WHAT YOU CAN DO


Distribute copies of our factsheet (available in English, Chinese (simplified), French, Hindi, Spanish and Tamil) on the new changes for temp workers effective November 6, 2009.

Distribute or post our Public Holiday Pay Flyer in your community. Also available in Tamil and Spanish.

Work with WAC to organize an information session on the new changes for temp workers in your community

Report to WAC agencies that are not following the new rules – by phone or via our on-line report form. All calls and online reports are confidential.

VICTORIES


Bill 139 - New protections for temp agency workers! - The Workers’ Action Centre, temp workers and supporters from across the province have been fighting to improve protections for temp agency workers. In May 2009 the Ontario government passed Bill 139 which improved protections for temp workers in Ontario. These changes took effect November 6, 2009 and are a direct result of all our hard work and organizing.

Up Against a Giant - 8 Temp Workers vs United Parcel Service (UPS) – On November 18, 2008 the eight Muslim women working with the Workers’ Action Centre on a human rights case settled their complaint with UPS-Canada. This case sends a signal to temporary workers that they can fight injustice under Canadian and Ontario workplace laws - when workers fight for their rights, they will prevail. Backgrounder on the case >>>

WAC is proud to be an advocate for change, and thus, under current legislation, cannot be a registered charity or issue tax receipts.

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Improved Protections for Precarious Workers – temp, contract and part-time


workers action centre improved protections for precariousworkers

The way work is organized has changed drastically over the last 30 years. Today, one in three jobs in Ontario is temporary, contract, part time or self employed. Working in these jobs, we are often denied basic protections and rights – for example, public holiday pay, access to employment insurance, much less pay than permanent workers doing the same jobs, adequate health & safety coverage.

Outdated labour laws trap people in poverty and deny fair standards to all workers.

Our labour laws must be updated to include and protect people who work in temporary, contract and unstable work.

WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW


PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ON NEW TEMP RIGHTS

WAC is reaching out to communities across the GTA, and working with our provincial allies, to get the word out about the new changes for temp workers which came into effect November 2009.

Is your agency following the new laws? Under the new changes:

  • Temp agency workers have the same rights to public holiday as other workers (as of January 2, 2009!)

  • Agencies cannot charge temp agency workers fees

  • Agencies cannot stop a company from hiring a temp agency worker directly or from giving a reference. Agencies can only charge a company a fee for hiring a temp agency worker in the first 6 months of a workers’ assignment with the company

  • The agency must give temp agency workers information about their assignment

  • Temp workers will have the same rights to termination and severance pay as other workers

  • Temp agency workers can go after both the company and the temp agency if they are penalized for trying to enforce their basic rights

While we celebrate these new legal rights as a victory, these new rights are not enough to truly protect us. We still have big changes to fight for – better enforcement, updating our laws, equal rights for temp workers and all precarious workers!

WAC RESOURCES


Proposed Amendments to Bill 139 – An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (March 2009)

WAC Submission to the Ministry of Labour Consultation on Work Through Temporary Help Agencies (June 2008)

WAC Submission to the Minister of Finance, Dwight Duncan, on priorities for the Ontario 2008 budget. (January 2008)

Working on the Edge (May 2007) – WAC 82-page research report documents workers’ experiences of precarious work (temp, contract, self-employed), and contains detailed recommendations for change.

Modernizing Part III of the Canada Labour Code (2005)

Workers Action Centre Campaigns

Victoria Day rally against Bad Temp Bosses not paying public holiday pay