photo Kayla Kreutzberg/TheGrand101.1
FERGUS – “Restore our rights” is what could be heard Wednesday afternoon in front of MPP Ted Arnott’s Constituency Office in Fergus.
Local CUPE members were protesting Bill 195 and to demand that their basic legal workplace rights be restored.
CUPE said in a release that close to half a million of Ontario’s workers are subject to Bill 195. More than 130,000 CUPE front-line workers are among them.
Fred Hahn President for CUPE Ontario says the bill allows employers to move people to different shifts, move them into different jobs, and hire contractors to do the work of the bargaining unit.
Hahn adds that the province has ended the state of emergency and there is ample time to sit down and talk with workers about adjustments that may be needed.
Jennifer Hesch VP and Chief Negotiator for the Upper Grand Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario says what the government is doing is undemocratic.
BILL 195 was introduced when the government declared a state of emergency, but that emergency order has now been lifted.
There are 15 more peaceful protests set to take place across the province.
