Union officers are listening to from members that life is changing into more and more unaffordable.
THUNDER BAY — JP Hornick, the president of Ontario Public Service Workers Union, visited Thunder Bay this week to speak concerning the provincial election and the problems dealing with staff at Confederation Faculty.
“(Close by) we’ve dozens of activists from OPSEU who’ve gathered to speak about management and methods to have affect within the upcoming election,” mentioned Hornick.
“We have seen staff beginning to set up throughout the province in response to a . . . snap election, and our members are very organized in working collectively to take part in that dialog and make the change we want in Ontario.”
OPSEU represents 7,329 staff within the area and Hornick mentioned union officers are listening to from members that life is changing into more and more unaffordable.
“People are struggling to find housing or pay their mortgages and rent. Grocery prices have skyrocketed. You have one in five children in Ontario are going hungry or food insecure. Those are statistics that we really need to pay attention to,” Hornick mentioned.
Communities in Northwestern Ontario are significantly hard-hit, they mentioned.
“These are the locations the place we have to have folks perceive what the consequences of the cuts to public providers are, since you’re feeling them in your day after day lives.
“It is vital to get out to make it possible for we’re not simply entrenched in cities, and that we’re not simply having conversations with folks we already know and agree with, these are the communities which might be the strongest and the heartbeat of Ontario. I believe it’s completely crucial for all of us to be getting out and travelling and speaking to 1 one other about what your experiences are right here,” mentioned Hornick.
Hornick’s journey included a go to to Confederation Faculty. OPSEU represents 1,189 staff there, together with 78 part-time help workers who are at present in contract negotiations.
“Those workers are the most precarious workers in the system, often the lowest paid, many of them are students who are trying to get by,” mentioned Hornick.
They mentioned Ontario has probably the most underfunded school system wherever in Canada.
Sara McArthur Timofejew, the native union chair for part-time help workers divisional govt and vice-chair of the part-time help workers bargaining staff, mentioned they’re searching for part-time help workers to be handled pretty.
“We’ve been in bargaining for 12 months now and it’s time for us to reach out to our members and get in touch with them about our next steps in bargaining because we can’t take these abysmal deals anymore,” she mentioned.
“Just to give some background, we have about 15,000 part-time support staff across the province at 24 different colleges. About 50 per cent of those are student employees who are making minimum wage, and are the sole contributors to the college system,” mentioned Noor Askandar, chair of the part-time help workers bargaining staff.
Askandar mentioned, “our employer truly filed for conciliation final week, on Thursday. We’re attempting to tell our members of that course of and a possible strike mandate ought to we want it, as a way to be sure that the conciliation course of is as productive as doable.”
McArthur Timofejew mentioned there are some things they’re asking for, comparable to pay a minimum of $1 above minimal wage in addition to paid sick days for contract staff.
Askandar added they’re additionally asking for fairness, variety and inclusion language to be included within the collective settlement.
“An instance of that’s to incorporate chosen household inside our bereavement go away language. And non secular and culturally, for individuals who prescribe to religions and cultures exterior of the Christian religion, that’s at present in our human rights,” she mentioned.
Confederation Faculty had not responded to requests for remark on the time of publication.
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