Campaigns
 

Public agrees that students are not being treated fairly
 

July 13, 2009

Students took their fight for fairness to the public on Saturday at two provincial parks and got a sympathetic response for the most part.

Students handed out flyers to cars entering Sibbald Point and Six Mile Lake Provincial Parks.  The flyers explained that students will lose on average $450 over the summer because the Ontario government has ended the practice of paying their student workers vacation and holiday pay.

The government’s own legislation requires employers to compensate workers who get no paid vacation and work the statutory holidays.

In past years, 8.16 per cent of gross pay was added to the students hourly wage rate in lieu of vacation and holidays. About half of the 3,000 students working for the provincial government in the summer earn minimum wage.

But the government ended the practice earlier this year saying it had erroneously made the payments in the past and was no longer doing so because the Crown, (the government), is exempted from these sections of the Employment Standards Act..

Many members of the public going into the parks agreed this was an injustice and said they could understand why the students are so upset.

One man entering Six Mile Lake Provincial Park said he had put four children through university and he understood how a few hundred dollars can make a difference when you’re trying to make ends meet through the school year.

Fairness for Ontario government summer students Index