Faculty, staff, and students came together today to challenge the rise of precarious work at universities and colleges across Ontario.
While there are full-time professors at Ontario colleges and universities, there has been a steady increase in the use of contract faculty over the years," says a news release from Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.
Contract faculty typically do not have access to employee benefits like health, dental, vision and drug plans, no access to employee pension plans, and no job security, despite being as qualified and as dedicated to their students as their full-time colleagues.
"In the college system, these contract faculty are employed as either sessional, partial-load or part-time faculty. They are paid on an hourly rate based on their contact time with students – which is inclusive of all preparation time, marking time and office hours or additional assistance for students. The work is indeed precarious, as contract faculty are employed for only four months at a time, and hired on a contingency, when needed basis."
As part of the day of action, the Confederation released the results of a public opinion poll about precarious work in Ontario's universities – the first of its kind in Ontario.
It shows:
- 94 per cent of Ontarians think universities should be model employers and support good jobs in their communities.
- 88 per cent want part-time professors to be converted into full-time positions before more part-time professors are hired.
- 85 per cent want part-time professors to receive fair pay and 84 per cent believe part-time professors should have the same access to benefits as their full-time colleagues.
- 64 per cent of Ontarians want to be taught by, or have their child taught by, a full-time professor with job security and benefits.
- 60 per cent are in favour of more public funding for universities to promote long-term employment relationships with faculty
