The Faas Foundation announced today that it will part ways with its former grant designee, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The Faas Foundation has withdrawn its $1 million gift for CAMH’s Well @ Work program, due to CAMH’s inability to demonstrate that the first installment of the funds was applied towards The Faas Foundation’s objectives. CAMH is the largest mental health and addictions teaching hospital and center for research in Canada.

Read the full news release at Canadian News Wire http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/issues-of-accountability-force-withdrawal-of-1m-camh-funding-584832451.html 

ON THE AGENDA:

• VOTE ON YOUR DEMANDS FOR OUR NEXT COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

All members please attend to vote on the demands that you indicated in the Local’s Demand Set Survey were important to you for the next Collective Agreement.

• ELECTION OF A NEW LEAD STEWARD

WHEN:  THURSDAY JUNE 16^TH, 2016

WHERE:  FACULTY CLUB, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, 41 WILLCOCKS STREET

TIME:  5:30pm to 7:30 pm

**door prizes**

QUORUM IS NECESSARY TO ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL MEETING.

From across Ontario representatives from dozens of communities facing devastating cuts to their community hospitals carted thousands of ballots to the Ontario Legislature. The votes – 93,840 of them as of last night – were cast in a province-wide voluntary “referendum” on Saturday May 28 and in lead-in advance polls held in the last two weeks. Since last night the coalition has received hundreds more votes, putting the total over 94,000. Hundreds of votes continue to be sent in to the coalition every few hours. To put the size of the vote in perspective, a very large petition presented to the Legislature might have 20,000 signatures at most.

Read the full release on the Ontario Health Coalition’s website http://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/advisory-every-vote-is-counted-health-coalitions-across-ontario-deliver-results-of-massive-grassroots-hospital-cuts-referendum-to-legislature/ 

OPSEU and ONA members attended an awesome presentation from the OPTrust on May 25, 2016.

All OPSEU members who are FT, PT, or in a contract with more than 1 year of service are eligible to join the pension plans available to employees at CAMH. Both HOOPP and OPTrust are Defined Benefit Pension Plans which means a secure income future for members and these plans are also jointly trusteed which also means members are at the table looking out for your future.

Alexis Morgan is a Benefits Specialist with the OPSEU Pension Trust, and she took potential retirees down the road toward retirement during this particular session.

• Planning your retirement is difficult for most working people, and financial advisors often estimate you will require between 60% and 80% of our pre-retirement income to maintain your current lifestyle after you retire. If you are within 5 years of retiring, now would be a good time to begin to view your retirement picture to obtain a clear sense of the income you can expect when you retire.
• *Figure out how much you personally will need in your retirement. Will you have enough to maintain the same standard of living you enjoy today (remember, you will not be purchasing daily coffee, lunch, gas, TTC pass etc., as you are not working anymore)?
• *When selecting a retirement date you could consider the following OPT early retirement options: (Factor 90; 60/20 or you are age 55 years or more).

THIS IS WHAT STRESS LOOKS LIKE

On Monday April 18, 2016, May Warren, a guest reporter for the Toronto Star, wrote an article entitled MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES TAKE A TOLL ON WORKERS—AND EMPLOYERS, TOO. The article described circumstances and situations where employees felt compelled to NOT report certain conditions to the employer, including but not limited to mental health issues for fear of stigma at the workplace.

What was remarkable about the article was that one of the people interviewed was Dr. Kwame McKenzie, former Medical Director at CAMH, now CEO of the Wellesley Institute and a member of Civic Action’s Mental Health Advisory Group. McKenzie called workplace mental health “one of the last taboos”.

Says McKenzie: “and then the worse type of time off is a mental health problem, because of the high levels of stigma. They say ‘oh, you’re just not coping, man’” .

What is happening in the GTA at the moment is not all companies are thinking it through, and because of that people are breaking, the article states. Further, according to the report, mental health disorders are a top reason why people take short term disability.

McKenzie then says “If we’ve got that many people, half the workforce, with mental health issues, then we are shooting ourselves it the foot with regards to productivity”.

Paula Allen, VP of research and integrative solutions at Morneau Shepell which conducted a workplace survey as part of the report, said emotional and interpersonal issues can be a huge source of stress at the office, whether they stem from poor management or troubles with other colleagues. Allen says “A lot of organizations, when you talk about stress and workplace stress, they say immediately ‘we’ve got deadlines and we can’t get rid of deadlines, we can’t change the job…”

Elements need to be built into a company’s business strategy, such as manager training on the topic and leadership from the top, to address risks to mental health and help people cope with these issues so it becomes the norm… seeking support is a sign of strength and self-awareness and it should never be confused with weakness and shame…”

Wow!!!!! What a concept—hard to believe that an organization such as CAMH does not recognize these concepts for their own employees. Dr. Kwame McKenzie worked at CAMH for years—yet the Union never heard or were aware that he might speak out in defense of employees who have mental health issues within CAMH, and we certainly are, on a regular basis stigmatized for coming forward in an organization which touts itself as a centre of excellence in dealing with people with mental health issues.

Where is the disconnect? At the Unions’ last Labour Management Meeting (LMC) we asked to change insurance carriers—we asked to leave Desjardins in favour of a company who might better align itself with the values CAMH espouses. Better yet—one might think CAMH would exert some authority where it actually counts and teach insurance companies what ‘treating people with mental health issues looks like’. Alas, they care to not be leaders in this field.

We all know employees who are not coping and many of us know why—here is what you can do:

1. reach out and listen
2. assist your colleague if they are look frazzled or hurried
3. do NOT gossip or become a bully toward your colleague (you could be next)
4. offer your colleague assistance if they request it.

The Union plans to connect with May Warren, and take her on a tour of disability within CAMH! We will keep you all posted in the next article…

The Union marvels at the spin CAMH can place upon this round of layoffs of front-line clinicians…trying to make a silk purse from a sows’ ear.

In fact, the response from some stewards is what has prompted the Union to invite you to find out the real truth.

Between Tuesday April 19 and Thursday April 21, approximately 30 employees of Unit 2-5 and CAITS were told they would either be laid off or be invited to another meeting to receive a series of options to assist them in keeping their employment intact. Whew, what a relief, you might remain employed at CAMH.

The announcement yesterday to the employees that Unit 2-5 is closing sent a ripple of disbelief through the programs. Why close a REHAB program? Good question, as it sends the message that the rehabilitation of clients is over, the staff did such a great job that clients no longer require any rehabilitation moving forward—interesting theory.

The downsizing and reskilling of CAITS was also a shock—and let’s be clear right here—the layoff of CT1’s-qualified addiction counselors is also a real shock, as if the centre was unaware that clients with an addiction would have multiple medical issues which needed to be monitored by Nurses…imagine.

We think there was a place for both sets of skills in this program, but alas management has a different, narrow approach to resolving their difficult problems. It appears the workload will simply intensify for those remaining with the program, but they will have Nurses now working with them.

So, let’s go back to the beginning… so you can see where the disconnect really starts.

The Union meets every year with the Finance Department of CAMH, so they can advise us that once again there has been a zero increase to the base hospital funding–which means there will be an impact on positions and employees at CAMH.

This year, the Finance folks thought it would be great to present the Union with how “wonderful” CAMH was really doing, including how great it was that the Foundation was able to solicit as much money as they had, and what wonderful partners we now had and specifically the McCain Family was mentioned, along with the new McCain Building at White Squirrel Way.

The Union was puzzled at the “bragging” rights, but given that I, as President, have recently had my employment threatened by Human Resources, I thought perhaps they might not appreciate any comments, so we all remained quiet and allowed the presentation to continue.

So—you got it—NO ONE in the room had any idea the McCain building was closed except for the Union folks. Why has the McCain building closed already—LAYOFFS.

What is just so incredible to the Union—is the lack of knowledge, the lack of empathy and the lack of thoughtfulness moving forward—it simply is nonexistent.

We hope that the next presentation is done with some thought and genuine concern for the removal of programs, closure of beds and the layoff of dedicated, qualified staff who give everything they have to really TRANSFORM LIVES.

The layoff process will continue sadly, and the folks who will be able to assist you through this process are the Union.

The real message from CAMH is this: YOU ARE REPLACEABLE.

On a daily basis, members of OPSEU contact the office looking for assistance and guidance navigating the system of our Insurer (Desjardin), and Occupational Health, Safety and Wellness here at CAMH.

The sad reality for the employees of CAMH has been the systematic refusal of the employer and the Insurer to recognize that employees working at CAMH may from time to time experience a relapse in their illness and require a period of recovery—like any individual we may treat on a daily basis.

There is also the very real possibility that employees become ill in the course of their work life due to the environment at work (like PTSD), and this is again something employees have no control over, but certainly should be validated in the course of the work we perform.

Why is it so difficult for CAMH to respond or acknowledge their own employees may have mental health issues?  We think, when any organization answers only to Finance or responds only to financial burdens or restraints, they clearly have limited ability to focus on their employees or clients.  Employees simply become numbers or dollar signs on a piece of paper, and the focus becomes the decrease of that number, not a focus on good health or wellness.

The organization also writes Policies which limit or impede your ability to be well and maintain good health—as opposed to dealing with individuals who may or may not exceed or take advantage of available sick time.

This too is a savings of dollars for the organization, but the cost to an individual or employee is monumental in some cases, and places an unnecessary financial burden which further complicates the notion of overall wellness.

What we do recognize as a Union within this organization, is that our employees/members are falling through the cracks.  Employees and our members are reeling from PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression and a myriad of other issues that at any given time may become exacerbated by the next incident, within the workplace.

There is not simply a philosophical difference in how people are treated.  We like to refer to the notion of humanity and the CAMH philosophy of “transforming lives” and how it does not apply to the people who work within the walls of CAMH.  When it relates to the employee, it is all about the financial burden to the organization, not your overall health and well being.

How many psychiatrist reports does one employee require in order to substantiate an illness-which is long established and long documented? How many individual letters of counselling should one receive until they get the message-illness is not tolerated at CAMH?  How should one cope in an organization whose focus is on the best possible treatment for mental illness, but does NOT practice this for their employees?

The senior bureaucrats at CAMH continue to receive bonus monies, and they continue to write policy which hinders employees rather than promote wellness and support improvements.

The Union will continue to respond to your issues as they arise, in the workplace.  We will be responsive, supportive and assist with navigating a system with little interest in employee wellness.

JOIN OPSEU LOCAL 500 MEMBERS FOR A LOVELY DINNER, AND A GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING.

AGENDA:

• BARGAINING UPDATE
• ELECTING A NEW LOCAL 500 EXECUTIVE
• ELECTIONS FOR OPSEU 2016 CONVENTION

WHERE: FACULTY CLUB, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, 41 WILLCOCKS STREET

(behind the Russell St. site)

TIME: 5:30pm to 7:30 pm           *door prizes

PLEASE ATTEND. QUORUM IS NECESSARY TO ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL MEETING.

• Cocktail Reception 5:30 pm
  Dinner 7 pm
  Prizes will be drawn during Dinner
  DJ & Dancing  9 pm
  Tickets for this Gala will be sold on the dates and times posted below.
  Sales END when all seats are sold.
  Tickets will not be held pending cash
  payment. NO tickets will be sold at the
  door.
  GALA Admittance is based on
  the names of Member and Guest indicated at time of purchase of ticket.
  
• Ticket Details
  UNION MEMBER $10
  Cash only and NON-Refundable
  Only One (1) Guest per Member
  GUEST $25
  Cash only and NON-Refundable
  
  Ticket SALES Dates Place & Times
  SITES
  Queen Site Cafeteria &
  College
  Site G 200 corridor
  DATES
  November 13, 17, 30
  December 3
  
  SAME TIMES FOR ALL DATES AT BOTH SITES
  7:30 am to 9 am
  11:00 am to 1:30 pm
  3:00 pm  to 5:00 pm
  
  IN THE SPIRIT OF GIVING HOLIDAY GIVING, THE PROCEEDS FROM TICKET SALES WILL BE GIVEN TO THE DAILY BREAD FOOD BANK

Read more on the Region 5 Education Weekend to be held February 20-21, 2016 here.