Unfair treatment, precarious work at heart of union vote for part-time<br>college support staff

TORONTO, Sept. 28 /CNW/ - Unfair treatment and precarious working conditions are at the heart of an October vote by part-time support staff at Ontario's 24 community colleges on whether to join the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). Up to 10,000 part-timers are eligible to cast ballots in the largest union certification vote in Ontario history.

"We do exactly the same work as full-timers, and bring the same level of skills, experience and qualifications to the job, yet we get lower pay, we have no benefits, and we have no guarantee of work from one semester to the next," says Candy Lindsay, who has worked part-time at Fleming College for 11 years. "The colleges have perpetuated this unfair treatment for decades. It's unacceptable to treat people like this."

Until last year, it was against the law in Ontario for part-time support staff to unionize. That prompted colleges to hire more part-timers to save money by not having to pay for benefits and decent wages. The roughly 10,000 part-time college support staff now outnumber their 7,000 full-time colleagues.

According to OPSEU President Smokey Thomas, "This college vote is about the kind of Ontario we want to live in. Do we want a province of precarious, part-time, temporary work or one that offers good jobs with decent pay and benefits so families and communities can thrive?"

About half of college part-timers are student workers involved in financial assistance programs like the Ontario Work Study Plan, says OPSEU student organizer Kiera Chion. "Students at the colleges have no voice and little recognition for what they contribute," she says. "Student work is real work, and I don't think the colleges appreciate that." She adds that many students are in dire financial straits, in part because Ontario has the second-highest college tuition fees in Canada.

The vote is supervised by the Ontario Labour Relations Board and will take place on specific dates at college campuses from Oct. 5 to 27. Vote times and locations are available at www.collegeworkers.org.

OPSEU represents over 16,000 full-time support and academic staff at Ontario's colleges.

    
    LOCAL CONTACTS:

    ALGONQUIN:      Devon Ford [phone]
    BORÉAL:         J.L. Roy [phone]
    CAMBRIAN:       Michel Bisaillon [phone]
    CANADORE:       Michel Bisaillon [phone]
    CENTENNIAL:     Kiera Chion [phone], Candy Lindsay [phone]
    CONESTOGA:      Kathryn Richards [phone]
    CONFEDERATION:  Richard Belleau [phone]
    DURHAM:         Rick Nemisz [phone] x2589
    FANSHAWE:       Marg Rae [phone]
    FLEMING:        Judy Nisbett [phone] x1611 (day) or [phone]
    GEORGE BROWN:   Kiera Chion [phone], Candy Lindsay [phone]
    GEORGIAN:       Michel Bisaillon [phone]
    HUMBER:         Kiera Chion [phone], Candy Lindsay [phone]
    LA CITÉ:        J.L. Roy [phone]
    LAMBTON:        Marg Rae [phone]
    LOYALIST:       Jennifer Bryan  [phone]
    MOHAWK:         Tracy Prokipczuk [phone]
    NIAGARA:        Bob Holder [phone]
    NORTHERN:       Lucille Lachance [phone] (day) or [phone]
    SAULT:          J.L. Roy [phone]
    SENECA:         Kiera Chion [phone], Candy Lindsay [phone]
    SHERIDAN:       Frederick Oliver [phone]
    ST. CLAIR:      Marg Rae [phone]
    ST. LAWRENCE:   Betty Cree [phone]
    

For further information: Valerie Dugale, [phone] (cell); Candy Lindsay, [phone] (cell); Kiera Chion, [phone] (cell)