The email has been sent to all Society OPG Chapter members.
the results of the arbitrator’s decision, which was issued on December 16, 2023.
The email has been sent to all Society OPG Chapter members.
I am writing to you on behalf of your Society OPG Local Collective Bargaining Team with the results of the arbitrator’s decision, which was issued on December 16, 2023.
Your bargaining team did its best to negotiate for a fair and reasonable economic increase while focusing on the collective agreement improvements members told us were most important to them. We also did our best to get OPG to drop many of their concessionary items and give strong reasons to the arbitrator why OPG’s remaining take-away items should not be awarded.
Your bargaining team is generally pleased with the items agreed to and very pleased with the Arbitrator’s decision on the economic increases to be awarded. Attached is the full Arbitrator’s decision and a summary document the bargaining team put together describing the changes (along with embedded documents containing the full text of each item). All the items listed in the summary document capture all the items the arbitrator refers to as “agreed to items” and any additional items arbitrator Kaplan ruled on – so, you have all the details for all the items in the attached.
Significant highlights of the decision include (items that appear bolded were awarded by Arbitrator Kaplan as the parties did not reach agreement on those items during two-party negotiations):
- An economic increase of 3.75% effective January 1, 2024, and 3.25% on January 1, 2025;
- A 1.0% wage adjustment to correct for the lower economic increases awarded earlier this year which will be effective January 1, 2024 – making the 2024 economic increase to your pay at total of 4.75%;
The cost of living (COLA) clause is suspended from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025;
Updated LOU #202 – The Move of Employees from Niagara, 800 Kipling Avenue and 700 University Ave. Sites to 1908 Colonel Sam Drive:
- OPG may exclude employees within the Energy Markets and Fund Management organizations from the 2023-2024 Article 64B JRPT. OPG may relocate such employees to 1908 Colonel Sam Drive on a date after January 1, 2025, as determined by OPG without the need to operate Article 64B and any severance that may be provided under such circumstances will be in accordance with Article 64B.
- If OPG notifies the Society at any time that it is not initiating a Modified Article 64A JRPT for the applicable Unit of Application for Niagara based employees, OPG may relocate such employees to 1908 Colonel Sam Drive through the operation of an Article 64B JRPT for the affected Unit(s) of Application, and any severance that may be provided under such circumstances will be in accordance with Article 64B.
- OPG may relocate employees within the Dam Safety and Water Resources organization at Niagara to 1908 Colonel Sam Drive through an operation of an Article 64B JRPT for the affected Unit(s) of Application. For clarity, any severance that may be provided under such circumstances will be in accordance with Article 64B.
- Niagara based employees who reach the age of 55 on or before January 1, 2030, and reside more than 40 road kilometers from 1908 Colonel Sam Drive now have the right to only go to the old GM building once per week.
- For all regular, Society represented employees (not including those on long term disability) whose base location is at Niagara, Kipling, or 700 University Ave. who are relocated to 1908 Colonel Sam Drive and who elect not to relocate their residence and receive no relocation reimbursements at the end of the 12 week transfer period as per Article 52.3.3 (a) and provided they meet certain conditions, OPG will pay a monthly payment of $850.00 less all necessary deductions, for a period of 12 months at the end of the 12 week transfer expense decision period.
- A two-year contract duration from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025;
- Improvements to parental leave with one additional week (up to 7 weeks) paid by OPG at 93% for those on parental leave;
- Health and dental improvements/changes starting January 1, 2024 including:
Vision care increased to $700 every two years (starting January 1, 2024)
Chiropractor coverage increased to $900 annually.
Speech therapist coverage increased to $500 annually.
Psychological services increased to $5,000 annually.
Added Continuous Glucose Monitor (including Dexcom) to the list of allowable diabetic supplies.
Doctor’s note reimbursement increased to $40 for post 2001 hires;
Renewal of LOU 10 – Extended Health Benefits. With the support of a business case, OPG and individual employees may enter into agreements whereby, for a limited period of time, employees may waive their rights under the EHB Plan and opt for a different or alternative treatment as agreed to by the parties. This LOU will not expire.
Work boot allowance increased to $350;
National Indigenous Peoples Day: Employees with Indigenous/First Nations status will be eligible for paid time off for June 21 (National Indigenous Peoples’ Day);
Funeral Leave: definition of “Immediate Family” expanded to include stepchildren, step-grandchildren and step-grandparents;
Religious Observance Leave (newly created Letter of Understanding 201): employees who wish to observe a religious holiday not identified in Article 39.1, may request up to two (2) Religious Observance Leave days off per year in exchange for an identified religious holiday or banked time;
Domestic Violence Leave: Where an employee experiences domestic or sexual violence and takes a Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave, the employee will be able to access the number of days of leave prescribed by the Employment Standards Act. The first eight days of such leave shall be paid;
20% increase to On-Call payments: (a) $26.00 any 16-hour period outside normal work hours, (b) $45.00 for any 24-hour period outside normal work hours (i.e., Saturday, Sundays, Statutory Holidays and granted days), and (c) $220 maximum on call service payment for a normal work week;
Increase to Shift Differential of $0.30 cents per hour across the board;
Pickering Safe Storage 4-crew schedule with incentive (newly created Letter of Understanding 205). In support of the Pickering Safe Storage Project for units 1-4, there is a need to work a 4-crew outage schedule averaging greater than 40-hours per week. An incentive of $400 a week to a maximum of $6,400 per outage will be paid to all those Society represented employees, that work the 4-crew outage schedule;
Addition of SMR ATS to LOU 174 – The newly created Authorized Training Supervisor (ATS) SMR position will be a “shift” position. Schedules for the ATS SMR position will include any schedules that are available for Society represented M&P staff, including but not limited to XYZ;
Improved the wording to Article 107 Outage Incentive Bonus. Non-supervisory Society employees who work the XYZ shift will be eligible to receive the same outage incentive. In the event there is no outage incentive prescribed in the OPG-PWU Collective Agreement for PWU represented employees, Society represented employees on the XYZ shift schedule will receive an additional 1 vacation day for each 40 hours worked on the schedule, subject to a maximum of ten (10) additional vacation days per calendar year;
OPG guarantees no involuntary surplus will take place under the first Modified Article 64A JRPT;
Voluntary Exit Package (VEP) increased to a maximum 120 weeks (from 90 weeks);
OPG will provide a minimum of ninety-five (95) Voluntary Exits to those eligible in the Enterprise Projects & Operations Unit of Application;
OPG will provide a minimum of twenty-five (25) Voluntary Exits to those eligible in the Corporate Unit of Application;
Bridge to Retirement: Society-represented employees accepting a VE will be allowed to delay their termination date for a period not to exceed twelve (12) months from the earlier of the identified VE termination date and the date that is sixty (60) calendar days from notification of the employee’s redeployment result;
The parties agreed to update LOU 198 and the modified Article 64A process for the possibility of Pickering B refurbishment being approved;
The start of the modified Article 64A process has shifted by 9 months as Pickering is expected to operate 9 months longer until September 2026. The JRPT will now begin in April 2026;
LOU #204 – Retirement Notice through Pickering Transition: Regular Society represented employees whose base position is located within Durham and who meet certain criteria will be provided with a $5,000 advanced notice payment upon retirement;
LOU #206 – Revised Article 64B Process for redeployment of employees within Durham. This expedited process will replace any requirements that may exist in Article 64 Part B as it applies to the redeployment of employees from locations within Durham to other locations within Durham;
out of country coverage to age 85 from 75
All these items except for the economic increases for 2024 (3.75%) and 2025 (3.25%), the 1.0% wage adjustment, the suspension of the cost-of-living clause and the updated Letter of Understanding 202 were agreed to by the parties. The 4 items mentioned in this paragraph (and bolded in the list above) were awarded by Arbitrator Kaplan as the parties did not reach agreement on those items.
We will be holding one zoom meeting on December 20, 2023, and a second one on January 10, 2024 and will schedule in person meetings in the new year which need to be organized still.
The Society is working to schedule additional in person meetings for Thunder Bay, Timmins, Renfrew, Niagara and Kipling and people at those locations will be notified when those are to be held.
Please feel free to email your questions regarding the attached material to: opglocal@thesociety.ca.
I will be answering general interest questions during the meetings (or directly responding to you if your question is more specific to your situation and not a general interest question.)
I want to take a minute to thank the Society local collective bargaining team for all their hard work and long hours on your behalf. As a reminder, your Society local collective bargaining team is:
LVP Joe Fierro and Unit Directors Susan Sloan, Jim Mastorakos, Alanna Gagnon, Jeff Wilson, Rebecca Caron, Ryan Reeson; with staff officers Sonia Pylyshyn, Terry Fitzpatrick, Michelle Miller, and Ruben Lindy; with external lawyer Michael Wright.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your unit director or me so we can answer your questions so you will understand the award terms and conditions.
Your Bargaining Team and I thank you for your continuing support throughout this round of bargaining and in the upcoming years.
As we enter 2024 myself as your Local VP and the OPG Unit Directors plans to focus on membership engagement. We are excited to interact with the members of our union as we work towards building a membership that feels valued and heard. Active engagement not only cultivates strong relationships but also fuels collaboration, innovation, and collective knowledge and power. Society members are the backbone of this Union.
On behalf of the Society Bargaining Team
Joe Fierro
Society Vice President – OPG Local
Society of United Professionals
2024-2025 Collective Agreement Summary of Changes
Proposal_SocietyofUnitedProfessionals_783359_090820231532_1.pdf