(Toronto – May 3, 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OCUFA is concerned about the motives behind the Ministry of Finance\u2019s \u201cconsultations\u201d on compensation for workers in the broader public sector. It has become increasingly clear that these consultations are not being conducted in good faith and are, instead, part of the Ford government\u2019s political agenda to undermine the rights of workers and unions in Ontario.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the government\u2019s consultation with \npostsecondary education stakeholders on May 3, OCUFA President Gyllian \nPhillips made these concerns clear in her opening statement:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank\n you, my name is Gyllian Phillips, President of the Ontario \nConfederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), representing \n17,000 faculty at 29 member associations \u2013 most of whom are \nparticipating today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are turbulent times for universities in\n Ontario, starting with the government\u2019s introduction of needless \ndirectives on free speech, to the cuts to OSAP for students and the 10% \ntuition reduction that cut over $350 million from the system, and most \nrecently in the budget the introduction of so called performance based \nfunding tied to 60% of the operating budgets of our institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n clear pattern of all of these measures is government intrusion into the\n autonomy of our institutions. And that is not merely a budgetary \nproblem or a political annoyance, it is a direct attack on the societal \npurpose of universities and what makes universities effective and unique\n social institutions that address the most pressing social, economic, \nand cultural problems facing the people of Ontario. The principles of \ntenure, academic freedom, and collegial governance are not job perks but\n rather the lifeblood of any modern university and the living, breathing\n guarantee that universities remain autonomous from state and private \ninterests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regrettably, we see these consultations as the latest \nattack by the government on university autonomy and university faculty. \nLike much government policy thus far it is, in essence, a manipulative, \ncynical solution in search of a problem. In addition to our unique \nlegislative and societal mandate, it\u2019s important to note that the \nGovernment of Ontario currently only funds 35% of our operating budgets.\n In addition, like many others in the public sector, our monetary \nsettlements have barely kept up with inflation and operating funding for\n universities has not kept up with inflation. Salaries in our sector \nhave come in well under private sector settlements in recent years and \nwage legislation would only serve to undermine mature bargaining \nrelationships. Blaming faculty and other public sector workers for \nOntario\u2019s fiscal challenges is fact free scapegoating. Both nominally \nand legally, the Government of Ontario is not our employer and \nlegislated centralized bargaining would not only be counter productive, \nit would destabilize labour relations in our sector and undermine \nflexibility, collaboration, and creativity in collective bargaining in a\n sector that is varied and complex. The government has offered no \nsubstantial rationale for why destabilizing labour relations in a sector\n that more or less works well, will assist the government with its \npurported \u2018fiscal crisis.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to our pragmatic \nobjections, we have a principled objection to the government undermining\n the right of university faculty to free and fair collective bargaining.\n In the decisive first move in overturning the prevailing labour trilogy\n the Supreme Court elegantly captures the stakes of these consultations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n right to bargain collectively with an employer enhances the human \ndignity, liberty and autonomy of workers by giving them the opportunity \nto influence the establishment of workplace rules and thereby gain some \ncontrol over a major aspect of their lives, namely their work\u2026 \nCollective bargaining is not simply an instrument for pursuing external \nends\u2026rather [it] is intrinsically valuable as an experience in \nself-government.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n We are interested in \nparticipating in any conversation that makes collective bargaining more \nefficient and effective. However, our participation today is premised on\n several fundamental principles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like most others who have participated in this process, we assume that these discussions are a mere formality and will form the pretext for legislated constraints on bargaining. I would further note that our participation today in no way constrains our right to legally challenge the legislation once it is introduced. We see little evidence that the current Ontario government has much interest in protecting intrinsically valuable societal values like free and fair collective bargaining; however, we are prepared to be convinced otherwise as these consultations unfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Toronto – May 3, 2019) OCUFA is concerned about the motives behind the Ministry of Finance\u2019s \u201cconsultations\u201d on compensation for workers in the broader public sector. It has become increasingly clear that these consultations are Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":915,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-french"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/915"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lufappul.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}