OTTAWA –
The drive to win union
rights for part-time and
sessional employees at
Ontario’s colleges has
turned into a war over
freedom of speech at
Algonquin College in
Ottawa.
The
college has told the
Ontario Public Service
Employees Union (OPSEU)
that it cannot put up
posters or even talk
face-to-face about the
union organizing drive
in common areas on
campus during breaks.
“This
blatant censorship of a
legitimate and legal
activity is an
outrageous violation of
the rights of staff at
Algonquin,” said Roger
Couvrette, president of
the provincial
organization of
part-timers and
sessionals. “The college
has no right to stop
workers from finding out
about the organizing
drive.”
Couvrette said the
college is violating
Section Two of the
Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms,
which guarantees freedom
of expression, freedom
of peaceful assembly,
and freedom of
association, among other
things. He and other
OPSEU activists plan to
poster the college with
copies of the charter at
a news event today at
10:30 a.m.
The
OPSEU organizing drive,
which covers 24
community colleges and
more than 12,500
workers, is the largest
union organizing drive
in Ontario history.
“When we
are able to talk to
part-timers and
sessionals about signing
a union card, the
overwhelming majority do
so without hesitation,”
said Couvrette.
“Algonquin knows that
the only way to stop us
is to stop workers from
finding out about the
campaign, but it won’t
work.
“If
workers in the past had
waited for permission
from the boss to join
unions, they would still
be waiting today,” he
said. “We’re not
waiting. We’re talking
to our co-workers about
what collective
bargaining can do for us
all, and we will
continue to do so.”
Couvrette called
Algonquin’s opposition
to the organizing drive
“short-sighted.”
“Good
college managers know
that better jobs for
part-timers and
sessionals will improve
recruitment and
retention of these
employees and, in turn,
improve education
quality for the students
we all serve.”
