Today, 10,000 full-time college support staff showed up across the province, hitting the picket lines at colleges across Ontario. The solidarity we’ve seen in less than 24 hours is nothing short of amazing.We’ve seen support for our strike from the United Steelworkers, to the Canadian Association of University Teachers; from the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) to the Canadian Federation of Students; from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) to ATU locals, representing bus drivers, which who have refused to cross picket lines, and more.The lesson of solidarity is simple: when we fight for our communities, we fight with our communities – and we’re just getting started. We’ve seen our messages plastered on TVs and newspapers across the province, from Thunder Bay, to Ottawa. We will keep telling our story – on our own terms.As we wrap up Day 1, we want to be clear about what happened in those last hours before the strike deadline. The employer did not honour our last package with a response, instead rejecting it outright and asking us to bargain against ourselves.Forget “poison pills”: there are countless proposals on the table that have not yet been addressed, from language around contracting out, to protecting bargaining unit work from management and erosion by new technologies.We made it clear that we wanted to trade proposals, and were willing to do so far into the night – and we waited for the opportunity. Because that’s what bargaining is.Looking workers in the face, after we have built up historic power by organizing across the province, and insisting we give that up for a third-party to decide on a contract is not bargaining.It tells us one thing: this employer doesn’t respect us as workers, they don’t feel beholden to the bargaining process, and they’ve forgotten the power of the union.We don’t have to take this lying down. We know the colleges are planning more lay-offs in the fall, and we know they see support staff as collateral damage.The fight has come to our doorstep – and we’ve been asked to meet the moment.We’re going to keep those lines strong, we’ll the public talking about our fight, and we’ll get our communities on side. We will build the path to win day by day, line by line.Tomorrow night, please join us for an important re-group to discuss this historic moment and how we can keep the momentum building.Register for the Townhall tomorrow night at 7pmSee you on the picket line tomorrow!As always, you can read the latest bargaining updates on CollegeSupportFT.org.Solidarity,Your College Support Full-Time Bargaining Team:Christine Kelsey, Local 416 (Chair)Shelley Gartshore, Local 124 (Vice-Chair)Veronica Attard, Local 416Dan Brisson, Local 672Bob Holder, Local 243Dana Leaman, Local 241Xiaoyan Wang, Local 561Stay connected & follow us on social media:
For all bargaining inquiries: [email protected]Bookmark our Linktree: linktr.ee/CollegeSupportFTInstagram: @CollegeSupportFT Facebook: @CollegeSupportFT |
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