>From: Ravi Malhotra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Chris Faatz ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [Fwd: Urgent !] >Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2001 02:49:50 -0400 > >Please distribute as widely as possible. > >In Solidarity, > >Ravi _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Please forward this email far and wide. In solidarity, Paul Lykotrafitis, Shop steward CUPE local 3261 ------------------------------------------------------------------ To: Friends of CUPE Local 3261, Workers at the University of Toronto and University of Toronto Press Dear Supporter, Less than a year ago workers at the UofT Bookstore struck for three months – against an employer who, at one point, was offering only a wage decrease to the absolute legal minimum for new employees. When the workers voted to return to work they did so with many things: a new sense of dignity and worth, better wages and job security, and an overwhelming amount of support from the university community and beyond. This crucial support made it clear to the U of T Press management that the UofT community was not going to sit by idly while they ran roughshod over the rights of their workers. Their obvious contempt for their employees inspired action. Hundreds of professors informed the Press that they would send their students elsewhere for their textbooks. Other campus workers gave money and walked picket lines. The University’s honorary doctorates – noted scholar Noam Chomsky, and former Canadian Labour Congress President Bob White – told the UofT in their convocation addresses that management was being unfair. Because of this support bookstore workers were able to return to their jobs with a fair negotiated settlement. We are asking for your support again. The U of T Press which owns and operates a printing plant, bookstores and several other campus operations and is a wholly owned ancillary corporation of the UofT. The Press is using the negotiations with the full time shippers and receivers, members of local 3261, to attack the rights under their collective agreement and deny workers a fair wage increase. Since incorporation in 1992 the workers at the Press, once part of the U of T 3261 service worker agreement, have had their wages and working conditions eroded. While their wages have lagged behind inflation their workload has grown. This has to stop. Ten years ago three times as many workers received packed and shipped for a much smaller U of T Press. The Press has expanded operations, adding new stores and new operations, and added work for their staff. Yet throughout this expansion the workforce has been reduced to a quarter of its former size. Many long-time employees walked away in frustration. Others are staying but they demand dignity and fairness. This week a no-Board report from the Ministry of Labour will be released starting the clock ticking toward a strike deadline of July 25. After two months of negotiations the Press has proposed a contract that would sabotage the grievance procedure, weaken the union, and deny seniority rights to elected union officials. At a union meeting workers voted unanimously to give their bargaining team a strike mandate. The Press is still refusing to deal with the issues. Is the U of T Press is hoping to prolong negotiations past the busy summer period until the autumn when deliveries are slow and they can wait out a strike? Press employees refuse to let this happen. The Press cried poor last summer. In November it was revealed that the U of T Press, a supposedly not-for-profit corporation, had a $1.2 million surplus. They are crying poor again. On July 25, 2001 workers at U of T Press will be in a legal strike position. We must send a strong message to the U of T Administration asking them to monitor in an ethical fashion the operations of their subsidiary. Your support for the part-timers last year was instrumental in the achievement of a first contract. We hope that support like yours will avoid another strike of the U of T Press workers. We do not want to go on strike. We want to negotiate a fair contract for our members. With your continued support we hope to achieve this. Please contact: Dr. Robert Birgeneau President, University of Toronto FAX: (416) 971-1360 [EMAIL PROTECTED] George Meadows President, University of Toronto Press FAX: (416) 978-4738 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC letters to: Mehdi Kouhestaninejad President, CUPE 3261 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mehdi Kouhestaninejad President CUPE Local 3261 1 Spadina Crescent Room 202 Toronto, Ontario M5S 2J5 Phone: (416) 946-7620Fax: (416) 946-7621 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
