March
8, 2006
Time to use
our power: Casselman
OPSEU members can bring the strike by
college faculty to a quick and successful end if they use their power
to communicate, says OPSEU president Leah Casselman.
“With 125,000 members, we should
be getting our message out to the Premier, to the Minister, and to
every MPP every minute of every day,” she said. “Every editor of every
newspaper in this province needs to see how strong the support is for
these striking members.”
E-mail addresses for every MPP and
every newspaper editor in Ontario are available on the web at
http://www.opseu.org/media/index.htm.
“This strike is about quality
education,” said Casselman, who kicked off the strike yesterday with
members of Local 732 at Confederation College in Thunder Bay. “It’s
about having more faculty, and more faculty time, for each and every
college student. It’s time for Dalton McGuinty to tell the colleges to
wake up and smell the coffee, and get back to the bargaining table
with an offer that responds to our demands.”
Casselman said it was “ironic” that
OPSEU is bargaining to get what McGuinty himself wants for the
colleges.
“Dalton McGuinty wants to be known as
the Education Premier,” she said. “He wants more faculty; we want more
faculty. The only folks who don’t seem to get it are the college
presidents.”
Casselman scoffed at employer
statements that the union’s demands are too costly.
“Education doesn’t cost, it
pays,” she said. “Dalton McGuinty gets it. He knows that a modern
economy depends on knowledge. That’s why he’s pledged $6.2 billion in
new money for post-secondary education.
“If the college presidents don’t know
how to manage their money, maybe that’s something McGuinty should be
looking into.”
On the line at Confederation, Local 732
president Kaia Beaudry stressed the importance of face-to-face
communication with students and the public.
“We really appreciate that people
take the time to roll down their car windows and chat with the
striking teachers,” said Kaia Beaudry, President of Local 732. “The
public have been awesome. They are miffed at management for not
showing any respect for the issues being put forward by the faculty
and we appreciate that.”
Photo: OPSEU
President Leah Casselman (white coat), Region 7 Vice-President John
O’Brien (leather jacket) with L.732 president Kaia Beaudry (black fur
collar) and her members on the line at Confederation.
