The CBC’s Mike Crawley and the Toronto Star’s Martin Regg Cohn have published leaked information from Liberal cabinet members that show many of our $15 and Fairness demands are being considered for legislation. But there is a real battle underway — what we do now will make all the difference. According to Martin Regg Cohn:
“Government sources say most elements are falling into place after public hearings and private lobbying that has pitted [workers’] demands against a backlash from the corporate sector — with the governing Liberals caught in the middle. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because cabinet deliberations are supposed to remain confidential. In an interview, [Labour Minister Kevin] Flynn hinted strongly at the direction he is taking — if he can win support from his cabinet colleagues.“
Cohn also notes:
“The provincial cabinet will decide next week how far to take the package of reforms spearheaded by Labour Minister Kevin Flynn after a two-year review, Changing Workplaces, headed by outside experts.” Clearly, there is no time to lose. What we do now will shape the outcome of the entire Changing Workplaces Review.
That’s why we’re asking everyone to take $15 minutes now to call, email (or even visit) your MPP. (To find your MPP, click here. For a list of MPP phone numbers and email addresses scroll down.)
As Mike Crawley points out, we need to keep pushing for the best possible legislation because there’s pressure to back away from what workers really need:
“The [final] report urges the government to make paid sick days a right for all employees, but does not recommend a minimum number. Currently, there is no mandate for paid sick days under provincial law. Researchers estimate 40 to 50 per cent of Ontario workers don’t get paid if they call in sick, at least three million people.”
It’s up to us to demand seven (7) paid sick days plus all the other aspects of $15 and Fairness. Please call your your MPP and tell them to:
- Legislate at least seven (7) paid sick days, extend job-protection to all workplaces for 10 days of unpaid emergency leave and provide three weeks of paid vacation to all workers.
- End exemptions or exceptions in the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and Labour Relations Act (LRA) – the rules apply to everyone and protect everyone.
- Expand the definition of employer in both the ESA and LRA, including joint and several liabilities as well as related and joint employers.
- Legislate equal pay and benefits for equal work (including temporary agency, part-time, casual and contract workers) and eliminate sub-minimum wage rates established in the ESA.
- Provide at least two weeks of advanced scheduling notice.
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Expand the definition of employee to stop the misclassification of workers.
- Invest in stronger enforcement of the ESA and LRA and prosecute employers who flout the law.
- Extend just cause protection within the LRA and to ESA.
- Enshrine the right to free association through protection for concerted activity.
- Restore card-check certification; provide early disclosure of workplace information (neutral, online or telephone voting); remedial certification; and expedited and extended power to reinstate workers before the first agreement.
- Provide access to first contract arbitration.
- Extend successor rights to protect workers in the case of contract flipping.
- Consolidate bargaining units in the case of the same certified bargaining agent.
- Provide a framework for broader-based bargaining.
- Guarantee the right to strike – including prohibiting the use of replacement workers, safeguarding the rights of workers who have been involved in a labour dispute (including reinstatement after six months and prohibiting employers from unilaterally deciding to “clean house” after a strike).
- Mandate paid leave for domestic and sexual violence survivors.
- Increase the minimum wage to $15.00 immediately.
It’s time to demand the Liberal government act on OUR behalf — not on behalf of the corporations that profit from cheap labour and precarious, unstable working conditions.
To find your MPP, click here. For a list of MPP phone numbers and email addresses scroll down.
Hon Laura Albanese
York South–Weston
Phone: 416-243-7984
[email protected]
Granville Anderson
Durham
Phone: 905-697-1501
[email protected]
Teresa J. Armstrong
London–Fanshawe
Phone: 519-668-1104
[email protected]
Ted Arnott
Wellington–Halton Hills
Phone: 519-787-5247
[email protected]
Robert Bailey
Sarnia–Lambton
Phone: 519-337-0051
[email protected]
Yvan Baker
Etobicoke Centre
Phone: 416-234-2800
[email protected]
Hon Chris Ballard
Newmarket–Aurora
Phone: 905-750-0019
[email protected]
Toby Barrett
Haldimand–Norfolk
Phone: 519-428-0446
[email protected]
Lorenzo Berardinetti
Scarborough Southwest
Phone: 416-261-9525
[email protected]
Gilles Bisson
Timmins–James Bay
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-461-9878
[email protected]
James J. Bradley
St. Catharines
Phone: 905-935-0018
[email protected]
Patrick Brown
Simcoe North
Phone: 705-326-3246 or 705-526-8671
[email protected]
Sarah Campbell
Kenora–Rainy River
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-465-8501
[email protected]
Hon Michael Chan
Markham–Unionville
Phone: 905-305-1935
[email protected]
Hon Bob Chiarelli
Ottawa West–Nepean
Phone: 613-721-8075
[email protected]
Raymond Sung Joon Cho
Scarborough–Rouge River
Phone: 416-297-5040
[email protected]
Steve Clark
Leeds–Grenville
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-267-4408
[email protected]
Lorne Coe
Whitby–Oshawa
Phone: 905-430-1141
[email protected]
Mike Colle
Eglinton–Lawrence
Phone: 416-781-2395
[email protected]
Hon Michael Coteau
Don Valley East
Phone: 416-494-6856
[email protected]
Grant Crack
Glengarry–Prescott–Russell
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-355-9666
[email protected]
Hon Dipika Damerla
Mississauga East–Cooksville
Phone: 905-238-1751
[email protected]
Bob Delaney
Mississauga–Streetsville
Phone: 905-569-1643
[email protected]
Hon Steven Del Duca
Vaughan
Phone: 905-893-4428
[email protected]
Nathalie Des Rosiers
Ottawa–Vanier
Phone: 613-744-4484
[email protected]
Vic Dhillon
Brampton West
Phone: 905-796-8669
[email protected]
Joe Dickson
Ajax–Pickering
Phone: 905-427-2060
[email protected]
Cheri DiNovo
Parkdale–High Park
Phone: 416-763-5630
[email protected]
Han Dong
Trinity–Spadina
Phone: 416-603-9664
[email protected]
Hon Brad Duguid
Scarborough Centre
Phone: 416-615-2183
[email protected]
Victor Fedeli
Nipissing
Phone: 705-474-8340
[email protected]
Catherine Fife
Kitchener–Waterloo
Phone: 519-725-3477
[email protected]
Hon Kevin Daniel Flynn
Oakville
Phone: 905-827-5141
[email protected]
Cindy Forster
Welland
Phone: 905-732-6884
[email protected]
John Fraser
Ottawa South
Phone: 613-736-9573
[email protected]
Jennifer K. French
Oshawa
Phone: 905-723-2411
[email protected]
Wayne Gates
Niagara Falls
Phone: 905-357-0681
[email protected]
France Gélinas
Nickel Belt
Phone: 705-969-3621
[email protected]
Hon Michael Gravelle
Thunder Bay–Superior North
Phone: 807-345-3647
[email protected]
Lisa Gretzky
Windsor West
Phone: 519-977-7191
[email protected]
Ernie Hardeman
Oxford
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-265-4046
[email protected]
Michael Harris
Kitchener–Conestoga
Phone: 519-954-8679
[email protected]
Percy Hatfield
Windsor–Tecumseh
Phone: 519-251-5199
[email protected]
Randy Hillier
Lanark–Frontenac–Lennox and Addington
Phone: 613-267-8239
[email protected]
Ann Hoggarth
Barrie
Phone: 705-726-5538
[email protected]
Andrea Horwath
Hamilton Centre
Phone: 905-544-9644
[email protected]
Hon Eric Hoskins
St. Paul’s
Phone: 416-656-0943
[email protected]
Hon Mitzie Hunter
Scarborough–Guildwood
Phone: 416-281-2787
[email protected]
Hon Helena Jaczek
Oak Ridges–Markham
Toll Free Phone: 1-866-531-9551
[email protected]
Sylvia Jones
Dufferin–Caledon
Phone: 519-941-7751
Phone: 905-951-9382
[email protected]
Sophie Kiwala
Kingston and the Islands
Phone: 613-547-2385
[email protected]
Monte Kwinter
York Centre
Phone: 416-630-0080
[email protected]
Hon Marie-France Lalonde
Ottawa–Orléans
Phone: 613-834-8679
[email protected]
Hon Jeff Leal
Peterborough
Phone: 705-742-3777
[email protected]
Hon Dave Levac
Brant
Phone: 519-759-0361
[email protected]
Hon Tracy MacCharles
Pickering–Scarborough East
Phone: 905-509-0336
[email protected]
Jack MacLaren
Carleton–Mississippi Mills
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-267-1020
[email protected]
Lisa MacLeod
Nepean–Carleton
Phone: 613-823-2116
[email protected]
Harinder Malhi
Brampton–Springdale
Phone: 905-495-8030
[email protected]
Amrit Mangat
Mississauga–Brampton South
Phone: 905-696-0367
[email protected]
Michael Mantha
Algoma–Manitoulin
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-831-1899
[email protected]
Cristina Martins
Davenport
Phone: 416-535-3158
[email protected]
Gila Martow
Thornhill
Phone: 905-731-8462
[email protected]
Hon Deborah Matthews
London North Centre
Phone: 519-432-7339
[email protected]
Hon Bill Mauro
Thunder Bay–Atikokan
Phone: 807-623-9237
[email protected]
Jim McDonell
Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry
Phone: 613-933-6513
[email protected]
Hon Kathryn McGarry
Cambridge
Phone: 519-623-5852
[email protected]
Hon Eleanor McMahon
Burlington
Phone: 905-639-7924
[email protected]
Ted McMeekin
Ancaster–Dundas–Flamborough–Westdale
Toll Free Phone: 1-888-566-6614
[email protected]
Monte McNaughton
Lambton–Kent–Middlesex
Phone: 519-245-8696
[email protected]
Peter Z. Milczyn
Etobicoke–Lakeshore
Phone: 416-259-2249
[email protected]
Norm Miller
Parry Sound–Muskoka
Toll Free Phone: 1-888-267-4826
[email protected]
Paul Miller
Hamilton East–Stoney Creek
Phone: 905-545-0114
[email protected]
Hon Reza Moridi
Richmond Hill
Phone: 905-884-8080
[email protected]
Julia Munro
York–Simcoe
Toll Free Phone: 1-866-206-1373
[email protected]
Hon Glen R. Murray
Toronto Centre
Phone: 416-972-7683
[email protected]
Hon Indira Naidoo-Harris
Halton
Phone: 905-878-1729
[email protected]
Hon Yasir Naqvi
Ottawa Centre
Phone: 613-722-6414
[email protected]
Taras Natyshak
Essex
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-265-3909
[email protected]
Rick Nicholls
Chatham-Kent–Essex
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-265-3992
[email protected]
Sam Oosterhoff
Niagara West–Glanbrook
Phone: 905-563-1755
[email protected]
Randy Pettapiece
Perth–Wellington
Phone: 519-272-0660
[email protected]
Arthur Potts
Beaches–East York
Phone: 416-690-1032
[email protected]
Shafiq Qaadri
Etobicoke North
Phone: 416-745-2859
[email protected]
Lou Rinaldi
Northumberland–Quinte West
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-263-3980
[email protected]
Hon Liz Sandals
Guelph
Phone: 519-836-4190
[email protected]
Peggy Sattler
London West
Phone: 519-657-3120
[email protected]
Laurie Scott
Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-424-2490
[email protected]
Mario Sergio
York West
Phone: 416-743-7272
[email protected]
Jagmeet Singh
Bramalea–Gore–Malton
Phone: 905-799-3939
[email protected]
Todd Smith
Prince Edward–Hastings
Toll Free Phone: 1-877-536-6248
[email protected]
Hon Charles Sousa
Mississauga South
Phone: 905-274-8228
[email protected]
Peter Tabuns
Toronto–Danforth
Phone: 416-461-0223
[email protected]
Harinder S. Takhar
Mississauga–Erindale
Phone: 905-897-8815
[email protected]
Monique Taylor
Hamilton Mountain
Phone: 905-388-9734
[email protected]
Hon Glenn Thibeault
Sudbury
Phone: 705-675-1914
[email protected]
Lisa M. Thompson
Huron–Bruce
Toll Free Phone: 1-866-396-3007
[email protected]
John Vanthof
Timiskaming–Cochrane
Phone: 705-567-4650
[email protected]
Daiene Vernile
Kitchener Centre
Phone: 519-579-5460
[email protected]
Bill Walker
Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-461-2664
[email protected]
Jim Wilson
Simcoe–Grey
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-268-7542
[email protected]
Soo Wong
Scarborough–Agincourt
Phone: 416-297-6568
[email protected]
Hon Kathleen O. Wynne
Don Valley West
Phone: 416-425-6777
[email protected]
John Yakabuski
Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke
Phone: 613-735-6627
[email protected]
Jeff Yurek
Elgin–Middlesex–London
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-265-7638
[email protected]
Hon David Zimmer
Willowdale
Phone: 416-733-7878
[email protected]