[Fdu] Fw: Cleaners Campaign

[Peter Fitting]

Dear Colleagues,

We urge you to authorize adding your name to this letter.  The authorization should be sent to jcartwright at labourcouncil.ca.


 January, 2012

 

 

An Open Letter to Mayor Ford and the City Council

 

We, the undersigned, are a group of concerned academics and community leaders who have come together to endorse the Justice and Dignity for Cleaners Campaign to keep these services public.  This open letter is therefore, an appeal to our Mayor and the Toronto City Council to stop the outsourcing of hundreds of city cleaners' jobs.  Here are our reasons:

 

Cleaning industry in Toronto has traditionally been considered a major source of employment for newcomers as well as older immigrant workers, many of whom are racialized.  By eliminating close to one thousand cleaning positions in police stations, city buildings, community housing, childcare and long term care facilities, we will in effect deprive these workers of secure jobs and stable incomes, which will affect not only them but also their families. They are just ordinary citizens who work hard, pay taxes, and raise families. They put a great deal of skill and effort into keeping their workplaces clean, yet they are often invisible workers as many come to work when others have left for the day. Earning less than the average wage in Toronto, these workers are hardly on any "gravy train".  

 

The outsourcing of public service cleaners is a major setback for cleaners in the private sector who are struggling to bring their wages up and improve their basic benefits. Contracting out of cleaning services has given rise to a growing sector of work that is often misclassified as independent contracting so that employers can bypass Ontario's Employment Standards Act. Too many cleaners are working below minimum wage, without vacation and public holiday pay and no protection against such abuses.  

 

We are further concerned that in this highly-competitive cleaning industry, these private cleaners will be further exploited and used as fodder to justify the outsourcing of unionized public cleaners. One cannot help but be reminded of  the embarrassing situation when the City's Fair Wage Office found the payment of wages well below the minimum to immigrant workers working for a private contractor at Union Station.

 

Toronto's Vital Signs 2011 Report pinpoints overcoming the widening income gap between its richest and poorest residents as the city's biggest challenge.  Within one year, the poverty rate rose 22% in the Toronto Region; and the rate of child poverty went up more than 43%.  This is only the latest in a string of studies that point to the shrinking of the middle-class, and the growth of entire low-income neighbourhoods in Toronto. These staggering increases should serve as a warning signal to the elected members of City Council that there are already too many poverty wage jobs in Toronto. 

 

There are too many workers particularly women workers and longtime immigrant workers who are over-represented in precarious employment. Turning good jobs into poverty wage jobs will only deepen the current job crisis. It is a strategy that we cannot afford right now. Toronto's budget issues should not be resolved at the expense of these cleaners, their families and their neighbourhoods. 

 

We question the fairness of such decisions when the deficit reduction is done on the back of those who can most ill-afford to lose their employment, the ones who are already marginalized in this market, such as women and racialized workers.  

 

Toronto Region has experienced a massive loss of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the past decade.  As we try to recover from the economic recession of 2008/2009, it is critical that we see the service sector as a source of potential good employment.  There is much to be done to recognize these cleaners' work as a skilled occupation with professional standards and remuneration.  This can only happen when we have a municipal government that is willing to lead by example - to come up with creative strategies to maintain the wellbeing of our residents and create good jobs.  

 

Now is not the time to retreat into the easy solutions of cutting public services and decent jobs.  We will end up having to pay for the human costs of such short-sighted strategies in decades to come. Let us strive to build a livable city with opportunities for growth and dignity for all its diverse communities and neighbourhoods.

 

 

Yours truly,

 

Greg Albo, Professor, York University

Sedef Arat-Koc, Associate Professor, Ryerson University 

Harjeet Badwall, Lecturer, York University

Deborah Barndt, Professor, York University

Jonathan Barker, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto 

Tim Bartkiw, Ryerson University

Harald Bauder, Ryerson University

Dan Bender,  Associate Professor, University of Toronto 

Adrian Blackwell, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

Malcolm Blincow, Associate Professor, York University 

Mike Burke, Associate Professor, Ryerson University 

Bonnie Burstow, University of Toronto

Barbara Cameron, Professor, York University

Jenny Carson, Ryerson University

Jacquie Chic, Assistant Professor,  Ryerson University 

Jennifer Clark, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University 

Deborah Cowen, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

Tania Das Gupta, Professor, York University

Enakshi Dua, Associate Professor, York University

Bryan Evans, Professor, Ryerson University

Sarah Flicker, Associate Professor, York University

Honor Ford-Smith, Associate Professor, York University

Harriet Friedmann, Professor, University of Toronto

Grace-Edward Galabuzi, Associate Professor, Ryerson University

Mary Gellatly, Parkdale Community Legal Services

Purnima George, Associate Professor, Ryerson University 

Wenona Giles, Professor, York University

Sam Gindin, York University

Luin Goldring, Associate Professor, York 

Shubhra Gururani, Associate Professor, York University
Eve Haque, Associate Professor, York University

J. David Hulchanski, Professor, University of Toronto

 Pablo Idahosa, Associate Professor, York University 
Nancy Jackson, Associate Professor, University of Toronto

Merle A. Jacobs. Associate Professor, York University

Carl James, Professor, York University

Jan Kainer, Associate Professor, York University 
Roger Kiel, Professor, York University

Robert Lewis, Professor, University of Toronto

Jamie Magnusson, Associate Professor, OISE/University of Toronto

Guida Man, Assistant Professor, York University

Paula Maurutto, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
David McNally, Professor, York University

Angela Miles, Professor, University of Toronto

Kiran Mirchandani, Associate Professor, OISE/University of Toronto

Dr. Shahrzad Mojab, Professor, OISE/University of Toronto

Radhika Mongia, Associate Professor, York University 

Colin Mooers, Professor, Ryerson University 

Roxana Ng,Professor, OISE/University of Toronto

Winnie Ng, Gindin CAW Social Justice Chair, Ryerson University

Gordon Pon, Associate Professor, Ryerson University 

Jack Quarter, Professor, OISE, University of Toronto

Sherida Ryan, Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Toronto

John Saunders, Professor, York University

Peter Sawchuk, Associate Professor, OISE/University of Toronto

Veronica Schild, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario 

Alan Sears, Associate Professor, Ryerson University 

Jayeeta Sharma, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto 

John Shields, Professor, Ryerson University

Myer Siemiatycki, Professor, Ryerson University

Joan Simalchuk, Professor, University of Toronto

Anne-Marie Singh, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University 

Hira Singh, Associate Professor, York University
Sandra Smele, York University

Penni Stewart, Associate Professor, York University

Pam Sugiman, Professor, Ryerson University

Aparna Sundar, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University 

Steven Tufts, Associate Professor, York University

Vappu Tyyska, Ryerson University

Salimah Valiani, Associate Researcher, University of Toronto
Emily van der Meulen, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University

Livy Visano, Professor, York University

Samantha Wehbi, Associate Professor, Ryerson University

David Wolfe, Professor, University of Toronto
Anna Zalik, Associate Professor, York University

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