To any LPN’s who were selected to submit additional information on ON-TRAC………………..
“The supplemental information was sent to all LPNs August 12^th and the deadline was September 8^th . We had very few submissions so we extended for 2 additional weeks, but still only have 8 out of the 30 potential submissions.  I sent an email to follow up with both Horizon and Vitalite today to see if they had any additional submissions”.
So you can spread the word around the hospitals that if you received from the employer a request for additional information about the “ON-TRAC” and they have not filled it , they have until next week to do so.
(as per R Mcbride communication)

As you know, the LPN JAQ has been sent to mediation.  In February, the parties met with the mediator to discuss the ongoing concerns surrounding the Dexterity sub-factor. Under the current JAQ process, the Employer would not agree with the changes that the Union was looking for and therefore the process stalled. The mediator found that additional duties may have been added to the LPN’s job description that may not have been captured within the latest JAQ form, such as the On-Trac program.  It was then suggested that the parties ask the LPNs to resubmit a new JAQ in order to see if the new duties would change the rating process and allow for a change in pay bands.

In March COVID-19 hit us and many of the planned work with regards to the JAQ stalled. I have spoken to the Employer and we are now in the process of getting a new shorter version than the ones filled out in the past to deal with only the addition of the On-Trac program out to the LPNs.  We are currently working out the details of when and where it will be distributed to the participating LPNs.

As an LPN you may not receive a JAQ to fill out and you should not be concerned about that as the parties have agreed to use the same sample size of facilities and LPNs that were used in the last review. It will involve at least 30 groups of LPNs from various location through out the province. This allow for the study to capture information not just from one region and facility but from all sizes and areas.

The timeline Local 1252 is aiming for is the following:   by mid to late August, to have an explanation from the parties to those involved.  The LPNs will fill out and return the JAQs by mid-September and the JMC will rate the new information by late -September and provide the final report to the Mediator by October 1, 2020. After that the parties will meet and discuss the finding and finalize the process. Our plan is to have this completed by October 15, 2020. Again, these are the proposed dates Local 1252 has given the government.

I must again remind you that we have a retro agreement in place.  We understand it is frustrating, but we only get the Government to move so fast. This is only one step of a process to secure additional wages and recognition for your classification. The other process is through the collective bargaining process and that is ongoing as well.

In Solidarity,

Ralph McBride

CUPE Provincial Coordinator for L1252

ml/COPE491

Me Too clause-
  We do NOT have a “me too” clause in our Collective Agreement. CUPE does not Negotiate “me too” clauses in its Collective Agreements.

Representation
   There is no LPN representation at our Local when an issue arises. Fact; if you request an LPN to be present at any meeting you want representation at, one WILL be provided as has happened in the past.
No Representation at the Negotiation Table. Fact there has been an LPN, if not multiple LPN’s, on the Negotiating team for as long as i can recall.

Communication
  Once per month CUPE Local 813 hosts information tables  at the staff entrance and and information visits are done to each out lying facilities..
You also have your own website 813.cupe.ca and a dedicated gmail cupe813lpns@gmail.com.
We provide information via email if provided (presently we have 600 of our 1800 members on our list), on your Website 813.cupe.ca and through our facebook page, cupe local 813.
  Also all contact information is provided in our website with pictures of each officer and steward to better identify them.

Pension
The pension plan your are currently in belongs to CUPE Local 1252 and does not allow anyone but members of L1252 in the plan and there is no reciprocal agreement to remove your funds from the existing plan so your benefits will be frozen until you retire. So if you move to another union, you will have to negotiate a new plan for your members and I need to be clear the current government does not want you to have a plan that they are responsible for so in my opinion you would probably get a defined contribution plan or money purchase plan where your money is not guaranteed. Again, the plan you are in is a CUPE Local 1252 Plan and not open to other members but 1252 members.
(copy RMcBride)

The difference between JAQ process and the Wage Adjustment Process
The JAQ process is a established program under the collective agreement that allows an employee to ask to be reclassed because of changes in job duties and it can happen at anytime throughout the life of the CA. There are formulas in place to rate each portion on your job and those have set values assigned to them. This is not a negotiation. A Wage Adjustment process is something that generally only happens during the rounds of bargaining and does not generally happen during the life of the CA. These are negotiated settlements and the comparators are other jurisdictions, retention and recruitment issues , market values , etc…So in realty the LPN could receive an improvement through the JAQ process and then at the bargaining table receive an additional adjustment due to one or more of the above mentioned reasons Your concerns is the fact more work of the RN scope is being required , soon there is a proposal (may be happening in some areas) to take direction directly from the doctor and reply directly to the doctor. I know at one time the rule of thumb was to look for the % of duties being done by the LPN as compared to the RN and that would be the wage GAP, be it right or wrong that is what the government uses as a guide . I know about 5 years ago that was about 72% of the general RN rate of pay , it would be nice to use the top rate but that is not the case. SO myself and L1252 know all those issues plus more and that would be considered in this round of bargaining which was told to you after the last round of bargaining. We can only move some of this issues along at the table when the CA has expired.
(copy RMcBride)

The JAQ process,
Pay Bands , in 2006 this study was done by the union and government after the UNION negotiated into the 2005 contract, the first step of the process was to create pay bands for different classifications, the width between each band (meaning the number of points to get to the next band) and how much each point was worth inside each band, thus the band 1 – 13, at this point nobody knew who fit where other than it was a total of 13 bands for now. The next steps were to evaluate each job (not the person but the job) and this was done using 4 main factors and 11 sub-factors , things like responsibility / knowledge / education / dexterity / working environment / physical demand/ etc. , in each of those factors were a rating point system from 1-5 and inside that again was another set of point from 2-4, for how often something was done , once those were established from the JAQ’s that were submitted, a list of key activities for each job was developed and then once that was done the numbers were inputted into this program and as the numbers were totaled it placed you in the appropriate band, so if band 1 was 100- 140 points any jobs that fell in that range landed in that band, this happened to all classifications. So that is why you are not the only classification in band 10 because using this point system different classification may have received higher and lower values than the LPN’s in certain areas but the total fell in the same band width, you could be at 130 of the band width and someone else could have been at 110 but it is between 100-140. So when people get frustrated that the PSW is just below this classification you should not it is just the system itself and where that classification landed. The system was set as an unbias way to rank jobs inside the workplace.The current JAQ is going through the same thing now and I have explained to some people why it may only be $.95 increase , that is due to the fact you would need more points that is in the current band width, using 100-140 , the next band width would be from 140-180 (not true numbers)if you were at 130 and this JAQ gave you 25 points then you would be into the next band width at 155 points meaning before you can go to another band you have to see your job duties change again by another 26 points. Again I am using hypothetical numbers , the widths are not that wide but as you get closer to band 13 the width widens.This does not mean you would never receive other adjustments to your positions and you are stuck at this rate for ever, it means during rounds of bargaining we need to look at different scenarios that are affecting your wages, recruitment and retention being a major one, shifts in skill sets, market value of the job compared to other areas, the gap between the RN and LPN, have to look back at the last few rounds of bargaining to see what the gap is now, it use to be at one time the LPN (only the messenger) was doing about 72% of the general RN position. SO what you do not know or see is that this stuff is already in play and it has been since the last round of bargaining and if you don’t go to meetings to ask the questions you would never know that because the leaders cannot give you the answers or get the answer for you if you are not there. CUPE has the best resources in the country for this stuff , you have to TRUST people when they tell you they have your back on this.
(copy RMcBride)

Patient Service or Patient Care,
this seems to be one of the biggest issue for everyone , I need to be seen as Patient Care. In the CA it says you are under a Patient Service category, that is simply a term for certification purposes developed by government years ago. I have been in meetings where your bosses (HHN and VNB) have used the term client providers and the people in a hospital are clients not patients. They don’t even recognize the sector as patient care givers and you can ask those that know me I am one of the first ones to correct that language a LPN does not have clients you have patients. People are trying to tell you that a word change will mean a dollar amount change and I have to totally disagree with that logic , the government does not care what name you use it only cares about the amount of money it will cost them
(copy RMcBride)

Pay Equity
Seen a post about Pay Equity and would like to explain that question. In 2006 CUPE negotiated the current JAQ study with the province which is what you use today. In 2010 the government passed legislation that required pay equity studies for public sector employees like yourselves, what is L1252 doing now, they are seeking a legal opinion to see if there should be a new study for female dominated positions through pay equity. What is the issue, the legislation says that the employer must do a study if they have not done one but there is language that also states that if there has been a similar study that makes similar comparisons then you are not required to do another. We are checking to see if the 2006 study is covered under that language , the government says it is.loyer is not convinced. This is what we are working on and hope to have an answer soon.
(copy RMcBride)

Professional Practice Committee
difference in terms, we call it a Labour Management Committee meeting (which we conduct every 3 months) with a allotement for LPN issues. and other Unions call theirs a Professional Practice Committee meeting.