Membership drive is one of largest in Ontario history
Jan 28, 2008 - 02:20 PM
By Jillian Follert
DURHAM -- Two hundred part-time teachers and support staff at Durham College are being included in one of the largest union membership drives in Ontario history.
The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) has launched a massive drive to recruit more than 12,500 part-time faculty and support staff at colleges across the province.
OPSEU spokesman Roger Couvertte says part-timers have been struggling with a lack of job security, lower pay and no benefits for years, as a result of legislation passed in the 1970s.
"When the Bill Davis government passed the Colleges Collective Bargaining Agreement (CCBA) in 1975, it specifically excluded part-time workers from the right to bargain collectively," he explained at a press conference in Whitby Friday morning. "That was common at the time and it wasn't a big deal because there weren't many part-time people. Now, that has changed."
In June 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the right to collective bargaining is protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and in August the McGuinty government announced its intention to recognize the bargaining rights of part-time college workers.
Chris Bentley, minister of colleges and universities, said the Liberal government will introduce legislation following a review of the CCBA by Kevin Whitaker, chairman of the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
He is expected to make recommendations by the end of February.
It's a welcome process as far as John Bisset is concerned.
He's been teaching at Durham College for 25 years and has seen first-hand the inequities that exist between full-time faculty and support staff -- who already belong to OPSEU -- and their part-time counterparts.
"There's no question the part-time and sessional faculty aren't treated the same way we are," he said. "The school couldn't function without the part-time faculty and they deserve for this to change."
He said bringing part-time faculty into the union could benefit the college and its students by ensuring teachers stay with the school, rather than hurrying off to their next part-time gig as a way of ensuring steady income.
Ken Robb, vice-president of human resources for Durham College, said it's impossible to speculate how organizing part-time workers might impact the college financially, but he stressed officials are supportive of the process.
"We fully support the right of part-time employees to organize as they see fit. We're just letting the process take place."
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