Ethan Saks | Contributor
Featured Image: CUPE member stands at York Boulevard during the 2015 labour disruption. | Excalibur Publications
Recently, CUPE, Canada’s largest union, has taken steps at fighting back against the Ford administration’s recent cuts. The union’s campaign website claims to fight against the cuts of “health care, school boards, social services, and universities.”
Communities, Not Cuts, CUPE’s campaign against the Ford cuts, urges website visitors to send a message to their local MPP addressing the “all-out attack on municipalities.”
“These cuts are harming families, children, and the most vulnerable across Ontario while making the services we all rely on less accountable and accessible,” the website states.
The campaign also urges concerned community members to speak with their MPP about their concerns about Bill 124. According to the Communities, Not Cuts website, the Bill essentially strips workers of their rights.
The website states that “if passed, Bill 124 would take money from the wallets of front-line workers that would have been spent in our communities and continues to give the Ford Conservatives’ wealthy supporters tax cuts, and set the stage for even more attacks on public services and working people, in both the public and private sector.”
In a recent press conference detailing their plans, Fred Hahn, CUPE president, explained that Communities, Not Cuts would be a coordinated effort, which begs the question of how CUPE 3903, York’s local sector of the union, will become involved.
According to a report published by City News, CUPE staff have filed the papers to enable themselves to legally strike, and they will be eligible to begin a labour disruption on September 23. Laura Walton, the president of CUPE’s school board council, says in an interview with City News that filing to strike does not guarantee a disruption. Walton says, “We have done the due process that needs to happen under the regulations. If we do need to take action we can.”
Many students view CUPE’s initiative as a positive step towards fighting the cuts that have impacted them personally.
Aaron Plaus, a third-year Law and Society student, explains that the provincial government’s recent cuts have severely impacted the amount of funding he receives from OSAP.
“In previous years that I applied for OSAP, the funding I received was split fairly even between grants and loans and covered a large majority of my tuition and living expenses for the year. After the changes made to the 2019/2020 school year, my funding has been cut back by almost 75% with no option of a grant being available,” Plaus says.
“If this continues into the future, it will make it very difficult for me to afford living expenses and tuition without loans,” Plaus adds, “I fully support CUPE fighting against the decisions made by the Ford administration. It shows that they are willing to stand up for what they believe is right for the students.”
Regardless of whether or not CUPE’s antics are viewed as reasonable, they seem to be siding with those being negatively affected by the recent changes. Whether this campaign helps or hinders students and others affected by funding cuts is yet to be determined.
