Toronto – The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) will join a news conference at Queen’s Park today to demand that the province release the final report on of the Changing Workplaces Review, which was supposed to be available last fall.
“We’ve waited long enough for change,” said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “Precarious work is an epidemic in this province, and without laws to protect them, workers are slipping through the cracks. They need change now. We need that report now.”
The report will outline recommended changes to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Ontario Labour Relations Act (OLRA). Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne assigned the Minister of Labour to work on changing these laws in 2014.
“This government can clearly move quickly on things it wants to move quickly on – privatizing Hydro One, putting beer and wine in grocery stores, developing a Basic Income pilot project – but it moves at a glacial pace on far too many important files,” said Thomas.
Jointly hosted by the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Fight for $15 and Fairness, the press conference will be held in the Queen’s Park Media Studio at 9:30 a.m..
“This budget must envision an economy built on decent work,” said Thomas. “Any way you cut it, a thriving economy depends on a thriving workforce. Workers can’t be the consumers businesses want them to be when they can barely afford to pay their rent.”
OPSEU Region 3 Vice-President Sara Labelle, who will represent OPSEU at the press conference, agreed: “The government needs to stop the stalling. They need to move immediately to make meaningful changes for working people, and start serving the people they were elected to serve.”
For more information: Warren (Smokey) Thomas, 613-329-1931; Sara Labelle, 905-914-4037