We had organized a legal rally to protest against the back-to-work legislation introduced by McGuinty’s Liberals to end the now 84-days-long strike by CUPE 3903 representing contract faculty, teaching assistants and graduate assistants at York University. The rally started at 10am, Tuesday January 27, at the Ministry of Labour on University Ave and ended at Queen’s Park at 1.

On our way from Ministry of Labour to Queen’s Park, the police attacked one of our people, a young woman who was a marshal and approached the police to ask them to keep the traffic from running us over. They had pushed us into the lane closer to the center and kept the right lane open to cars. Very unusual because they normally keep demonstrators in the right lane so people can spill over in the sidewalk if there is a need. We saw 2 big huge white muscle cops descend on one tiny, short, small woman, throw her to the ground, push her face into the icy snow bank, twist her arms behind her, and sit on her. They grabbed – literally – 3 more people who impulsively ran in to help their colleague – 2 other young women and a brown man. I watched them pick up my friend R. who was trying to get the man’s glasses to him – his forehead was bleeding – and throw her back into the crowd. Then they pulled taser guns out on us and surrounded us by a dozen more police cruisers and threatened that they would forcibly remove us from the street if we didn’t move.

When we got to Queen’s Park a couple of blocks up, they had barricaded the legislature, with several rows of cops and fences and then surrounded the grounds with cruisers when we were all in. Several people who’d witnessed the police attack were traumatized, and in total shock or crying. About 10 people had gone to 52 division right after the arrests to find out what happened to our people. They were manhandled out of the station which was then surrounded by 30+ cops to keep people from going in. I saw the bruises on the arms of my colleague who was amongst the small group who’d gone to the station. And the immoral Toronto Star reports that 4 police officers sustained injuries !

I have been to many demonstrations and seen the police attack people before and this was no different. Except that it was unexpected. We were a small group of mostly middle-class white-collar workers. We’re university teachers and students, for f…’s sake. We were peaceful. We were singing to Faith Nolan’s version of solidarity for ever. She came down to the rally on her own initiative and volunteered to play music and sing with us as we were marching up to Queen’s Park. The police had no real reason to feel threatened by this crowd.

We’re not simply being legislated back to work. We’re being sent into a forced labour camp. The police violence perfectly illustrated the inherent violence of the back-to-work legislation. Many of our members are concerned about the violence that may be brought to their classrooms by misinformed or reactionary students who now see physical threats and verbal attacks on us justified by a government legislation.

Meanwhile, nobody is holding York University Administration accountable for refusing to bargain in good faith. And nobody is asking why can’t York University afford to settle with us ?

Why is it that in a publicly funded university the administration can approve of annual salary increases from 4-16.4% on salaries of $120,000 to $400,000 but can’t afford to put up $135,000 for extended health benefits for 3400 people who do 54% of the teaching ?

What is York’s current surplus of $139,000,000 (yes, that’s 139 million) being allocated for ?

If times are so tough, why would the university deans who are so willing to recommend that we accept the pittance they’re offering us unwilling to tighten their own belts and forego some of their own salary increases ? Dean of the Schulich School of Business, Dezsö Horváth, earned $410,000 in 2007 and probably close to $477,000 in 2008 (based on his track record of 16.4% annual salary increase). Dean Skinner, Faculty of Health, receives $95,000 annual wage increase over his $183880 University of Toronto salary. Their salary increases combined could pay for our childcare fund.

This is not about York University. It never was. This is an attack on our rights as workers to engage in collective bargaining with employers. This is a green light to big employers to use « worsening economic crisis » as an excuse to refuse to meet the needs of their lowest-paid workers. Who’s next ?