What Part-Time Workers are Saying about Working at TPL
Part II – The Effect of Part-time Work on Our Lives
In our last flyer, members painted a grim picture of what it’s like for part-time workers seeking full employment opportunities at Toronto Public Library. We also asked part-timers what their lives were like living under these conditions.
This is what our part-time members had to say:
…To live a successful life is to have a permanent full time job because my job not only supports me, but also my family…
…By having to pay so much for my benefits I feel that I am being penalized for working part time in an environment where there are almost no full time jobs…
…In the end, the library will lose (and has lost already…) good employees because part-time work doesn’t fill most people’s financial needs…
…Some of my shifts are only 3 hours. Travel time and travel costs involved to be present for such a short shift really do not make it worthwhile economically for me…
…Full time work is important to me because I just cannot afford part time in this day and age…
…I believe we should be treated the same as full timers. We also have families…
…I don’t know many people that can live working part-time for the rest of their lives. It seems unjust to have to work for a company for more than 10 years to get a full time position. It is a shame…
…I need the benefits and salary of a full time position…
…Full time work is important for maintaining stability in the lives of everyone who needs to pay bills, mortgage, rent, etc…
…I would love to have a permanent full-time position…Professionally, it would allow me the opportunity to work with the future of the branch and library…instead of just to the end of my contract or to the end of my shift…
…part time staff are necessary but poor schedules and poor benefit packages are downfalls …
Watch for our next flyer where we will discuss part-time work in more detail, and propose some “full employment” solutions to the problems faced by TPL part-time workers.
