FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2006
OPSEU calls on
teachers to support strikers at the Ontario Teachers’
Pension Plan
TORONTO – Striking staff at the
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are calling on plan members and
teachers’ unions to hold OTPP CEO Claude Lamoureux accountable
for his behaviour at the bargaining table.
“This employer is doing things
that are absolutely repugnant to teachers and their unions,”
said Andy Kayser, president of Local 598 of the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union. “Rather than recognizing the
contribution that staff make to the success of the plan,
Claude Lamoureux is seeking to dictate, not negotiate, a
contract.”
The strike was triggered after
Lamoureux refused to modify two proposals. Lamoureux is
demanding that 1) staff work a longer work week; and 2) staff
allow management to allot a portion of their pay at
management’s discretion, rather than as part of the pay grid.
“Teachers’ unions would not
agree to either of these proposals, and neither will we,” said
Kayser.
Last week, Lamoureux sent a
letter to OTPP staff to encourage them to scab their own jobs
in the event of a strike.
“As a general rule, teachers
and teachers’ unions do not support the use of scabs,” Kayser
said. “I am sure they feel even less enthusiasm about paying
scabs with their own money.”
On Friday, when it became clear
that the employer would not negotiate, the union offered to
settle the remaining issues through binding arbitration. The
employer refused.
“Claude Lamoureux’s agenda is
not about getting a fair settlement, it’s about
union-busting,” said Kayser. “We are calling on the 264,000
teachers and pensioners who are members of the OTPP to call
Claude Lamoureux and tell him that since they are paying his
stupendous salary, they expect him to act according to their
values.
“That doesn’t mean paying
scabs. It means getting back to the table and acting in a way
that teachers themselves would find acceptable.”
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For more information:
Andy Kayser (416) 939-0947
Brock Suddaby (647) 225-2453
Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan Index Page
