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April 3, 2013 - Vol. 2 No. 30

We Are the Opposition!

Unite in Action to Defeat Anti-Worker Legislation!

Oppose the Austerity Agenda!
Picket at PC Leader Tim Hudak's Constituency Office

Friday, April 5 -- 3:30 pm
Called by: Hamilton and District Labour Council,
Niagara and District Labour Council and Local 1005 USW

For information: 905-547-1417

We Are the Opposition!
Unite in Action to Defeat Anti-Worker Legislation!
Oppose Use of Labour Board to Establish Anti-Worker Precedents - Mira Katz
Bogus Debate Over Illegitimate Austerity Agenda - Rob Woodhouse

Education Is a Right! Unite to Affirm the Rights of All!
Secondary Teachers' Federation and Government Reach Tentative Agreement on Improvements to Imposed Contracts - Enver Villamizar
Post-Secondary Tuition Fee Increase Will Not Solve the Crisis - Dan Cerri
The Use of Education Funding to Advance Private Interests

Coming Events
National Day of Action to Stop Genetically Modified Alfalfa


We Are the Opposition!

Unite in Action to Defeat Anti-Worker Legislation!

Four separate pieces of anti-worker legislation have been put forward by the Hudak Conservatives in the Ontario Legislature since it resumed sitting on February 19. One of these is Bill 5, the Comprehensive Public Sector Compensation Freeze Act, 2013 that passed second reading on February 28 by just one vote -- 36 to 35.

With Bill 5 the Conservatives are proposing a legislated across-the-board freeze on all forms of compensation for all workers in the broader public sector, including not just employees of the Government of Ontario and its Crown agencies, but also employees of municipalities, municipal agencies, employees of colleges and universities, hospital and other health services and all not-for-profit agencies and enterprises receiving public funds above a set amount.

Bill 5 is a follow up to the Restraint Act passed by the Liberals in 2010 that legislated wage freezes for all non-unionized public sector employees and which was to be extended for another two years with the Protecting Public Services Act which died on the order paper with prorogation. In essence, Bill 5 is a new version of the Protecting Public Services Act and a new version of Bill 115, the Putting Students First Act, 2012 for the broader public service.

Bill 5 is based on the same criminal logic that billions must be taken from public services in order to pay the moneylenders and free up billions for pay-the-rich schemes. This direction was overwhelmingly opposed when the government used its arbitrary powers to impose it in the education sector. Now is the time to step up the organizing against this new round of anti-worker legislation and unite in action to build on the advances made to date in affirming the rights of all. It can be done! It must be done!

Other Anti-Worker Bills Tabled by the Hudak Conservatives this Session

Bill 17, Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Alternate Insurance Plans), 2013. Bill 17 is a private member's bill tabled by PC MP Randy Hillier. It reverses recent regulations expanding the scope of workers covered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, allowing some businesses to purchase private workers' compensation insurance. It is currently at first reading.

Bill 22, Helping Ontarians Enter the Skilled Trades Act, 2013. Bill 22 is a private member's bill tabled by PC MP Garfield Dunlop. It would establish an apprentice/journeyman ratio of 1:1 in the skilled trades and extinguish negotiated arrangements between the building trades unions and construction companies which regulate the apprentice/journeyman ratio. It is currently at first reading.

Bill 25, Sick Days are for Sick People Act, 2013. Bill 25 was defeated at second reading on March 21. It had been tabled by PC MP John O'Toole. It would have eliminated the banking of sick days by any workers across the broader public sector and eliminated the cashing out of sick days in any form. It would have also extinguished negotiated contract provisions in public sector contracts.

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Oppose Use of Labour Board to Establish
Anti-Worker Precedents

The Ontario Labour Relations Board heard arguments on April 2 on whether to proceed with issuing a decision on whether or not the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) advised its members to engage in an illegal strike when it advised them to pause their participation in extra-curricular activities in response to the government's imposition of non-agreements. The two school boards that brought the original complaint against ETFO to the Labour Board are Upper Canada and Trillium Lakelands. The chair of the Labour Board, Bernard Fishbein, did not rule on the matter on April 2, however he indicated that a written ruling would be issued soon.

During the hearing, ETFO argued that as a result of the withdrawal of its advice to members regarding extracurriculars and the ongoing discussions with government the Labour Board should "seize" the matter, essentially pausing any ruling to permit the process that is unfolding to play out rather than compromising it. Prior to the hearing, ETFO lawyer Howard Goldblatt said: "The question is, what is the status of the board's decision given the recent announcement by ETFO with respect to extracurricular and voluntary activities? That's the issue that's going to be addressed briefly -- whether the (labour relations) board should issue a decision, or not issue a decision. Our position is that there is no labour relations purpose now; we will be arguing that fully."

The two school boards have now made it clear that they are not simply interested in getting extra-curriculars back -- which they and the government originally claimed was their goal -- to defend students' welfare. Their aim is to undermine the thinking and organization of teachers and education workers. The boards are now openly demanding that the Labour Board use the situation to establish a precedent so that teachers and education workers have no mechanism to defend their rights in the face of imposed non-agreements and the broad violation of their rights. Just as Bill 115 was supposedly "Putting Students First" by attacking those who teach students, the school boards claim their action seeks redress for students as victims.

Upper Canada Chair Greg Pietersma said: "We weren't just seeking a ruling on the current situation, but to give us direction in future because this has happened too many times, using extra-curriculars as a bargaining tool." Trillium Lakelands Chair Karen Round agreed: "We need to know the Labour Relations Board's position one way or the other -- we're looking for clarity in the long term. We need a decision."

Clearly the school boards who are pushing for a ruling against the teachers want to eliminate a very effective measure that teachers and education workers have used to say No! to dictate and to alert the public to the government's violation of their rights. The school boards' claim to be acting on behalf of the children is most disingenuous. It is the teachers and education workers who are the victims of bullying and are affirming the right of all workers to dignity by saying No! This is a stand in defence of the rights of the students, their parents and everyone else who works for a living. The school board's actions beg the question: why are the school boards going after the victims for trying to defend themselves? Why are the school boards not standing with their teachers and education workers in opposing the violation of rights? Why would school board officials take such a stand when they are under the same dictate from the provincial government and threatened with takeover if they do not submit? Why not take a stand for rights rather than attack the victims?

The claim that teachers and education workers were using extra-curricular activities as a bargaining tool is bogus indeed given the fact their inability to bargain is precisely what the fight is about. Extra-curricular activities were withdrawn because teachers and education workers were not permitted to bargain. Right from the outset the government eliminated bargaining by stating that either the unions voluntarily accept the theft of $2.19 billion from education or it would be legislated. Then it acted on this threat, passing Bill 115 and using its powers to impose non-agreements. For representatives of school boards to now paint teachers and education workers as the problem is disgraceful.

The Government of Ontario is laying low behind the scenes using the Labour Board proceedings as a pressure point in its talks with the unions. No doubt it is also hoping that the Labour Board will do their dirty work for them, after which they can claim that teachers and education workers have said they respect the Labour Board and will accept its rulings. The situation is a real test of the government's claim about having respect for teachers and education workers and the work they do. Will the government now take a stand and affirm that teachers and education workers have the right to decide what they do with their time outside of teaching?

Regardless of what transpires, teachers and education workers have shown that they will not accept the violation of their rights. They have steadfastly upheld their dignity and in so doing the dignity of all workers. They will not accept being victimized or bullied.

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Bogus Debate Over Illegitimate Austerity Agenda

Since the Ontario Legislature resumed sitting on February 19, it has been the stage for a continuous bogus debate between the Liberals and the Conservatives over how best to impose the illegitimate austerity agenda demanded by the rich for Ontario, in the face of its broad rejection by the public. In this manner the rich are hoping to destroy the public opinion that has developed, especially during the period of prorogation and culminating in the mass rally at the Liberal Leadership Convention, that workers have rights and governments must affirm them.

Their debate frames the question in the following manner in order to pretend that there is no alternative to the illegitimate agenda they are both peddling: How can austerity be implemented most effectively, through legislative dictate or through negotiations and voluntary compliance?

The Hudak Conservatives have called for using more legislation to impose austerity on workers as was done with Bill 115. They have put forward four separate pieces of anti-worker/anti-union legislation in the past month. In addition to this legislative assault, Hudak also introduced several motions to attack public sector pensions and to make teachers' voluntary extra-curricular activities mandatory, something the Ontario Labour Relations Board is currently considering.

In the debate, the Wynne Liberal government pretends its stand on austerity is to achieve it through negotiations and voluntary compliance by public sector workers -- as if it hasn't already used legislation in the manner proposed by the Conservatives. In response to a question from the Conservatives requesting an across-the-board public sector wage freeze, Premier Wynne said: "What the member opposite is arguing for is an outcome. He's arguing that there should be wage constraint. We are making the same argument. We have different methodologies to get there, but the outcome has to be the same. I agree that we need wage constraint. That's why we've been on the path that we've been on for the last year. That's why we have negotiated the zero-zero agreements that we have negotiated. We are working to the same goal, but we are not going to use the same mechanism as the member opposite is suggesting, because we really believe that working in partnership, working with the public sector employees, we can get there, and we're demonstrating that that's possible."

The stands of both the Hudak Conservatives and the Wynne Liberals are despicable anti-worker positions which base themselves on the anti-worker notion that workers, workers' rights and workers' organizations should be whipped from pillar to post through both legislation and coercion to impose austerity. The Liberal position of austerity through "negotiations" is a bogus attempt to fool the gullible into believing that there is a "fair" way to impose an illegitimate agenda which will somehow be acceptable.

Even when the form of negotiations is used by the Liberals, the content is coercion. The Liberal position is for voluntary compliance with austerity by workers; but "voluntary" compliance is always backed up by legislative dictate or the threat of legislation, the same mechanism the Conservatives advocate. The Liberal claim that they are "not going to use the same mechanism" as the Conservatives is patently false. Such deception begs the question: Do the Liberals think the workers and people of Ontario wake up in the morning and forget about what happened yesterday, like the characters in the movie Groundhog Day?

It was only six months ago that the Liberals and the Conservatives collaborated to pass Bill 115, stripping teachers and education workers of their collective bargaining rights. The terms Bill 115 imposed on teachers and education workers are still in effect today and the Liberals and Conservatives who approved this legislation are still sitting in the Legislature. As well, the workers in the Ontario Public Service, community college faculty, public service professionals and many other workers settled contracts in "negotiations" in which the government used Bill 115 as a gun to workers' heads to blackmail them with legislation similar to Bill 115 being used against them.

The Liberal government is still using this coercion as it enters negotiations for collective agreements with other public sector workers. Workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) are currently in negotiations and the Wynne government is dictating a four year wage freeze, a two tier wage structure and other contract concessions for them. Wynne's message is: submit to austerity measures or else.

The more the workers say No! and find mechanisms to turn their No! into an organized force, the more desperate the Liberals and PCs are becoming in trying to pass off an illegitimate agenda as the only way forward.

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Education Is a Right! Unite to Affirm the Rights of All!

Secondary Teachers' Federation and Government
Reach Tentative Agreement on Improvements
to Imposed Contracts

On March 31, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) President Ken Coran informed members around the province that as a result of meetings held with government representatives and school board officials over the past eight weeks, an agreement had been reached. He said the agreement "provides for improvements in several areas of imposed conditions, including unpaid days, future grid, sick leave, maternity leave, support staff job security, retirement gratuity payout for members with non-vested gratuities, benefits, local bargaining, graduated return to work." Imposed conditions refers to the non-agreements the government imposed on teachers and education workers using the powers it gave itself in Bill 115.

Education Minister Liz Sandals also issued a statement concerning the tentative agreement. She made sure to point out that the changes her government is permitting to the imposed terms do not involve any return of the $2.19 billion it is stealing from the education sector with the imposed non-agreements. She also made a mockery of the truth, suggesting the amendments to the imposed terms let the government off the hook for its violation of rights.

Sandals stated: "I am pleased that we have come to an agreement in principle with OSSTF that is focused on the fair and consistent application of the existing collective agreements, while reflecting the ministry's fiscal situation. The government and OSSTF have been able to resolve implementation concerns identified in a number of areas including: sick leave, maternity leave, retirement gratuity, unpaid days, and local bargaining."

Claiming to permit a few minor changes in how one will abuse someone and that this makes the abuse "fair" and even something the abused person agrees to is criminal. But this is precisely how the government is conducting itself.

The tentative agreement with the government will be discussed by OSSTF first with Bargaining Unit Presidents, Chief Negotiators and members of the provincial Collective Bargaining Committee on April 4, after which it will be shared with members. In his message, Coran announced that a provincial vote of all affected OSSTF members will be held on the agreement.

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Post-Secondary Tuition Fee Increase
Will Not Solve the Crisis

The Ontario government has announced that over the next four years tuition fees will increase for Ontario's post-secondary students at an average of three per cent and five per cent for undergraduate and graduate programs, respectively. Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Brad Duguid tried to put a positive spin on the theft of money from the pockets of Ontario's students and families by claiming that the three per cent increase is lower than previous rate increases. In 2006, the government lifted a tuition fee freeze and has since implemented increases at five per cent per year for undergraduate programs and eight per cent for graduate studies. The media is presenting the announcement as a "cap" on tuition fee increases.

Student groups are responding to the announcement. The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) points out that undergraduate and graduate university students in Ontario already pay the highest tuition fees in the country, making it clear that a cap on tuition increases will only make matters worse. They also point out that since 2005 student debt owed to the banks which hold Ontario student loans has doubled from $1.15 billion to more than $2.6 billion. This makes it clear that the government is shifting its debt and deficit onto the backs of the youth which they must then pay back with interest so the banks can profit from them and their families. CFS-Ontario has released a report entitled Changing Priorities Moving Towards Affordable Post-Secondary Education with recommendations for more affordable post-secondary education. The report recommends the government implement a multi-year tuition fee framework that reduces tuition fees by 30 per cent over three years, establishes a long-term plan to progressively eliminate tuition fees and ensures that tuition fee billing policies and practices are fair for students.

Post-secondary institutions are already indicating that "tough times are ahead" as an expected portion of their new revenue from tuition fees will not be available as they had initially budgeted. The concerns expressed by post-secondary administrators are a reaction based on their reliance on previous tuition fee increases of between five and eight percent because funding from the government has been severely reduced. The government had warned post-secondary institutions to plan for drastic cuts to their budgets for the next two years.

The government's news release included the following logic for the decision:

"The previous framework would have allowed colleges and universities to increase tuition by an average of five per cent each year. Under the new framework, annual tuition fee increases will be capped at an average of three per cent, only one percentage point above the average inflation rate in Ontario over the past 10 years."

Duguid described the tuition fee increase as "striking a balance" between keeping post-secondary education affordable while ensuring that it remains competitive internationally and also helps institutions with long-term financial stability.

The announcement is a further indication that the "new" Liberal government under Premier Wynne is following the same austerity agenda as the previous McGuinty government while trying to present itself as being "fair" and even protecting students by "capping" tuition fee increases. It does nothing to hide the fact that degradation of the entire education system is part of the anti-social offensive being advanced in Ontario and across the country.[1] This offensive is to attack public right that benefits the people while making them pay out of their pockets for social programs and services. But government is at the beck and call of the monopolies and other private interests when they come calling for handouts.

It is disturbing that the government suggests that students' concerns are only about affordability and that these concerns "must be balanced" with the concerns of post-secondary institutions for financial stability. Students should be involved, along with their parents, educators, administrators and others in determining the interests of post-secondary institutions. It is the government, through its implementation of the austerity agenda of the rich, that is causing a rift by cutting funding for education and increasing tuition to make up for funding shortfalls.

Note

1. See TML Daily, April 2, 2013 - No. 42.

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The Use of Education Funding to Advance
Private Interests

Investigations into how funds for education are being used continues to reveal that spending for this sector is used to advance various private interests. The following are some examples based on highlights of the 2013-2014 budget for a Greater Toronto Area college.

The budget reveals how money is allocated in a way that suggests improvements to the college but also indirect ways of giving money to private interests, such as construction companies and technology firms. For example, one of the budget items is referred to as a "corporate systems review" in the amount of $1,800,000. Some of this money is being budgeted for online management systems that are run by private external companies. This also relates to the emphasis on more online learning described as "creative and innovative" by the Ontario government and currently being implemented as themes for individual institutions. There is an additional budgetary item in the amount of $2,500,000 to work with a marketing firm to build a brand strategy.

Infrastructure monopolies will also be lining up to make big scores based on a total of over $50 million allocated for various infrastructure developments, mainly in the area of expansions to buildings.

In comparison to these budgetary items that will transfer public money to private interests, $1,700,000 is budgeted for additional full-time faculty positions and $90,000 for professional development funds.

Faculty and staff at the college are now being asked to contribute to a fund to raise money for the college, with some administrators already contributing substantial sums of their own money. This particular college is taking on characteristics of a private institution with its own administrators now putting money into it as if putting shares into a company.

Discussion among faculty has included the concern that there is no budgetary committee made up of predominantly faculty members and that the only decision on the budget rests with the Board of Governors. Several committees have been established that are supposed to be faculty-driven but they are limited to so-called "academic issues" that are already established, negating the chance for faculty to participate in decisions at higher levels, including the aim and direction for the budget. It raises the question of exactly what constitutes an "academic issue."

Meanwhile, the Liberal government has announced that an annual tuition fee increase will continue over the next four years at an average of three per cent per year. It confirms the "new" Liberal government's plan to continue to use tuition as a way to subsidize funding shortfalls, putting more of the burden on students and their families. The response by colleges and universities, such as fundraising and attracting more students that represent "funding units," is undoubtedly due to the government's recent announcement that individual institutions should plan budgets by cutting spending by $40 million this year and $80 million next year.

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Coming Events

National Day of Action to Stop
Genetically Modified Alfalfa

April 9, 2013 -- Stop GM Alfalfa!

The National Farmers Union in Ontario in conjunction with the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network has called for a national day of action for April 9, 2013 to stop the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered alfalfa. They are calling for actions to be held at MPs' constituency offices on the day.

The following reasons for the Day of Action are provided from the NFU:

Why Is Stopping GM Alfalfa Urgent?

Monsanto's GM alfalfa could be registered for use in Eastern Canada this April. GM Roundup Ready alfalfa varieties have just been cleared for the last step before they hit the market -- all they need now is a final registration rubber-stamp by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The Canadian Seed Trade Association and its corporate members including Monsanto, Pioneer and Forage Genetics International are also actively trying to get support for the release of GM alfalfa.

Because alfalfa is a perennial plant that is pollinated by bees, genetically modified alfalfa will inevitably cross-pollinate with non-GM and organic alfalfa, threatening the livelihoods of family farmers across Canada. Prairie farmers have already rejected GM alfalfa for these reasons so now the industry is trying to introduce GM alfalfa in Eastern Canada.

Why Is GM Alfalfa Such a Huge Threat?

GM contamination is inevitable because alfalfa is a perennial crop pollinated by insects. In Ontario, weeds are becoming resistant to glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup): another glyphosate tolerant crop like Roundup Ready alfalfa would increase these weeds. Alfalfa is almost always grown in a mix with grasses and establishes readily without the use of herbicides. Farmers don't want or need Roundup Ready alfalfa. If GM alfalfa is released in Eastern Canada, it will have negative impacts on a wide range of farmers and farming systems, both conventional and organic.

Why Is Alfalfa Important?

Alfalfa (commonly harvested as hay) is a high-protein forage fed to animals like dairy cows, beef cattle, lambs, poultry and pigs. It's also used to build nutrients and organic matter in the soil, making it particularly important for organic farming. If it's introduced, GM alfalfa will ruin export markets for alfalfa products, contaminate family farms, make it more difficult for farmers to control weeds, and threaten the future of organic food and farming in Canada.

How Can I Organize an Action in My Community?

The National Farmers Union and the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network have produced an action kit with details on how to make your action successful. We have posters, flyers, information on GM alfalfa and other materials to help you.

For more information please see the CBAN website or feel free to email Ann Slater in Ontario or call her at (519) 349-2448; or outside of Ontario email Cathy Holtslander in Saskatoon or call (306) 652-9465 or call CBAN for direct support or to discuss ideas -- call Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network at 613-241-2267 ext 25 or email Lucy.

Also visit the National Farmers Union webiste at www.nfu.ca.

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