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December 14, 2006
Union bake sale aims to help MNR
The Post -
www.thepost.ca
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union will
hold bake sales today in North Bay, Timmins and
Hearst, to help raise money for the cashstrapped
Ministry of Natural Resources. Dave Fluri, a
union steward with OPSEU Local 635, said members
in North Bay want to raise at least enough money
to fill one enforcement vehicle with gasoline.
We want to raise as much as we can... but 20 or
30 bucks for a tank of gas would be nice, said
Fluri, noting the union is trying to organize a
cheque presentation for Friday to Nipissing MPP
Monique Smith.
The union said morale at the ministry is at an
all-time low due to years of cutbacks, with
operating funds for 2006-07 down more than $25
million, or more than five per cent, from
2005-06. The cuts have reduced park staffing,
curtailed fish and wildlife enforcement and
forced many offices to close their doors to the
public, OPSEU said.
The union has said operating expenses for
conservation officers are about 50 per cent of
what they were last year, forcing some offices
to ration fuel for their patrol vehicles.
It's pretty sad when a ministry of the Ontario
government can't even afford to put gas in its
vehicle, Fluri said, noting the bake sale
concept is a reflection of the level of
frustration among workers. He said a bottle
drive has also been suggested by some union
members to help illustrate just how desperate
the situation is for the ministry in Northern
Ontario.
The bake sales are part of the union's Save the
MNR campaign to protest the cuts to ministry
spending. Union members at MNR offices are also
wearing black every Thursday, meeting with local
MPPs and signing petitions for presentation in
the Ontario legislature. Fluri said MNR
employees care about quality wildlife management
and are at their wits' end after years of cuts
that have left absolutely no room to trim any
further.
Meanwhile, he said Ontario politicians are
giving themselves a 25 per cent pay raise, money
that would be better spend on the province's
natural resources.
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