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Its the time of Dickens were going back to here. Sixty-hour workweeks have got no place in a modern-day society.

That was the assessment of CUPE Ontario president Sid Ryan as he lashed out at employment standards legislation introduced November 23 by the Harris government.

The bill gives employers greater power to set hours, increasing the permitted workweek to 60 hours and making it easier to evade paying overtime. Without the protection of a union contract, workers will easily be intimidated into working longer hours.

Working people 60-hours a week doesnt create more new jobs. It doesnt get people legitimately off the welfare rolls and into real, productive jobs. It will also hurt workers health, and compromise quality family time, said Ryan.

Having gutted the budget for the Ministry of Labour, there will be no enforcement of minimum protections, leaving vulnerable workers especially new Canadians and young workers even more open to abuse.

CUPE is leading a fightback campaign to resist the Bill as well as working with other unions and the Ontario Federation of Labour. This is one of the most important fights in front of us today,” said National President Judy Darcy.

This legislation must be defeated not just for the benefit of workers in Ontario, but for workers from coast to coast, and this campaign has our full support.