2019-2021 CUPE 4222 Executive Board

President – Victoria Toulouse

Vice – President – Blair Thomas

Chief Steward – Joanne Dowswell

Secretary – Melissa Bakker

Financial Officer – VACANT: Nominations to be held September 21, 2019

Unit A Vice – President – Charlie Price

Unit A Deputy Chief Steward – Charlie Price

Unit B Vice – President – Erica Ross

Unit B Deputy Chief Steward – Wendy Tunks

Unit D Vice – President – Rebecca Graham

Unit D Deputy Chief Steward – VACANT: Nominations to be held September 21, 2019

Sergeant-at-Arms – Lynda Cooper

** Contact information for Executive members can be found under the ‘About Us’ tab **

As always you can contact the office at 519.453.4222 with any questions, concerns or inquiries

Please review the 2019 Nominees for Election as determined at the May General Membership Meeting

June 2019 Election Nominees

Save the Date: Elections for Executive positions and Committees will occur on Saturday June 8, 2019 at Montcalm Secondary School beginning at 9:30 am. You must be present to vote.

The June General Membership Meeting will follow immediately after Elections.

RALLY for EDUCATION

Join members from CUPE 4222, CUPE 7575, ETFO, TVOT and OSSTF

Wednesday May 15, 2019
3:30 – 4:30 pm

Monte McNaughton, MPP – Strathroy Office
81 Front Street West
Strathroy, ON

Let Monte McNaughton know we will not accept the
devastating CUTS TO EDUCATION! #NoCutsToEducation

Join CUPE 4222
Tuesday April 23, 2019 @ 5:30 pm
CASO Station, 750 Talbot Street
St. Thomas Ontario

Ontario’s Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli will be providing a keynote address to the St. Thomas Chamber of Commerce after the release of the 2019 Ontario Budget

LET’S GIVE HIM A BIG LOUD WELCOME!

Stand up for cuts to Education, Health Care, Social Services, Senior care, Post Secondary funding, Affordable childcare – we’re all in this fight together!

OPEN TO EVERYONE

Please share this information widely

The CUPE 4222 Graduation Award is available to all members’ children eligible in the year they receive their Secondary School Diploma.

Submissions must be received at the CUPE 4222 office no later than Tuesday April 30, 2019 at 3:30 pm.

Grad Award Criteria.2019

.Grad Award Application.2019

If additional information is required please contact the office at 519.453.4222

Two opportunities for members to attend Mental Health First Aid Basic certification courses have been tentatively booked by System Staff Development to run on March 11 -12, 2019 and March 13 -14, 2019 at the TVDSB Education Centre in London.

Course Description: MHFA Basic is intended for adults interacting with adults (18 years and older). This course focuses on the four most common mental health disorders including substance related, mood related, anxiety and trauma related, and psychotic disorders. Participants who take this course are well prepared to interact confidently about mental health with their family, friends, communities, and workplaces. More information: https://www.mhfa.ca/en/course-type/basic

Registration will commence through the Employee portal on January 30, 2019 at 10 am for those interested in participating

Brothers and Sisters:

There have been many developments with our benefits over the past year. As of March 1, 2018,
our Life, Health and Dental benefits moved from individual school board plans into the CUPE
Education Workers Benefit Trust (CUPE EWBT). As with any major transition, there have been
some challenges, but our general feedback has been positive.

Our Long-term Disability (LTD) plan, for which you pay 100% of the premiums, are in a trust
fund, managed by a Board of Trustees made up of CUPE Local 4222 and Local 7575 members.
Last year – for the first time in 11 years – the plan required a rate increase. Our carrier (GreatWest Life) initially proposed a 42% increase, but we negotiated it down to a 15% increase to
1.93% of salary.

We were able to negotiate a lower rate increase based on ongoing benefits change in the
education sector, and with the promise that we would continue to monitor claims levels.
However, the number of LTD claims in our plan continues to rise:

Date Open LTD claims Disabled Life Reserves
End of November 2017 29 $3,157,719
End of December 2018 50 $4,372,142
This represents a 72 % increase in open LTD claims, and a 39% increase in reserves.

We have entered into negotiations on next year’s premiums with Great-West Life and have
asked them to report back on this large increase, so we can learn what is driving it. Factors that
usually impact LTD claims include working conditions, age and work stress, but we need to
know more about what is impacting our claims specifically.

More broadly, LTD rates are rising across the province. That’s why CUPE Ontario has been
working with other non-teacher groups in the education sector to investigate potential provincewide LTD solutions to the LTD challenge.

The good news is, we have a comprehensive LTD plan that is helping our members who are
most in need. The challenge is that continued increases in claims could lead to higher LTD rates
going forward.

We will keep you informed as negotiations continue and will report back to the membership with
our options.

Yours in solidarity,

Joanne Dowswell
Chair CUPE Local 4222 and Local 7575 LTD Trust