Toronto – In his new music video, “Same Job,” Toronto-based artist Mohammad Ali of Socialist Hip Hop raps about the plight of precarious part-time workers in the province's 24 community colleges. “Same job, less hours, less pay, less power,” he rhymes. “Organize for a say, or watch your rights slip away.”
Part-time workers in Ontario colleges have many different jobs – some are lab technicians, library assistants and registration clerks – however all have one thing in common: they work without many of the workplace protections other Ontarians enjoy.
OPSEU has been fighting for college part-timers’ right to unionize for over three decades. In September 2015, the union launched its latest campaign to organize thousands of part-time college support staff.
OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas thinks the colleges seem to forget that they are public entities, supported by public dollars.
“When the Premier says we need to do something about precarious work, the colleges ought to listen,” he said. “There is no better cure for precarious work than giving workers a voice. And there’s no better voice for workers than a union.”
Marilou Martin, Chair of the OPSEU College Support Staff Division, says part-timers face serious challenges in the college system.
“The situation of Ontarians doing precarious work is appalling. College part‑time workers don’t have any paid sick or vacation time. They have no drug benefits and no job security,” Martin says. “It’s a system that takes blatant advantage of part-time workers.”
Part-time college support workers in Ontario can apply for membership to OPSEU directly via www.collegeworkers.org. They are encouraged to check the Facebook group: facebook.com/SignUpOPSEU for updates on the campaign.
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For more information contact:
Marilou Martin, Division/Sector Executive, Support Staff Chair
416-550-0160
mariloumartin@rogers.com
Mohammad Ali,
SocialistHipHop.com
416-627-5255
https://www.facebook.com/MohammadAliAumeer