“Colleges are good, progressive employers,” college employer group says

Who knew?

Ignore the low wages, the lack of benefits, and the hours of unpaid work part-timers put in. As it turns out, “colleges are good, progressive employers,” according to the College Compensation and Appointments Council.

The Council, which bargains contracts as the employer at Ontario’s community colleges, has finally stated its position on union rights for part-time college employees. The council’s position? It’s not their problem.

Here is the full text of the Jan. 20 letter to OPSEU from Don Sinclair, Executive Director of the Council:

We acknowledge OPSEU’s position on the matter of Part Time Faculty.

The Council believes that the colleges are good, progressive employers and highly sought after places to work. Part-time faculty provide an important asset that enriches the academic programming for the students; as well as providing accessible post-secondary education in the communities that the colleges serve across Ontario.

As the bargaining rights in the college sector are statutorily determined, it is a matter that is strictly within the purview of the Legislature.

We would note that Part Time Faculty have always had the freedom to associate together in voluntary organizations, although we are not aware that any such part time associations exist.

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on this issue.

OPSEU’s Divisional Executive Committee for the Academic bargaining unit asked the Council for its position on union rights for part-timers in December. The union will have some pointed questions for the employer when the two sides meet next.

Union launches survey of part-timers
In the workplace, on the web

OPSEU is launching a province-wide survey of part-time employees in Ontario’s community colleges.

The survey has several purposes:

· to gauge the level of support for a provincial association to represent part-timers;

· to find part-timers who would lobby their MPP for help in making union membership legal for part-timers;

· to collect basic information about hours of work, wages, and so on, and how they vary from college to college and within individual colleges;

· to find out what work improvements matter most to part-timers; and

· to collect contact information so part-timers can receive The Part-Time Times directly.

The survey will be delivered in two ways. First, local campaign committees will be handing it out on paper in face-to-face meetings with part-timers. Second, part-timers can fill it out on the web at http://www.opseu.org/caat/parttime/survey.htm .

“The web survey is important because many part-timers, especially faculty, only spend a few hours per week at the college,” says Barbara Linds, Senior Campaigns Officer for OPSEU. “By combining the web with face-to-face contact, we hope to reach everybody. When more people know what we’re trying to do – and start doing it with us – that’s when we’ll start to influence government policy.”

The union has developed a postcard for part-time and full-time employees to send to MPPs. People are also encouraged to e-mail their MPPs. A full-listing of MPPs’ e-mail addresses is on the Ontario Legislature web site at www.ontla.on.ca.

Full-time academics back strike action
Could strike March 7 if talks don’t pan out

Full-time and partial-load faculty at Ontario colleges could be on strike by March 7.

In voting Tuesday, the faculty told their bargaining team to call a strike if contract talks don’t lead to a settlement. Faculty voted 80 per cent in favour of strike action. Turnout was 67 per cent.

“Obviously, we want a settlement, but we are prepared to strike if necessary,” said Paddy Musson, elected chair of the CAAT-Academic Division of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “So far, college management has put nothing on the table to address our number one issue. If that doesn’t change, we’ll be out March 7.”

The number one issue for the academics is workload, said Musson.

“All the studies we’ve seen are showing that excess workloads hurt education quality, which is something we care a lot about,” she said. “This is a fight about quality.”

More full-time jobs could result

The last time workload was the main issue in bargaining for college faculty was in 1984. The resulting 18-day strike led to the creation of the Standard Workload Formula for full-time teachers and the hiring of over 1,000 new full-time teachers.

“If the union is successful with its demands on workload, we expect to see many new teachers,” said Musson. “The union believes that those who have already proven themselves working part-time will be well-positioned to take advantage of these new positions.”

The union believes the colleges must create more full-time teaching positions to meet student needs.

“The McGuinty government is providing $6.2 billion over the next five years for quality improvements,” said Musson. “If they are serious about improving quality, that spending must go to better quality jobs for faculty and support staff. That’s what the Rae Report recommended.”

Full-time faculty are well aware of the poor treatment given to part-timers in the college system, Musson said.

“We hope to have a settlement soon,” she said. “Once we do, our OPSEU locals will be able to turn their attention to the campaign for union rights for part-timers. We know that there is a gap between non-union part-time and sessional teachers and those of us lucky enough to have a union. It’s time to close that gap.”

College bargaining law bans strike-breaking

Under the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act, it is illegal in Ontario for anyone who is not a bargaining unit member to perform bargaining unit work during a strike or lockout.

This means that no full-time or partial-load faculty member may work during a strike or lockout. It also means that it is illegal for college management to ask part-timers to perform the work of the bargaining unit.

“It is illegal for college managers to ask part-timers – or anyone else – to perform full-timers’ work if there is a strike or lockout,” said Paddy Musson. “We will be asking part-timers who are approached for this purpose to let us know.”

Part-timers should consult the faculty union at their college for more information on strike preparation.

OPSEU represents close to 9,000 full-time teachers, counsellors, and librarians at Ontario’s 24 community colleges.

Dear Chris:

The Part-Time Times received the following letter addressed to Chris Bentley, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities. You can contact Chris Bentley, too, as follows:

E-mail:
cbentley.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Phone: (416) 326-1600
Fax: (416) 326-1656

Dear Minister Bentley,

I was very disheartened to learn of your abandonment of discussions with OPSEU over the issue of responsible and equitable treatment for part-time college employees.

I am a part-time college worker, and have been so for over two years. The legislation that denies our ability to unionize is nothing less than an affront to our democratic rights as Canadians. Your government and all those who governed before you should be ashamed to uphold such clearly inequitable and ethically wrong treatment of Canadian workers.

To my knowledge Ontario is the only province in this great country to deny part-time college employees the right to unionize. On what basis does this unfair and undemocratic situation exist? I assure you that we have no secret agenda to impose. We simply want to be recognized on an equal footing with our unionized full-time colleagues…. I dare not become sick even with a cold, as a day off work for me is a day without pay, but not so for my full time colleague!

I urge you and your government to return to the table and invest in meaningful dialogue with OPSEU on correcting the currently shameful second-class employee status of part-time college employees.

I anticipate a timely response to this letter and my questions.

Sincerely,

(Name withheld)

Call our Campaign Hotline!

Interested in getting involved in the campaign for union rights for college part-timers? Call our Campaign Hotline at 1-866-811-7274 or (416) 448-7443. We can provide information, send you materials, and hook you up with the campaign at your college.

Get answers on the web!

Many of your campaign questions may also be answered on the web at www.collegeworkers.org . Our campaign Q&A at http://www.opseu.org/caat/parttime/OPSEUbackgrounder2.pdf   is a good place to look first.

Send us an e-mail!

We do e-mail, too. Our e-mail address is collegeworkers@opseu.org.

Tell your story

Ontario’s community  colleges have devised a wide variety of ways to make life hard for part-time employees. Starting today, the web site at www.collegeworkers.org will keep a running log of part-timers’ stories. Send us your name, college, and contact information, and we’ll post your story – anonymously – on the web.

It doesn’t have to be long – it can be one sentence if you like. Just tell other part-timers what has happened to you.

It doesn’t even have to be a “story.” Just tell us how you feel.

Send your story to collegeworkers@opseu.org  or call our hotline at 1-866-811-7274 or (416) 448-7433.

The stories below are just a sample of the stories collected at meetings across the province. Let’s hear yours!

• I am a part time support staff person, and I’d worked at the college for 14 months. Last year I requested some unpaid time off, which was approved. When I came back to work, I was told that there wasn’t a job for me to come back to. The work didn’t disappear. It “morphed” into another job which they hired someone else for while I was away. I asked my supervisor whether I’d done something wrong and was assured that my work was above standard. I asked if it was a budget issue, and was told it was not. In fact the person hired was being paid more than me. They couldn’t give me a reason!
• I’m a part time faculty member. I got a call from one college on Sept. 3 for a class starting on Sept. 4. I was asked: “Do you have a degree? How comfortable are you talking in front of people? OK? Good, you are hired.”
• We are always given the sense that we are begging for work. At the end of November, I have to ask: “What about teaching in January?” And then we’re not called until the last minute. One time I was woken up at seven a.m. on the first day of classes and was told “Come in quick! We need you!”
• I had an idea for a new course and was told, “Go ahead. We don’t know if we will be able to pay you, but go ahead. It’s a great idea.”
• I’ve been teaching part time for 18 years and am getting about half of what others get paid. I cannot do it any longer.
• I’ve been teaching for three years at one college. At times I’ve been called one week before the course starts and told what I’m teaching. Now I’m a sessional at another college and I teach 15 hours a week. I share a computer and there is no desk for me.

• Surely the person who is doing a good job for you at the college should trump the outside applicants for full time jobs! Why bring us back in to teach then, if we’re not capable?

• I’m a Library Technician and have worked at the college for almost four years. I started at 24 hours and after two years they reduced my hours to 12, but they kept changing them. First they had me on a yearly contract, then they started renewing it every semester. Now they renew my contract every two months.

• I’ve applied for several full time positions and, on one particular occasion, after they had given the position to the manager’s son, I was told: “Oh, I didn’t know you wanted full time work!”

• We are told that we can come to department functions - staff picnics and so on, but that we won’t be paid to be there. For the annual Christmas dinner, we have to pay if we want to go. Everyone else gets it free.

• I find it unbelievable the way courses are assigned. I started with a five hour contract in September, then was asked to fill in and teach another three hours, so now I’m partial load. Now I’m back to begging for hours again. Two managers both said there is nothing available for January, yet there are two courses scheduled with no teachers assigned. I saw an ad in the local paper for these courses, and yet I am available.

• I’ve been told that the pay scale for part timers is now set at $39, $49 and $59. But they say on my pay slip “Part-time maximum - $52 per hour.” The system has no basis and is demeaning.

• I’ve been teaching at the college for eight years and this is the first year I’ve had an office.

• Everyone I speak to gives me different answers. In our college there are too many discretionary decisions left to managers and there is no consistency across the college. There should be clear cut policies.

• Parking, parking, parking! Payroll deduction for parking permits is not available to part-timers. We have to pay the same amount even though we are not at the college every day of the week

• We had benefits on a shared cost basis until a year ago, then they were removed.

• I teach five hours a week. During midterm break, we are asked to attend meetings, but are not paid for the time.

• Job security is the biggest problem. People feel that they cannot say anything, lest they feel branded.

• I waited 40 minutes after I found out that my father had died, so that I could inform my class, I did that because my supervisor asked me to, and because I was concerned I might lose my job.

• I taught part time for 15 years and did more than 450 hours more than I was being paid for, when you take into consideration preparation, marking and follow up. I had no rights and no guarantees that I would be rehired for the next semester.

• I teach ESL and am being paid $20 an hour less than I make for the same job at a university. The college offered me classes at two campuses, but by the time I paid for gas and parking, and considering travel time, it was almost not worth it. I find that insulting.

• I’m support staff at the college. After 17 years I’m still only at Year Two on the pay scale.

• I’m working as a technician at the college. Every summer I get laid off and they replace me with two students.

• I was teaching two sections of the same course – three hours each. Now I’m teaching the same number of students, but in one section.

• Until December 2004 we got stat holiday pay and vacation pay. Then the college said: “We never had to give it to you, so we’re not!”

• I’m sharing an office with 13 others.

• At our college, people working full-time can take college courses for $25. Part-timers have to pay 85 per cent of the cost.

• I’ve worked at the college 24 hours a week for 10˝ years, and have never taken a vacation.

• I’ve worked as a support staff at the college for more than six years. I work alongside three full-time people, and my pay is about $8.00 an hour less than theirs for the same job.

• As a part-timer, I am never given the opportunity to participate in training. Sometimes I feel like I’m not there.

• At our college it’s definitely who you know, not what you know. Nepotism is rampant in hiring at our college.

• At our college, Continuing Education teachers don’t get paid until the end of the term after grades are submitted.

• Part time faculty get paid less for night courses than those they teach in the day. I’ve also had to make up teaching hours lost because of statutory holidays.

• I’ve been told that I have to post office hours for students, even though I’m not being paid for them.

• I was asked to teach two courses, but they found out they had enough students to add one more class. Instead of hiring me, they hired someone else with fewer qualifications, so they would not have to pay me at the partial load salary.

• There is a lot of stigma associated with being a part-time support staff. I was hired without a written contract and six times in the past five months I’ve been in the position of being “about to be laid off” the next day, and then extended at the last minute.

• The part-time support staff at our college get laid off from mid-December until early January, while full-timers get paid for the entire break. We also get laid off for the summer months, especially in the library.

• If a part-time instructor is sick, he or she doesn’t get paid. But when the college calls to say a class is cancelled, there is no compensation for all the preparation work that has been done for that class either. Once I was called an hour before my 6:30 to 9:30 class regarding the cancellation of that class. I wasn’t paid for either the prep work or the teaching,

• I was handed the course outline and the text for a class one day before the class was to begin. The college exploits the loyalty, responsibility and commitment that part-timers feel, and yet there is no reciprocity when it comes to hiring for full time positions.

• I would have to teach 50 courses a year in order to be paid equally to a full-time academic.

• I’ve been asked to take a pay reduction when enrollment in one of my classes doesn’t meet the minimum.

• When we bail out the college by taking a course at the last minute, they are very happy, but when it comes time for the next semester, they treat us like lepers.

• We can never relax. We feel that any time the manager can say: “Pack your bags, you’re gone!”
• I never know what days I’m going to be working, and it is stressful not knowing!

Got something to say about the way your college treats you?

Send your story to collegeworkers@opseu.org  or call our hotline at 1-866-811-7274 or (416) 448-7433.

The Part-Time Times is authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president, OPSEU.