Everyone can help win
our biggest
organizing drive
Talk it up, spread the word.
We’re impressed with the incredible support for our campaign
to win rights for college part-time workers – one of the largest organizing
drives in Canadian history. Thousands of people working part-time in
support staff and faculty positions at the 24 community colleges have now
signed union cards, and we are well on our way to making a strong case to
win union rights for them.
We know the current law banning them from organizing a union
is not only unfair, it’s unconstitutional. But the first step in our battle
for union rights is to prove to the government that these workers want a
union. To do that, we need to sign them up.
While wages and working conditions for full-time unionized
employees are the same across the province, those of non-union part-timers
vary widely from college to college. So does the number of part-timers at
each college, with the majority of part-timers employed by the large
colleges in the Toronto area.
Our team of organizers has a tough job locating thousands of
workers, but they are being aided by our college full-timers. Most
face-to-face contacts result in a signed union card.
Your OPSEU Executive Board, representing the many different
sectors of our union, has affirmed its solid support for the campaign. OPSEU
has expended plenty of resources – people and money -- on this drive. But
our end goal – human rights for people – is certainly worth the effort.
Everyone must help us win: If you know someone who works
part-time at a college, ask him or her if they’ve signed a union card.
If you are an OPSEU member working at a college, I am
especially asking you to do your part. You will soon receive a letter from
me in the mail, along with two union cards. Please ask any part-timers you
know to sign the cards and mail them back to OPSEU.
Together, we will win!
In solidarity,
Warren (Smokey) Thomas
President
