CORNWALL, Ontario – Picketers will set up shop this afternoon in front of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce as Premier Kathleen Wynne visits the city.
Workers in the Ontario Public Service (OPS), represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, will hold an information picket over what they feel is the government’s refusal to bargain a fair collective agreement.
The protest runs from 5 to 6 p.m.
Wynne is in Cornwall as part of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s annual general meeting.
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said that at the same time that the Wynne Liberals are slashing funding for much-needed public services, they are wasting billions on private sector contracts and spending billions more on corporate tax cuts.
“After years of austerity, Premier Kathleen Wynne is demanding that the public service accept more wage freezes, cutbacks and concessions,” Thomas said. “Government negotiators at the bargaining table appear they would rather push the OPS into a strike than negotiate a fair deal with their employees.”
OPSEU eastern Ontario Vice-President Dave Lundy said that the union has repeatedly told Wynne that OPS members can provide these services better and cheaper than the private sector, which has been affirmed by Ontario’s Auditor General. Despite this, that message is not filtering down to the bargaining table.
“Reports indicate that the Wynne government has either wasted or overspent more than $8.2 billion dollars on private contracts and corporations,” Lundy said. “Imagine what this province could do with that money. If Wynne really wants to save public money and deliver public quality services, stopping privatization and outsourcing is the first place to start.”
