Regional conferences build resistance to McGuinty wage freeze
“Does Dalton McGuinty
understand what we do?” Region 6 activists ask
October 4,
2010
About 70 local
presidents and activists in OPSEU Region 6 met in Sudbury Oct. 1-2 to learn more
about the McGuinty wage freeze and build plans to resist it. The Regional
Presidents’ Conference began with members simply describing their work, from
protecting children from sexual abuse to making Ontario’s highways the safest in
North America.
“Our members are
proud of the service we give to the community,” said OPSEU Region 6
Vice-President Sue Brown. “They want Dalton McGuinty to understand what we do.
He said he values public services, but between chronic underfunding and the wage
freeze, we really wonder if he does.””
Members got a
surprise when they did a rough calculation of how much they will lose to
inflation because of the wage freeze, said Region 6 Executive Board Member Jen
Giroux. “OPSEU members were shocked to learn how much the wage freeze actually
will affect their family income,” she said. The 70 participants figured out the
wage freeze would cost them about $703,000 over five years.
On Friday night,
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas briefed the meeting on the Ontario
government’s wage freeze consultations. OPSEU and employer representatives met
with the government for one day on Sept. 30; the OPSEU Executive Board will
discuss next steps when it meets later this month.
Special guest
speaker for the event was Marie Kelly, Secretary-Treasurer of the Ontario
Federation of Labour. Kelly, a member of the United Steelworkers, spoke against
the government’s plan to cut the wages of working people to pay for a corporate
tax cut. The Steelworkers, who endured a year-long strike at the Vale nickel
mine in Sudbury, are now seeing the McGuinty government reward the company with
a tax cut, Kelly said.
OPSEU Region 6
will be on the streets of Sudbury on Friday, Oct. 8 to stir up public debate
around the corporate income tax cuts. A day of leafleting is planned for the
riding of Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci.
OPSEU local presidents and activists met this weekend in Cornwall (Region 4)
and Toronto (Region 5)
September 27, 2010
OPSEU local presidents and activists met this weekend in
Cornwall (Region 4) and Toronto (Region 5) to learn more about Ontario Premier
Dalton McGuinty's wage freeze policy and to build strategies to battle it. In
one eye-opening exercise, participants calculated how much money they would lose
to inflation over five years if their current wages were frozen for two. For the
41 Region 4 members, the total hit worked out to $420,000 -- and that's assuming
they receive wage increases equal to inflation after the freeze. In Region 5,
the 90 members at the conference figured they stand to lose $984,000.
"Nothing will motivate our members to act, and stir them
to action, like the exercise of calculating their personal wage loss," said Barb
DeRoche, president of Local 443. "This
wage loss is a tremendous hit to expect our families to
take."
"Dalton McGuinty figures a lot of OPSEU members won't see that
what he calls a 'freeze' is really a cut equal to the rate of inflation," said
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, who stopped in at both sessions. "The fact is, the
freeze is really a significant cut that will cost the average OPSEU member close
to $2,000 a year from the second year on.
"If McGuinty had asked all Ontarians to make this kind of
sacrifice, his government would be nothing but a puff of smoke by now."
The next regional conference is set for Oct. 1-2, when Region 6
activists will gather in Sudbury. The Region 2 conference took place on Sept.
11; others are in the planning stages.
|
