CUPE 1334 is negotiating a first collective agreement for nine part-time library workers at the University of Guelph. They have been at the bargaining table since June 2011 and have made little headway. These library workers are living at the poverty level, earning between $10.50 and $12.50 per hour and are laid off between April and August.
The university is bullying these nine part-time workers by reducing their hours of work, paying poverty wages, and demanding cuts to an already poverty-level pension. Last fall, the university cut their hours from 21 through 24 to 18 hours. This leaves these workers without enough hours to collect Employment Insurance.
The university is also demanding concessions on the pension plan that do not apply to the full-time workers.
The union is asking for 24 hours of work, a living wage, and the same pension arrangement as other CUPE workers. The clock is ticking with a lockout/strike deadline of April 28.
Please send a letter to the University of Guelph bargaining team and the president and ask them to offer a fair collective agreement with these vulnerable workers.
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