|
January 8, 2009
Labour Board orders vote for part-time and
sessional faculty
Three-week voting period starts Jan. 19
Part-time faculty at Ontario’s
community colleges are finally getting their say.
Late in the evening of Tuesday,
Jan. 6, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ordered a union representation vote
to let 9,000 part-timers and sessionals at 24 colleges decide if they want to
become OPSEU members.
“We have worked so hard for so long
to get to this day that it’s hard to believe it has finally arrived,” said
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of OPSEU. “Our job now is to work even harder
to get out the vote so part-time and sessional faculty can become part of our
great union and take part in collective bargaining to improve their wages and
working conditions.”
The Labour Board ordered the vote
after OPSEU filed an application for certification on Dec. 2, 2008. To back its
application, the union presented the Board with over 5,000 union cards signed by
college faculty.
“At every college I’ve visited over
the last two years, I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of part-timers and
the depth of their desire to take their future into their own hands,” said Roger
Couvrette, president of the organization of part-timers and sessionals (OPSECAAT).
“I urge each and every part-timer and each and every sessional to get out and
vote YES to joining OPSEU.”
Voting will take place over a
three-week period from Jan. 19 to Feb. 5, 2009. Labour Relations Officer from
the Board will supervise the ballot boxes. Voting will take place at 58
locations on college campuses.
“In many cases the ballot boxes
will only be in a certain location for a few hours,” said Couvrette, “so if you
have been or currently are a part-time or sessional faculty member it is very
important to figure out where and when you are going to vote.
“I encourage you to go directly to
our web site at www.collegeworkers.org and look at the list of vote times and
locations. Then mark your date, time, and place on your personal calendar.
“So many people have worked so hard
for this opportunity. We cannot afford to waste it.”
Since the McGuinty government’s
changes to the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act last October, all part-time
and sessional faculty are grouped into a single province-wide bargaining unit.
This means that voters may vote at any location in the province.
“You do not have to vote at the
college where you work,” Couvrette said. “If you work at Seneca but live near
Humber, you can vote at Humber, and so on.
“The main thing is to be sure to
vote.”
OPSEU organizers will be working
hard to communicate with voters over the next four weeks, said OPSEU President
Thomas.
“Voter contact is key for all of us
who want to see this organizing drive succeed,” he said. “Part-time and
sessional faculty often spend very little time on campus, so I am calling on all
OPSEU members who work in the college system to go the extra mile to reach out
to them. This means wearing our VOTE YES buttons and stickers, putting up our
VOTE YES posters, and answering any questions part-timers and sessionals may
have.”
The OPSEU campaign web site at
www.collegeworkers.org has complete information about the vote and the union, as
well as a listing of vote times and locations across the province. Vote
materials have already been shipped to OPSEU regional offices and organizers
around Ontario.
La Cité and Algonquin
activists gathered in Ottawa Jan. 6 to plan for the certification vote
for part-time and sessional college faculty. From left to right: Benoit
Dupuis (full-time faculty, La Cité), Mariette Blanchette (part-time faculty,
La Cité), Candy Lindsay (Vice-President, Organization of Part-Time and
Sessional Employees of the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology [OPSECAAT]),
Maryanne Jackson-Hughes (part-time faculty, Algonquin), Claude Lacelle
(retired full-time support staff, Algonquin), Roger Couvrette (President,
OPSECAAT), Barb Linds (retired OPSEU campaigns officer and lead for colleges
in eastern Ontario), Caron Fitzpatrick (part-time faculty, Algonquin),
Fernand Begin (member of OPSEU’s full-time faculty divisional executive),
Jack Wilson (full-time faculty, Algonquin), Pierre St-Gelais (full-time
faculty, La Cité).
For full information about the OPSEU drive to win union rights for part-timers
and sessionals at Ontario’s community colleges, visit
www.collegeworkers.org or
call 1-866-811-7274.
The Part-Time Times is authorized
for distribution by Roger Couvrette, president of the Organization of Part-Time
and Sessional Employees of the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (OPSECAAT),
and Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees
Union.
|
