Bargaining
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Unclassified workers rally in Toronto
Chanting “We won’t back down” and
“no justice, no peace”, unclassified
OPSEU members and their supporters took their demands to the streets of Toronto around the main government buildings, calling for an end to the abuse and exploitation of contract government employees.
Members also came in buses and vans from Smiths Falls and Kingston, London, Hamilton and Sudbury to make their voices heard.
They assembled outside the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. About a quarter of Ontario’s Correctional Officers are unclassified, on average for eight years.
“We are all in the same fight,” Corrections Bargaining Team chair David Kerr told the crowd. “A worker is a worker and everyone should be granted equal rights and benefits.”
Led by the drumming musical group, Samba Squad, the members marched through downtown streets. They stopped at intervals to yell shame at a number of ministries that use a high percentage of unclassified employees, including the Ministry of Attorney General, Education and Training, Natural Resources and Community and Social Services. The march ended at 1 p.m. at a rally at 77 Wellesley St. W., a block of government buildings close to Queen’s Park.
OPSEU’s Executive Board, in Toronto for their monthly meeting, joined the march and rally. The Canadian Federation of Students - Ontario brought a contingent of supporters as did striking members of CUPE 3903.
It was -10C with the wind chill, but people’s spirits were high. The 250 people at the rally ate hot dogs and pizza while listening to speakers.
“We want to bargain a contract,” said President Warren (Smokey) Thomas, “But if the government wants to bargain a strike, we’ll give them a strike like they’ve never seen before.”
He went on to point out that in an economic downturn, the best kind of economic stimulus is one that ensures workers have decent jobs. “If you want to talk about stimulating the economy, decent jobs with good wages and benefits do far more for our families and communities than any other kind of economic stimulus,” said Thomas.
OPSEU 1st Vice-President Patty Rout also addressed the crowd. “This government needs to lead by example and stop abusing their own employees.
Nathan Aubin, the unclassified representative on the Central Bargaining Team, said there have been improvements for unclassifieds in the past few rounds, but more gains are needed.
“The employer expects us to do the same job under the same conditions as our classified counterparts with none of the benefits, vacation, job security or schedules that we can plan our lives around,” he said. “This is ludicrous.”
Aubin has been an unclassified correctional officer for eight years at the Sudbury Jail. “This is stripping our dignity away and it’s time to take it back. Enough is enough.” Aubin called on members to do whatever they can to end this abuse of contract workers and to not be “the silent spectator sitting in the corner letting injustice happen.”
Chris Cormier, a member of the Central Bargaining Team and a seasonal unclassified for 10 years at Sir James Whitney Provincial School in Belleville, told the crowd that 25 to 30 per cent of OPSEU’s membership in the OPS is unclassified. The majority work full-time hours with no benefits, no job security and no appreciation from the employer.
“Does this sound like we work for the Ontario government or a greedy corporation like Wal Mart?” he asked. “The Ontario government should be embarrassed. Rebuilding public services depends on providing real, full-time jobs for those who provide the services.”
Provincial unclassified mobilizer Kristy Grahame, an unclassified correctional officer for five years at the Niagara Detention Centre, said that it takes on average six to 10 years to become classified.
“When we attend the Corrections college, we are brainwashed into believing we will be full-time within two years,” she said. “The employer is outright lying to us. We understand the inherent risks this career entails, but we deserve the same treatment and job security as our union brothers and sisters who are classified. Our lives are worth more than unclassified status. If crime is full-time than so should we be.”
Region 4 mobilizer Daryl O’Grady has been a seasonal unclassified for seven years with Sir James Whitney School in Belleville. 90 per cent of the residence counsellors at the five provincial schools for the blind and the deaf are seasonal unclassified. They work from September to June each year. At the end of June they are laid off.
“At the end of the school year, they pay tribute to your work and then they reward you by putting you on the unemployment line for two months until they call you back to work in September,” said O’Grady.
He said that many of the staff at the provincial schools are deaf and are afraid to stand up for their rights. “It’s time to stand up against an employer that bullies its workers. No more unclassified jobs. We work full-time hours, we deserve permanent jobs.”
The emcee of the rally was Region 5 Vice-President David Rapaport who pumped the crowd at several intervals with chants of “No Justice, No Peace.” He suggested that various government ministers should be unclassified to see what it’s like for more than 10,000 of their employees.
Vanda Klumper, Chair of the Liquor Board Employees Division bargaining team, said that three out of eight workers in Ontario have part-time, temporary, insecure jobs. She said that more than 60 per cent of workers at the LCBO are casual employees, earning $6 to $8 an hour less than other employees and receive no benefits or guaranteed hours of work. OPSEU’s collective agreement with LCBO expires March 31 of next year. “We need to stick together in this fight,” Klumper said.
Irene Harris, secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Federation of Labour, brought a message of support from the provincial labour body. “The OFL has been with you in the past when OPSEU has taken on tough fights and won,” she said. “You’re hard bargainers. And you have to be with this government because they don’t give anything up without a fight.”
Region 6 Executive Board Member Peter Wall, an employee of 31 years with the Ministry of Natural Resources (where two-thirds of the ministry’s employees in the summer are unclassified), told the crowd he had a simple message. “Change is only going to happen when you make it happen,” he said. “Take control, take power and you will make change.”
Region 7 Executive Board Member Brenda Clapp talked about the situation for unclassified members at the Ministry of Attorney General. About a quarter of the ministry’s 5,000 employees are unclassified. “We need to send a loud message to the government,” she said. “We are united and strong. It’s time to fight for your rights.”
The rally closed with a message of support and solidarity from CUPE 3903 member Lykka de la Cour. About 3,400 teaching assistants, research assistants and contract faculty at York University in Toronto, Canada’s third largest university, are entering the fifth week of their strike.
“Our members are fighting many of the same issues with our employer as you are with your employer,” said de la Cour, who has been a contract faculty member with York University for 16 years. She pointed that every year she has to re-apply for contract jobs at the university. “If we start organizing and forging links between all workers who are contract, contingent or temporary, that’s how we’ll win this fight,” she said.
Special thanks go to Region 5 mobilizers Noeline Ah-Hone, Ibrahim Bozai, Bill Garrett, Leslie Howard, Dan Marshall and Edie Strachan, as well as provincial mobilizer Kristy Grahame for their lead roles in organizing the rally.
