The Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union (OPSEU) and the United Steel Workers (USW) have responded to the University of Toronto’s attempt to have the court impose an injunction against students camped out to protest, among other things, non-disclosure of the University of Toronto’s investments in companies that aid Israel’s genocidal actions:
Unions seek intervenor status to protect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms at the University of Toronto protests
| Source: United Steelworkers union
The United Steelworkers union (USW) and OPSEU/SEFPO are seeking intervenor status in the injunction application by the university which would allow administrators to end protests. The unions are working together to protect the freedom of expression and freedom of association by workers at the university.
“We will defend workers’ right to their freedom of expression. The university cannot deny workers or students their rights as outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because they are inconvenient,” said Myles Sullivan, USW District 6 Director (Ontario and Atlantic region). “We will defend the right to protest on public property, like the University of Toronto and ensure Charter rights are not trampled. As far as we are concerned, the protest has the right to stay and workers have the right to participate.” The USW represents 10,000 workers at the University of Toronto as well as workers at other university campuses.
“University campuses are precisely the places where our community debates the most pressing issues of the day. Above all, it’s where we find common ground, and if necessary, we disagree, but we do so without violence,” said JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO. “So to threaten to forcibly remove a peaceful encampment which is simply an expression of political opinion, where students and workers and other members of the University community are asserting their Charter rights – is an abdication of the University’s very reason for existence.”
“A ruling like this has the potential to threaten the Charter protected right to the freedom of association (Section 2 (d)) so we take this very seriously indeed,” concluded Hornick. OPSEU/SEFPO represents workers on the University of Toronto campus as well as workers on other University campuses and also represents workers on every public college campus in Ontario.
For more information, please contact:
Shannon Devine, USW Communications 416-938-4402 sdevine@usw.ca
Kim Johnston, OPSEU/SEFPO Communications 416 550 4665 kjohnston@opseu.org
Although such a move is better than nothing, if the court decides not to impose an injunction, then the idea that legal proceedings can resolve social problems will be reinforced (unless OPSEU and the USWA explicitly indicate that such legal proceedings have limitations–which is unlikely, given the lack of criticism of the legal limitations of collective bargaining among most unions (see, for example, https://theabolitionary.ca/2021/01/29/fair-contracts-or-collective-agreements-the-ideological-rhetoric-of-canadian-unions-part-one/).
What if th court imposes an injunction? What will the two unions do? Will they try to have their members come out in numbers in order to prevent the police from dismantling the encampments? Given that J.P. Hornick, despite her radical posture, is the head of the OPSEU, it is unlikely (see May Day 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: The Case of the President of the Ontario Public Services Employee Union (OPSEU), J.P. Hornick, Part One: A Fair Contract and May Day 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: More Rhetoric from a Union Rep: The Case of the President of the Ontario Public Services Employee Union (OPSEU), J.P. Hornick, Part Two: Do Corrections Officers Protect Us?).
It will be interesting to see what happens.
The Abolitionary 