frequency of complaints have decreased significantly.

• All decisions made for the BBQ and Festive Lunch is by committee and follows majority-rules. The Chair manages the meeting and holds EQUAL decision making power as the committee members. Additionally, all funds released to vendors require two signing officers to process and as such the cheque(s) issued to the band referenced by the current president held the signature of both the treasurer and the current Vice-President.

• The vast majority of our membership get so little tangible return from their union dues that to consider taking away the BBQ and Festive lunch would not be, in our opinion, supportive of maintaining morale and union solidarity. Our team is surprised that any leader seeking election would be contemplating the removal of multiple perks attached to local596 membership unless for some reason the majority of our membership would like to see these social events removed from the budget as expressed at a GMM.

• Until the start of this campaign, on more than one occasion, the current president lauded the 2019 budget. As late as May 6th 2019, James McKay sent out the following message to the listserv after the 2019 budget was passed, “Budget meetings can be boring and divisive, but today, we passed a budget that is fiscally responsible and wove our crew tighter together. I want to thank Aneesh our Treasurer …”

• After the last election in Nov 2019 (which was overturned) in which James lost the vote, after he left the meeting gym (without congratulating his successor) two members of our team received phone calls that very night from the current president berating them, shouting at them, and reducing one to tears. At the Ryerson President holiday social, the current local president used threatening language to another member of our team in front of OPSEU and MAC staff in a public space. Managers and directors of our other team members were forwarded some of the many emails the current president has sent to the listserv calling our team a “gang” or uttering phrases like “the new slate that is seeking to take over the union”, “misguided people are scare-mongering” or using words like, “silliness”, “nonsense”, SPAM-messages”, ''misinformation”, ''hackers” to describe our team. Words have significance and have had the effect of our integrity being questioned. Is this the reaction and behaviour of a leader? Is this the character of the person we want representing us in an official capacity? Does this fit into both OPSEU and Ryersons’s civility statements?

5. On the issue of Election Reform: Our platform has always been from day one about making our election process more streamlined, transparent, and accessible. For 8 years the current President and VP have languished and allowed inadequate systems to fester into decay. The results of the last election speaks volumes to that administrative decay. In James’s November 19th 2019 email to the listserv he stated, “OPSEU does NOT allow polling stations unless there are extreme hardship requirements (think Northern Ontario with Locals spreading hundreds of miles apart)... Kella and I asked OPSEU-HQ, months ago, if we could have polling stations and extended voting hours, but were told that is not possible in the case of 596.” Contrary to the above, the Growing Strong Through Change team was told that polling stations could have been deployed if requested as OPSEU HQ has considerable experience with the deployment of this method of elections. The request however, would have had to come from the local president. Was the request made to HQ as we were made to believe? How hard did the current president and VP advocate for polling stations for November’s elections? Or was the limited time and location intentionally designed to favour the incumbents?

Through our tireless efforts and advocacy to HQ our team has already produced results and was able to guarantee that our local have multiple polling stations across campus to increase accessibility and a fair election. The next step that our team will work on if elected is online voting.

True governance and good leadership is about collaborative decision making and consensus building and that model is deployed by the Growing Strong Through Change Team, so on January 28th 2020, please vote for Sarah Bukhari for President, Elizabeth Mobeen for Vice President, Aneesh Tiberias Murali for Treasurer, and Deborah Jesus for Recording Secretary.

Our treasurer candidate Aneesh has also personally endorsed the following candidates for the 2x trustee positions. Nanda Kuppusamy (CPA, CMA) and Chi-Fung (Terence) Kong (CPA in progress) who both work in Financial Services and come with a wide range of financial and auditing experience. They have the qualifications and skills to be competent trustees and allow for the treasury to progress forward. Aneesh believes that under his leadership as treasurer and with his team of qualified financial professional trustees that the treasury will be made more accessible, transparent, and fiscally accountable. So please vote for Nanda and Terence for Trustees.

Ryerson and OPSEU Policies

• https://www.ryerson.ca/policies/policy-list/workplace-civility-respect-policy/

• https://opseu.org/information/opseu-harassment-and-discrimination-prevention-policy-hdpp/