Niagara Parks workers protest recent cutbacks in tourist district

By Mike Zettel

Niagara This Week

Business decisions being made by the Niagara Parks Commission are bad for workers, bad for business and bad for visitors coming to the falls.

That was the message delivered Sunday morning by dozens of parks workers with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, who gathered in the city’s tourist district for a protest march.

OPSEU local 217 president Bill Rudd said the main issue has to do with management’s decision to cut back employee hours, in part by reducing the hours of operation of certain attractions, as a cost-saving measure.

He said the decision was made on the very day of the release of the annual “sunshine list,” which details public sector workers salaries above $100,000 and showed management making six per cent more last year.

“The workers are inflamed, and they should be,” Rudd said. “They’re close to the poverty line as it is, and then they do this.”

NPC employees represented by OPSEU are responsible for a wide range of duties. They include parks police, bus drivers and horticultural workers.

They were joined by members of Workers United, the hospitality workers union, as well as several other trade unions.

The protesters gathered near the corner of Dixon Street and Stanley Road, marching by the casino and down to Table Rock for the rally.

Addressing the crowd, Rudd said the cutbacks will have a severe impact on the condition of the park and the level of customer service. He pointed, by way of example, to the beat up snow fence across the street, still standing up in May.

“These visitors that come here and see this shabby fence won’t be coming back,” he said.

The protesters were joined by three Niagara politicians, MPP Kim Craitor, Welland MP Malcolm Allen and MPP Peter Kormos, all of whom expressed sympathy for their cause.

Craitor said he too has questioned some of the decisions by the NPC and has raised concerns about the commission at Queen’s Park. He implored people to continue e-mailing him or otherwise letting him know about their concerns, saying every single message will get to the proper person.

Kormos said the NPC’s recent actions, including the questionable investments made at Table Rock, only reinforce the need for it to be disbanded and replaced by elected and accountable officials.

“Let’s have direct political accountability,” he said.