Dalton McGuinty has drafted legislation that will send York University workers back to work without a fair settlement. This is an attack on free collective bargaining, the right to strike and well-funded, good-quality education.
Canadian labour law states that workers can be legislated back to work when their labour is deemed essential, when it is vital to state administration, when there is a national crisis or when there is a clear deadlock in negotiations. In this strike, the back-to-work legislation is premised on the ‘deadlock’ argument. But the fact is that there is no deadlock. In fact, the union’s bargaining team has bent over backwards to negotiate with the administration. Yet, the administration has repeatedly been “not inclined” to make any movement. There is no deadlock – there is a unilateral deadlock on the part of the employer! And now McGuinty is making the workers pay for it! Why not legislate the university back to the table?
Though McGuinty was elected on his strong support for education, when push comes to shove, he has his career and the Liberal Party’s backers to think of. He is a very pragmatic man. He has manoeuvred opportunistically to ensure he will be re-elected, leaving workers in the lurch. If education is a right, then it should be free and well-funded.
Fightback wholeheartedly opposes back-to-work legislation. Workers have every right to defend their rights to better wages and better working conditions. From day one, York University’s tactic has been to delay, wait, and delay some more — in the hopes that the state would force the workers back. Now the time has come for labour activists and unions to come out in support of workers at York University.
There will be a rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto tomorrow, Jan 25, at 12:00 p.m. Please come out and support workers at York University and speak your mind against McGuinty’s back-to-work legislation.
