Welcome to the SEIU Local 1 Blog spot!
I will endeavor to post about news and issues relevant to our terrific membership group every week. Stay tuned while our content creators brew up some new content! Cheers!
—Your Local 1 content team
Sunday May 30th, 2021 – A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE QUARTERLY BONUS
The company and the union executive have recently approved a change to our yearly bonus structure, effectively turning it into a quarterly bonus, and as expected, it’s been a point of some discussion on the floor amongst our membership. I’ve heard from multiple members that welcome the change who see the annual bonus targets as difficult to achieve saying things like “most of these targets are beyond our control” or “we could have 10 great months but two bad months will sink us”. It’s true that by breaking the bonus structure into 3 month segments, it gives our membership more chances to hit all of our categories. This revised quarterly bonus also removes the controversial Total Recordable Injury target, replacing it with a total hazards submitted target, which in my opinion, is a much more proactive target to incentivize. In order to hit this new target however, we need our membership to buy in, and submit hazards. Seeing as the company has agreed to combine Q1 and Q2, and we need a 95% participation rate from our membership to hit our hazard submitted target for both quarters, June is going to be a pivotal month in order to reach this target. While some members may see this as a stretch goal, or flat-out unachievable, I would tend to disagree and say that if our members are willing to work together to submit hazards collaboratively, by including multiple members on a hazard, we could hit our 95% goal in short order. All submitted hazards will be adjudicated by the JHSC to assess it, and if you have any question regarding the adjudication process, I’d encourage you to please reach out to your crews safety representative or union steward for more information.
Thanks for reading! — PG
Saturday May 15th, 2021 – THE SUMMER OF FORD
As I write this premiere blog post, with the bright spring sunshine warming my neck and back, I’m getting the strong urge to do something outside. Something, anything, to enjoy this fine spring weather that the Southwestern Ontario region has enjoyed over the past few days. Across the street, I can hear my neighbours mowing their lawns, dogs barking, birds chirping their sweet songs. For a minute you could almost forget that the Premier has extended the emergency stay-at-home order, originally issued on April 8th of this year, until June 2nd. This has thrown a wrench into the works of many of our members May long weekend plans, many of whom have already made their 1st appointments to get vaccinated or indeed, have had their 1st shot already. After the province set a record breaking high of over 4,800 COVID-19 cases back on April 15th, numbers have gradually come down again to a still not insignificant 2,362 cases. Many of the outdoor activities our membership enjoys have been heavily restricted, and while we can all agree that more had to be done to curtail the spread of the pandemic, many of us have traded in our golf clubs and tennis rackets for gardening gloves, video games or an ice cold beer (or two) to pass the time. While we all sit and wait for the COVID-19 case count to decline, for the number of fully-vaccinated Ontarians to rise, and for our beloved green spaces to reopen, it’s my sincere hope that our membership continues to channel their boredom in productive ways and is able spend some time with their family and friends, either in-person or over a video call. Mental health is always of paramount importance and during these strange times we find ourselves in, it’s critical that we all do wellness checks on our neighbours, loved ones and friends. As members of a labour union, we are no strangers to the idea of solidarity, and while we all have our own opinions on what Premier Ford should or shouldn’t have done to curb the spread of COVID-19 in our province, it’s important that we continue show solidarity in our daily lives and continue to be there for one another, our families and our communities.
—PG