Acting President’s Message for Feb 14th 

Dear Local 237 Members,

Tomorrow, I am asking you to stand with me and vote to reject the forced offer from the
College Employer Council (CEC).

I recognize that voting to reject will take courage. Over the past six months, we have
experienced a mix of intimidation and guile from the College Employer Council; threats one day followed by a slick sales pitch the next. They promised that if you vote with them, it will all be over. On this they are right, it will all be over, and our stressful work-to-rule campaign will have been for nothing. We will not have improved job security for partial-load employees, our
counsellors and librarians will not be protected from contracting out, and we will not even get
the full 1% increase in benefits entitled to us under Bill 124! Then in three years, the CEC
emboldened from beating us this time, will once again spend months ignoring our bargaining
team to try and win another forced vote.

In my short time as Acting-President of Local 237, I have learned the role is stressful,
emotionally exhausting, and jeopardizes promotion aspirations with every complaint brought to
management. I am staying on in the position because I know it is my turn to step up and support each of you, my fellow workers. I share this with you, not for sympathy or a pat on the back but to remind all of us that the success of a union requires small bits of individual sacrifice for the greater good.

I am asking you to take a small risk now as well and demonstrate that our local is strong by
voting down the forced offer. A clear rejection will show the CEC that each of us supports
the judgement of our union leadership, thus providing the leverage needed to ensure that our
bargaining team gets a fair deal at the negotiating table.

Sincerely,

Anthony Piscitelli
Acting-President, Local 237