BY SUSAN BERMAN AND DEBRA LOVINSKY
NORTH BAY, Ontario - A sea of green flags and banners floated into Thomson Park here as thousands of workers and students gathered to protest the proposed cuts by the Ontario government to education, health-care benefits, and union rights. The vast majority of the protesters were teachers. They were joined by nurses, government employees, health-care workers, steelworkers, auto workers, postal workers, and high school and university students.

Organizers say that 180 buses came into North Bay, which is a four-hour drive north of Toronto. Estimates of the crowd ranged from 8,000 to the organizers' estimate of 30,000. The previous day over 3,000 people began the North Bay days of protest by shutting down 22 work sites including most government offices. A rally to defend education attracted 2,000, including many high school students.

The main target of the protests are bills 136 and 160, proposed legislation by Ontario premier Michael Harris that would shift the costs of social services and education onto municipalities and school boards. The bills also would have outlawed strikes by public sector workers for four years and made wages and working conditions subject to the rulings of a government-appointed committee. In the face of threats of province-wide work stoppages, the Harris government announced prior to the days of action that it would retreat on these last two provisions.

Trade unionists, however, have not backed down in face of this partial victory. Public sector union officials say that unless the no-strike rule is withdrawn in writing they will proceed with province-wide strikes. They also announced that they would stand behind the teachers, who now face some of the most severe attacks.

The provincial government plans massive cuts to education funding, all in the name of improving education. They propose cutting teachers' paid class preparation time and prolonging the work year. Teachers estimate 10,000 jobs will be lost.

Militant correspondents talked to three teachers from Saugeen District Secondary School in Port Elgin. "When I count the amount of time in the building and the amount of time at home preparing I'm working a 62-hour workweek," explained Margaret Wysman. "If they take our preparation time away, how can we prepare to help each individual student. It's the students who will suffer," Susan Dolphin added.

Despite this, "parent support is increasing all the time," explained Erin O'Sullivan. The teachers described that already there are tremendous shortages in the schools: not enough desks and chairs, or books. O'Sullivan described having to rotate 25 textbooks among three classes.

Wysman said the teachers weren't just fighting for themselves but also for other workers in the school system. Cuts to janitorial staff have left one janitor to service an entire school at times. "I think we have to stand together," she insisted. The three emphasized they were not protesting against their own board of education but against the government.

Mary Sue Smith is a lab technician and member of the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union. "We never had the right to strike," explained Smith. She said that the current system of arbitration is likely to change, resulting in arbitrators being more answerable to the government rather than workers.

The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) had representatives from several cities throughout Ontario. Barb Wahl, president of the ONA from Waterloo, said that in the last few years "10,000 nursing positions have been lost to layoffs and attrition." She explained, "Our main concern is that with cutbacks patients are kept in the hospital for such a short time and they don't get the care they need or adequate preparation time to organize home care."

The next protest against the Ontario government cuts is scheduled for October 17 in Windsor, Ontario. For further information, contact the Ontario Federation of Labour at (416) 441-2731.

Susan Berman is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 5338 in Toronto.  
 
 
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