Congratulations to the 10 PSSP members who received Status of Women Awards this year during the D12 12th Annual Awards Dinner on May 10, 2012 at the Montecassino Banquet Centre.

Community Impact

1. Anita Court, Oasis Alternative SS
2. Danielle Farmer, East Attendance Programs
3. Latoya Scholburgh, Caring & Safe Programs Hardington Centre

Equity

1. Denyse Clarke, Etobicoke CI
2. Meve Julien, Oasis Alternative SS
3. Renee Phillips, Yorkdale SS
4. Stacey Stevens, George Harvey CI
5. Claudine Tyrell, Malvern CI

Mentoring

1. Michelle Pagniello, Birch Cliff Public School
2. Jacqueline Smith, Central Commerce CI

 EI Reporting for June 2012 – May 2013

Please click on this link:   Service Canada Guidelines 2012-2013 revised

PSSP members are eligible to apply for EI during the months of July and August.   Sign in to your EI account, or create a new one, at  servicecanada.gc.ca.   You must use the reference code in the link above which is different from the one you used in March or anytime prior to June 2012.

May 17, 2012 Bulletin

The Pay Equity Plan announcement for PSSP former members will be posted in the Metroland group of newspapers on June 7, 2012.  It will be published in the Saturday Toronto Star on June 9, 2012.  The contact information will be in the notices so anyone who has not yet applied for a payment will be informed of the process.

May 9, 2012 Bulletin

128 cheques have been mailed to retired or former PSSP members as of today.  As new names are brought forward to the Bargaining Unit, we are forwarding them on to the Pay Equity Department.  Please continue to check this site for updates.

April 24, 2012   BULLETIN

The Pay Equity Department notified the Bargaining Unit today that they are issuing cheques during the second week in May and the first week in June for retired/resigned former members.  Many of those who have contacted the PSSP office are on the list for one of those two “cheque runs”.  There are 57 of you on the list.

For those of you who received payments on December 22, 2011, you will receive the final payment deposited to your account on June 21, 2012.  You benefited from the active staff status (as you are retired and currently working on contract) and were able to have your payment paid in two installments.  For those who are not actively working during this school year, that option was not made available to you.

For those of you who were part of the voluntary withdrawal  and early leaving plan during the entitlement years, a decision has not yet been made about you.  It remains under consideration and we will let you know further information as soon as we receive any news.

April 21st Day of Action Rally 

Thanks to all PSSP members who joined the thousands at Queen’s Park to protest the Liberal government’s budget, the unacceptable offer made to education workers and the threat to the collective bargaining process with potential changes to regulations.  We were a sea of OSSTF flags with our black PSSP ball caps proudly denoting our members.    Please click on this link to download the form to get reimbusement for your participation.  Day of Action Reimbursement

PSSP Day is May 14th this year.   Wear your t-shirt and attend the May 14th PSSP Student & Staff Award Gala at Bloor C.I. to demonstrate our passion for the work we do with the most vulnerable students at the TDSB.  Come out and show Dr. Spence and the Trustees how proud you are of what you accomplish every day on the job.  They will be there; will you?

As the TDSB Trustees struggle to balance the Budget for 2012-13 with a deficit over $100 million, our PSSP jobs will be affected.  Please join your colleagues in solidarity by showing the Ontario government,  the TDSB, and the public of Toronto that we are a strong and united group who will fight to keep the benefits we have worked hard to earn since the cuts of the 1990s.   Your show of solidarity will be noticed by your Employer and will allow your Negotiating Team to take a strong position at the Bargaining Table.

A Pay Equity retro payment was made on the March 15, 2012 pay cheque to reflect the period from September 1, 2010 to mid-March 2012.    Salary grids will be adjusted as of the first pay in April 2012, from the old category grids I – V to the post -Pay Equity grids that are A through E.   Only those job classes who were deemed female job classes under the Pay Equity Plan will receive adjustments in their pay.

The following female job classes required pay equity adjustments as ordered by the PSSP Pay Equity Plan  Order posted on November 7, 2011:

Child & Youth Workers

Educational Audiologists

Occupational Therapists & Physiotherapists

Psychological Associates

Psycho-Educational Consultants

Social Workers

Speech Language Pathologists

In order to determine whether the amount you received is correct, please note that pension, taxes and union dues were deducted from the retro payment.  Also,  if you are not at the top level on your salary grid, you were likely two levels behind in September 2010, where you currently are placed.   For example, if you were at Level 2 in September 2010, you would likely be at Level 3 in January 2011 and Level 4 as of January 2012.  Please consider this as you make your calculations.   If you have specific questions, please contact the Bargaining Union office at 647/348-3351.

*Do not contact the payroll department regarding the retro payments, as it is the Pay Equity Department that is managing these payments.    

Please check the News item “Pay Equity Plan Announcement” on this website for the Pay Equity adjusted grids, should you have questions about your salary grids.   Please click on Pay Equity Plan to see the new adjusted salary grids and other information that may help you understand the payment.

Please go to the Bulletin Board for the latest info on Negotiations.  Click the Resources tab and then the drop down tab for Bulletin Board.

All PSSP members who have supplied their personal email addresses through filling  out the Member Data Input Form on this website on the Home Page under the ‘Resources’ tab will begin receiving bulletins about the bargaining process that has begun with the Provincial Government.  In addition, mass emails are being sent to members via their personal emails, as information can be shared.  Please do not fill out the form more than once.

Ken Coran, our OSSTF president, began sending messages to all members on February 29th through Bargaining Bulletins (see above) that are posted on our website.  This information is NOT to be transmitted, shared or discussed via TDSB email.

It is important that you begin checking this website and the OSSTF website www.osstf.on.ca (Bargaining Bulletin on top right hand side of site) on a regular basis as bargaining information will be updated as information is able to be shared with members.

View the Pay Equity Plan

The meeting was held at Monarch Park CI on November 9, 2011 to announce the Pay Equity Plan which is an Order made by Arbitrator Louisa Davie. There are three monetary settlements included in the Plan. One is a Human Rights Settlement, which is tax-free, for every PSSP member who worked at the TDSB during any or all of the years from September 1998 to August, 2010. There are two retroactive adjustments, which are taxable income, and are limited to those job classes listed in the Plan as qualifying for pay adjustments.

To Assist in Understanding the Plan:

1. Job Classes requiring a Pay Equity Adjustment: see page 14, Appendix D.

2. All retroactive pay adjustments are income; therefore, taxable and subject to union dues.

3. Entitlement Period refers to the retroactive Pay Equity adjustment for the period September 1, 1998 through August 31, 2010. This payment is $1600 for each of those years, if employed in one of the job classes referred to in #1. If you were a temporary contract employee during those years and worked over 20 consecutive days in any of those years, you are entitled to up to 90% of the $1600 for each of the years that apply (pro rated to the amount of time you worked during each year). This payment will occur in two equal payments: by December 31, 2011 and by June 30, 2012.

4. Go Forward retroactive payments will be made for the period of September 1, 2010 to March 31, 2012. This payment will be made by March 31, 2012.

5. The Human Rights award is for damages resulting from a grievance filed by the union on June 22, 2011 as a result of the union’s allegation that the Employer violated the Pay Equity Act and Human Rights Code by the lengthy delay in negotiating a Pay Equity settlement. The award is $400 tax free for each year of the Entitlement Period to a maximum of 12 years. It will be paid by December 31, 2011 to all permanent contract employees and non-permanent employees who were part of PSSP during the Entitlement Period.

6. To calculate the additional retroactive payment amount noted in #4: Look at the current Salary Grids for 2010 and 2011 (see collective agreement page 76 on PSSP website). Look at page 11, Appendix C of the Plan and subtract the current amount from the adjusted amount for each year. The difference is the amount you will be receiving.

7. The Pay Equity Adjusted Salary Grid will be in effect on your paycheques beginning with the April 1, 2012 pay period.

8. The first payments will be issued no later than December 31, 2011. Therefore, if you have not received a payment by mid-January and believe you are eligible for one, please contact the union.

9. Retired members can expect the timelines will be different for each of the payments. As noted on page 6 of Appendix E, actively employed members will be paid first and inactive members will be paid next, ….. “the Employer is to make its best efforts to meet the deadlines…” Return to this website in early 2012 for information about the expected dates of payment for members no longer actively employed with the TDSB.

10. If you are a former TDSB PSSP employee or know someone who was, please contact vp@pssp.on.ca to give your contact information. Your information will be forwarded to the TDSB and you can expect a response from them.