Staff
Ontario Public Service Employees Union members, including those from OPSEU Local 735 here, hit the streets yesterday leafleting cars and businesses to promote their “Equal Pay for Equal Work” campaign.
They also will be collecting signatures over the next month for a petition to introduce legislation calling for better wages and working conditions for part-time and temporary workers.
“At a time when key sectors of our economy are losing jobs, it’s absolutely crucial that we address the problem of part-time, temporary, precarious work in Ontario,” OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas said in a press release.
“We’re calling on government and employers to take action to help turn poor jobs into good jobs,” he added.
Three out of eight Canadians work at part-time, temporary, insecure jobs of one kind or another. These workers often receive a lower hourly wage than their full-time co-workers and many don’t get enough hours of work to live on, Thomas said.
“Ontario needs good jobs, not part-time, temporary, throwaway jobs,” he argued. “It’s time governments and employers took responsibility for what’s happening.”
Contract, or “unclassified,” provincial government employees make up more than 20 percent of the public service. Ninety percent of these employees work full-time hours, yet receive no benefits, no pensions, and no job security compared to their “classified” counterparts.
“In most cases, these employees do the exact same job and work the exact same number of hours as their co-workers,” noted Thomas. “They have the same responsibilities, and face the same risks.
“The government is just trying to save money on the backs of their employees,” he charged.
Thomas pointed out that in times of economic slowdowns, stable jobs stimulate communities and the businesses located in them.
“Ontario government employees live and work in over 5,000 worksites in 276 communities in Ontario,” Thomas said. “If these workers have secure jobs, benefits, and pensions, they will spend their money—instead of having to save it in case they get sick or lose their job.”
Thomas warned “contract” jobs hurt the economy, and that the Ontario government must lead by example and reverse this growing trend.
“This is all about employers saving money and making profits; unstable jobs benefit no one else,” he stressed. “We must fight for stable jobs for all Ontario workers.”
Thomas also said the government relies on a number of students as a source of cheaper labour, with the majority of students earning less than $10 an hour. In addition, more than 60 percent of LCBO employees are “casuals” paid as little as $10 an hour by an employer who made $1.35 billion in profits last year.
“We’re calling on the McGuinty government to introduce legislation in Ontario to require employers to pay the same hourly rate to part-time and temp workers that they pay to full-time, permanent workers,” Thomas said.
“This legislation is already in place in the European Union, and Saskatchewan and Quebec both offer some equality protections for part-time and temp workers,” he noted. “It’s time to modernize our laws.”
OPSEU’s “Equal Pay for Equal Work” campaign is endorsed by the 40-organization Good Jobs Coalition. The campaign web site is www.equalpay.ca
OPSEU represents workers at the courts, jails, Service Ontario, Tourism, Land Titles, Ontario Disability Support Program, Probation, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Transportation-Ontario, and Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
