…to remind us that the current offer does nothing to strengthen the weakest among us:
I am PT/Partial Load depending on the semester. I love my work! I enjoy my students. I am currently in my fifth consecutive semester of instruction – if I am not available for “my” course it will go to someone else, with no promise of return. I enjoy my breaks between semesters as a chance to rebuild my energy for the next round – because I give out a lot of my energy in class, in preparation so that I can be the best I can be, and in marking for as many as 124 students. I would like to call these breaks a vacation but that would imply vacation pay, to which I am not entitled. Unlike any other Provincially-regulated worker outside of the College system I am exempted from the basic entitlements of the Employment Standards Act (by Order in Council – rule by appointed members of Cabinet). This is discriminatory on human rights grounds, as my choice of work/employer – and that employer’s need for my skills – requires me to forfeit basic rights extended to all other workers. I am paid for my work, I in turn pay all deductions as any worker would, and I am covered by WSIB and the Occupational H&S Act.
I request from my bargaining agent (I have one when I am Partial Load) that we begin with the basic rights of all other workers. 4% vacation pay on every cheque would help bridge me through those unpaid breaks between semesters.
One Ontario College Prof's Blog 