Challenging the Ontario Public Sector Wage Freeze

By Hugh Grant, UWFA Treasurer

Brian Stevenson must be having an interesting time in his new position as President at Lakehead University.

Shortly after his arrival in Thunder Bay, picket signs went up on campus. On August 16, some 150 clerical, administrative and technical staff at the Lakehead and Laurentian campuses of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) went on strike. The medical school is a separate legal entity from both universities, but Stevenson chairs NOSM’s board of directors.

Support staff at NOSM are represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, are affiliated with the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and are members of the CAUT Defence Fund. The strike came after mediation failed to resolve several outstanding issues, from wages and benefits to hours of work. The strike extended into its sixth week and there had been pressure exerted by students, faculty and other staff to reach a negotiated settlement. A tentative agreement was reached on October 4.

The strike at NOSM must be viewed in the context of the Ontario Government’s attempt to impose a wage freeze in the public sector for two years. This freeze was announced in the March budget, in July the government began a series of consultations with public-sector employers and unions seeking compliance with its wage-freeze policy. The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) reports that only 25% of public sector contract settlements since March have had zero wage increases and that the consultation process has only served to slow the pace of bargaining. Moreover, a recent arbitration award gave 17,000 nursing home workers a 2% wage increase.

Other potential work stoppages at Ontario universities may lie ahead. The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association on October 1 voted 87% in favour of job action. The Carleton University Academic Staff Association will be holding a strike vote on October 4 and 5. An arbitration compensation award at the University of Toronto is expected in the next few days which will also determine the pattern for negotiations in Ontario.