Campaign aims to win equal rights for college part-timers

OPSEU kicks off province-wide effort;
NDP tables bill in Legislature

The union representing 15,000 full-time employees at Ontario’s community colleges says it’s time 16,000 part-timers had union rights, too.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) has kicked off a province-wide campaign to change the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act. That law legally bars part-timers from joining a union.

“Ontario is the only province in Canada where it is against the law for college part-timers to join a union,” OPSEU president Leah Casselman said at a Queen’s Park news conference Monday. “It is shocking that such a basic right is not recognized in our colleges.”

Colleges are unfairly exploiting part-time workers as a source of cheap labour, Casselman said.

“Part-timers are cheaper because they earn less than full-timers,” she said.

“They are cheaper because many of them, particularly faculty, work many hours for free.

“They are cheaper because part-time faculty have no benefits and part-time support staff have none or almost none, depending on what college they work for.

“They are cheaper because, due to an exception in the Employment Standards Act, colleges are not required to provide statutory holiday pay, vacation pay, and several other basic rights to part-timers.

“The exploitation is widespread, it is wrong, and it has to stop.”

Ontario NDP MPP Rosario Marchese tabled a private members’ bill in the Legislature on Thursday. If enacted, the bill would delete the clauses in the current law that exempt part-timers from union rights.

Outreach under way

Part-time workers themselves are the key to success for the OPSEU campaign, Casselman believes.

“OPSEU can provide a lot of resources to help part-timers connect with each other, both within individual colleges and province-wide,” she said. “We have decades of experience at organizing and campaigning.

“In the end, though, this campaign depends on part-timers. Without their support, we can’t succeed. With their support, we can’t fail.”

Full-time OPSEU members at all 24 colleges have already begun talking to part-timers about the campaign. Focus-group conversations have been held at the majority of colleges. More meetings are planned.

Friends and family are part of it, too

Changing the law means getting involved in Ontario politics, says Leah Casselman, and politics means people.

“There are 16,000 part-timers in our colleges, and that means 16,000 people who are not being treated equally under the law,” she said. “That represents a lot of political power. Our campaign needs to add to that power. We should all be talking to our friends, neighbours, and relatives about this, and building support for part-timers in our communities.

“That’s what will make local MPPs listen.”

MPPs must be accountable

Lobbying local MPPs will be a cornerstone of the part-timers campaign, said Casselman.

“Local MPPs must be held accountable for the mistreatment of college part-timers,” said Casselman. “If they support equal rights for part-timers, they should say it out loud, and if they don’t, they should explain why they think part-timers should continue to live and work as second-class citizens.

“We want to see the law changed immediately, but if it takes longer than that, MPPs who don’t support equal rights will be held accountable on election day.”

TAKE ACTION:

Four things you can do right now

1. Get informed. Learn about the part-time issue, and the OPSEU campaign, at http://www.opseu.org/news/ Press2005/OPSEUbackgrounder.pdf.

2. Go to the web site at www.collegeworkers.org. Then click “Sign On-Line Petition” to sign our petition. Have your family members sign as well. The petition will be presented in the Ontario Legislature.

3. Talk to all the college part-timers you know. Tell them about the campaign and the web site. Ask them to sign the petition, too.

4. Contact your MPP, your nearest Cabinet Minister, or the Premier. Ask for their support – or their poor excuse. Get your family and friends to do the same.

Plug yourself in!

The Part-Time Times is published by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. It is distributed by e-mail to all college employees for whom we have correct e-mail addresses.

To receive this newsletter, simply send an e-mail to collegeworkers@opseu.org. Give us your name and e-mail address, and we’ll put you on our list.

Your name will not be shared or traded with any other organization.