Ontario Political Forum

Teachers and education workers and their supporters in Windsor rally against Bill 115 shortly after its passage just outside former Windsor-Tecumseh MPP and Liberal Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's office, September 14, 2012.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, District 9 representing teachers and education workers in Windsor and Essex County is calling on our members to get 3 people each to help elect the NDP locally as a strategy to defeat the Hudak PCs and the Liberals. By defeating the PCs and Liberals we can hold all parties and governments to account for attacks on workers' rights.

We want to help prevent either the PCs or Liberals from gaining a majority which they would use to further attack and privatize public services like education and health care and undermine workers' rights.

Hudak says he will slash 100,000 public sector jobs, including those of 10,000 front line education workers, something proposed in the Drummond Report that the Liberals commissioned. Meanwhile the Liberals' budget would remove $1.5 billion from social programs by 2017, open the door for broad privatization of public assets like the LCBO and dictate more concessions to public sector workers.

The PCs and Liberals both passed the anti-worker Bill 115, the "Putting Students First" Act, in September 2012. It was used to impose contracts on us without our consent. The government's aim was to rip $2.18 billion out of education using the legislation. It also threatened all workers. Specifically, agree voluntarily to our austerity agenda and attacks on your wages and working conditions or have them imposed by legislation.

Austerity is a fraud no matter who pushes it. The PCs and Liberals talk of "restraint" for workers so they can hand over billions to the private sector. This doesn't solve any of the pressing economic problems affecting people's lives.

With a minority government, the parties will be forced to negotiate, rather than either having the power to dictate their austerity agenda.

We encourage other workers and unions to consider our strategy and how we can together defend our rights and reject false solutions like the austerity agenda. For more information about our campaign or to get involved contact us at: cpac@osstf9.com or call 519-948-7570 ext. 231

Education Workers Oppose Austerity