Canadian Labour Reporter

PSAC prepares for collective bargaining With privatization a real possi- bility, PSAC doubled down on its previous efforts to organize the Sault Ste. Marie employees and the union is confident this most recent attempt will be successful, according to Sharon DeSousa, PSAC regional executive vice- president for Ontario. "We feel very good about the vote," she said. "We'll know in September. And having said that, we would be pushing to go into collective bargaining to ensure these workers' rights are pro- tected." Employees had expressed con- cerns OLG's privatization plans could lead to job losses or jeop- ardize revenue. Because the em- ployer (a Crown corporation) has never been privatized, DeSousa said companies entering into the partnership will likely have little understanding of the ins and outs of running large lottery and gam- ing centres. If these outside parties don't like where the chips fall, she said, workers could be left short- changed. And a six-year wage freeze added to the workers' frus- tration, she said. "The privatization has caused severe anxiety regarding the in- security of their jobs. They're not sure what's going to happen," she said. "They knew that if they joined a union and had a collec- tive agreement in place prior to a privatization, that meant any new employer coming in must respect the terms and conditions of the collective agreement." PSAC currently represents OLG workers at Woodbine and Rideau Carleton. OLG and its contract management compa- nies employ more than 16,000 people throughout the province. OLG said protections for workers have been written into the privatization plans. "OLG is ensuring that employ- ees have the support they need through the transition," said OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti. The employer is providing transferring workers with a one- year employment guarantee in the same position and geographic location, at the same rate of pay and with the same status (full- time or part-time). In an effort to ensure private sector service providers are com- patible, a competitive procure- ment process was created. "It is also important to note many of OLG's employees are re- quired to be registered through our regulator, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontar- io," Bitonti said. "It is a long pro- cess for an employee to be reg- istered. OLG would expect that many of our current employees, who hold this registration, will be of great value to a service pro- vider." According to Bitonti, fears of lost revenue as a result of priva- tization are unfounded. OLG reports that Ontarians spend as much as $400 million per year on gambling websites that are un- regulated in Ontario, resulting in a loss of revenue for the province. Modernization — which OLG believes will be achieved in part through privatization — is actu- ally necessary to prevent the lost revenue workers are worried about, he said. "Modernization will help OLG provide more money to the prov- ince of Ontario for key govern- ment services, such as health care and education," he said. "Through modernization, the private sector would pay for the costs of the expansion of lottery and gaming across Ontario. OLG will, in turn, pass along increased revenue to the province." But for the union and its sup- porters, one year's protection isn't enough, said DeSousa. If the house always wins, that house needs to stay in Sault Ste. Marie permanently. "We want to keep local jobs for these workers in Sault Ste. Marie. We want to make sure workers' jobs are not displaced to another area," she said. "It's going to be much more difficult for workers to negotiate on a singular basis, but collectively they can really ensure that their workplace is protected and that they have bar- gaining power. Our union will provide a strong voice for Sault Ste. Marie workers and fight to ensure that those great jobs re- main in the Sault." And while it's true a collec- tive agreement can prevent an employer from arbitrarily termi- nating positions without notice, process or compensation, union- izing will not protect employees from privatization, said Howard Levitt, senior partner at Levitt & Grosman in Toronto. "Unionizing will provide abso- lutely no protection," he said. "On the contrary, it could de- prive employees of the right to ob- tain wrongful dismissal damages." According to Levitt, employ- ees covered by a collective agree- ment in this scenario could be limited to entitlement under the Employment Standards Act or whatever amount PSAC can negotiate, which he anticipated would be "much less." Because the employer's priva- tization plan was announced well before the union campaign, Lev- itt said, PSAC would be unable to argue the changes were made for anti-union reasons. While he agreed successor rights would play an important part moving forward, should OLG employees choose to union- ize, the act of organizing in and of itself will have little to no effect on the privatization plan. "I do not see how the union could possibly contest the priva- tization unless OLG negotiated restrictions against this, which it won't," he said. 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER NEWS < from pg. 1 OLG's privatization plan includes a one-year employment guarantee, maintaining the workers' current position and geographic location, at the same rate of pay and with the same full-time or part-time status. Photo: Cheryl Ravelo (Reuters)

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