JP Hornick on Corporate power vs. labour power: It’s our work

The season’s second episode focuses on George Brown College’s 32nd annual Labour Fair in Toronto and the opening keynote discussion with president of OPSEU/SEFPO JP Hornick on this year’s theme  ‘Corporate Power vs. Labour Power: It’s Our Work!!’

Opening a week of labour focused events, and speaking to George Brown College students and faculty, our conversation focuses on labour power and union organizing in this era of corporate driven inequality, privatization and the erosion of the rights of working peoples.

According to Hornick::

“So everybody remember a year ago with CUPE, the education workers, OSBCU had organized themselves to the point where the government was like, ‘We are going to preemptively remove your right to strike.’ In other words, remove your Charter Right to withdraw your labour, because we're scared of what you're asking for. They did the same thing with Bill 124, where they imposed a three year moratorium on your ability to actually argue for a wage increase that was commensurate with inflation … Now, these attacks on workers happen constantly right. Whether you're a migrant worker, whether you're an international student, whether you're unorganized or organized. But what we are seeing right now, is that workers are fed up ... I think that we've hit a tipping point culturally, where people can see it in their neighbors, in their kids, in their friends, that the impact of income inequality, that corporate greed, that corrupt governments, actually are as bad as we thought. And it's adding up. So workers are kind of pushing back and saying enough! And then all of labour jumps in … Because we know that a fight with this government, a fight for what's happening right now, is not a fight for someone else, it's a fight for all of us together.” 

About JP Hornick:

Prior to being elected president of OPSEU/SEFPO (Ontario Public Service Employees Union), JP Hornick was chief steward for more than a decade within the College Faculty Division, representing instructors at Ontario’s 24 public colleges. They chaired the College Faculty bargaining teams in 2017 and 2021-22. 

JP grew up in a family of public service workers – educators, correctional workers and many more. They are a labour educator and previously served as the coordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown College. They have served as chair, treasurer and director on several community boards and has been on the front lines of activism to advance issues of equity, women’s rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, anti-racism and decolonization.  

JP was elected OPSEU/SEFPO president in April 2022 on a platform that includes strengthening union democracy, building bargaining power, ensuring financial responsibility, fostering an inclusive union culture, and deepening connections to the labour movement and community. 

Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here. 

Image: JP Hornick  / Used with permission.

Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased. 

Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy); Grace Taruc-Almeda, Karin Maier and Jim Cheung (Street Voices)  

Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. 

Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca. 

Host: Resh Budhu.