CANADIAN POLITICS ONTARIO:

DENOUNCE AND DEFEAT DRUMMAND'S DREADFUL DIRECTIONS:

Always on the lookout to squeeze the poor even further the McGuinty government of Ontario has recently received a commission report of a plan to tighten the screws from former bank executive Don Drummond. It was all that could be expected. Here is the reaction to this report from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)

ññññññññññ
Defeating Drummond's Dreadful Directions‏

Former Toronto Dominion Bank economist, Don Drummond, has now handed over
his report to the McGuinty government. As we might have expected it is a
call to arms for the advocates of austerity. It suggests cuts to social
services that would make Harris’s Tory government look like social
reformers. Harris cut the Provincial Budget by less than 4% during one
term of office while Drummond wants a 17% reduction kept up for a decade
and a half. Among other drastic recommendations it calls for limiting
annual spending growth for social assistance to 0.5% until 2018, despite
the fact that those living on social assistance are still suffering from
the 21.6% cuts to assistance from the Harris years, which the Liberals
have only made worse. Nowadays a person living on welfare in Ontario is
making 55% less than they did in the early 90s, when the rates were
already far below the poverty line. Also in Drummond’s cross-hairs are
ODSP and the Child Tax Benefit.

Through all the rhetoric of ‘’overspending’’ it is important to remember
that this economic crisis was not caused by us. After all, it is
noteworthy that the budget was balanced before the crisis of 2008-09. It
was not caused by welfare recipients, it was not caused by organized
labour and it was not caused by public services. We are living through a
financial crisis that was caused by the rich, and while the banks are
getting bailed out we are being bled dry to pay for their greed.

The Drummond report is a road-map to austerity and if it is not swiftly
defeated its legacy will haunt us for decades to come. At the same time it
is important not to stay fixated on the Drummond report. We know that the
Liberals have been planning to implement cut-back measures long before
this report came out. It is imperative that we keep a close eye on the
upcoming budget and root out every attack directed against us in the name
of austerity.

The time is crucial for us to coordinate our efforts and organize
ourselves as effectively as possible to mount a serious fightback.

Overview of the days of action

This is not the first time radical groups, community groups and labour
unions have been called to fight together. In the mid to late 1990s in
response to the drastic cuts to social services and attacks on workers put
forth by the Harris government these groups had to band together to mount
opposition. What started as small protests against the PC government soon
swelled to one of the largest mobilization periods in Ontario’s history,
with hundreds of thousands of people joining in the fight. Unfortunately
this mobilization, though ground-breaking in many ways, was not enough to
defeat the Tories and they were not forced to retreat. As powerful as the
Days of Action were, the present struggle against austerity will need to
learn from past shortcomings as well as strengths. Unlike the
mobilization against Harris, the struggles we take up to-day will need to
escalate to the point where those implementing austerity face a level of
economic and political disruption that creates for them a social, economic
and political catastrophe. We can’t stop at moral appeals but must force
Bay Street and its political representatives at Queen’s Park to retreat
through decisive mass mobilization

The Common Sense Revolution cuts were pushed through and we are living
with its legacy today. In real terms people living on social assistance
today have less spending power than they did during the height of the
Harris-era cuts. Capitalism has re-doubled its attacks on organized labour
and vital public services are being cut and threatened daily. If we fail
again this time around, however, the results will be far more devastating.

Proposal for a plan to move forward

We in OCAP believe that the only way we can truly defeat the current wave
of austerity measures is to build a movement that is willing and committed
to pushing back in meaningful ways. Symbolic rallies and editorials will
only get us so far, and social assistance reviews are not going to help us
push back against austerity. It has even been admitted by Lankin that a
raise in social assistance rates is not even on the table. Rather, to beat
this beast we have to put forward a plan of resistance that is going to
disrupt every stage of their agenda, we have to be willing to confront
these politicians and decision makers head on at every single chance we
can take.

On March 16th OCAP, with a wide array of community groups and labour
groups will be marching from the ministry of housing down to the financial
district. In a show of unity we will be marching together against the
austerity measures of the liberal provincial government, we will be
demanding a raise in OW and ODSP rates, as well as quality public
services. But marches alone are not going to win this battle. Other
community groups have to be willing to take up the fight in meaningful
ways, unions have to be willing to strike against this government, and
everyone has to be committed to taking this to its logical conclusion! We
are calling on all our allies, all labour unions, all activists, all
community organizations to help us defeat this government and the
austerity measures it represents. Together we can fight to win!


_______________________________________________
ocap mailing list
ocap@masses.tao.ca
https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/ocap

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:

KEEP THE SCHOOL HOUSE SHELTER OPEN:

Here's another callout from down Ontario way and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). This is an appeal and petition to keep a downtown homeless shelter open. Here's the story:

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Hello everyone,

The fight for the School House Shelter and services AND housing in the Downtown East continues.

Please sign this on-line petition that will be brought to the City:http://www.petitiononlinecanada.com/petition/save-the-school-house-harm-reduction-shelter/834

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:

PRE-BUDGET RALLY AGAINST ONTARIO AUSTERITY:

The following call-out is from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

()()()()()()()()()()()

On March 16 FIGHT POVERTY AND DEMAND: A LIVING INCOME! HOUSING!
QUALITY PUBLIC SERVICES FOR ALL!

Solidarity Against Austerity

Friday, March 16, 2012
Rally and March
12noon
Meet at College St and Bay St, Toronto (Outside the Ministry of Housing)

*Free Meal (provided by members of the Ontario Nurses Association)
*ASL-English at the Rally
*Closest accessible transit station is Queen’s Park

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/168518953261094

Join the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and allies for a march
and rally on Friday, March 16th, in the lead up to the 2012 Provincial
Budget. The McGuinty government has hired former head of the TD bank, Don
Drummond, to propose and provide the basis for massive social cutbacks in
their 2012 budget. It is being drafted as the Provincial component of the
austerity agenda that is gathering force across Canada and
internationally. City Hall, Queen`s Park and Ottawa are delivering
austerity, but clearly it is being cooked-up on Bay Street by bankers like
Drummond to the benefit of their rich friends.

We have to stop the cuts and fight for what poor and working people need!

For poor people and workers in this province, it has been a constant state
of crisis. McGuinty is now preparing to make this situation much worse.

On March 16, we will be rallying at an Ontario Government location but
taking our march to Toronto`s financial centre where the real decisions
are being made by and for the '1%'. We will be marching to oppose
austerity measures but also to demand
the reversing of previous cutbacks, the right to a living income, the
right to affordable and accessible housing, and for good quality public
services for all! We will be marching against the kind of society Drummond
and the rich are creating, and for one that meets the needs and improves
the lives of all of us!

JOIN US!

Endorsing Organizations: Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, Aids
Action Now, Barrio Nuevo, BASICS Community News, Bread & Bricks
Davenport West Social Justice Group, CUPE Local 1281, CUPE 4308, CUPE
4600, CUPE Toronto District Council, Disability Action Movement Now,
Educators for Peace and Justice, Greater Toronto Worker’s Assembly, Health
Providers Against Poverty, Health for All, Jane-Finch Action Against
Poverty, Kingston Coalition Against Poverty, Medical Reform Group, No One
Is Illegal Toronto, Ontario Association of Interval and Transitional
Houses, OCCUPY Toronto, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, Ontario
Network of Injured Workers, Ontario Nurses Association, Ontario
University Workers Coordinating Committee (CUPE Ontario), OPSEU Local 525,
Poverty Makes Us Sick (KW), Rhythms of Resistance, Sistering, Students for
Medicare, Toronto Stop the Cuts, Under Pressure Ottawa, Workers Action
Centre, and growing!

HOW TO BE INVOLVED IN MARCH 16:

-Organize a contingent: bring a group of people from your organization,
neighbourhood, city or union local to this demonstration, bring your
demands

-Drum out Drummond: bring drums, noise makers, pots and pans. Rhythms
of Resistance will also be there to start us off on the march.

-Join the CHILDCARE NOW contingent of parents, caregivers and kids

-Organize a group of students or a ‘kids block’ to be a part of the day as
part of March Break

-Banners, flags and signs: Organize a ‘banner making day’ in your area,
bring your banners to the march

-Help fund a bus, food, transit tokens, ASL, and materials for the day: if
you or your organization or union local can make donations of money or
in-kind, please help us make this day as participatory and accessible as
possible

-Build the movement: add your organization’s to the list of endorsers for
this day of action

-Get the word out: help us get the message out about this day of action,
download the poster and flyer at www.ocap.ca, forward this announcement
far and wide, contact us if you would like to help with postering,
flyering, etc.

GETTING TO MARCH 16th:

Don’t want to come alone? Need transit tokens or a bus to get in to
downtown? Join one of these many groups meeting up ahead of time and
coming together...

In T.O

Jane and Finch: 1st stop: BUS from Yorkgate Mall at the 'no frills' entrance
at 11am , 2nd stop: 35 Shoreham Drive [A senior centre about 5 or 6
minutes away]

Downtown East: Join the Downtown East Stop the Cuts, meeting at the
corner of Dundas and Sherbourne at 11am **with tokens

Weston-Lawrence/Mt.Dennis: Meeting at Weston King Neighborhood Centre
(2017 Weston Road) at 11am **with tokens

Davenport and Perth: Join Bread and Bricks Social Justice Group, meeting
at The Stop Community Food Centre (1884 Davenport Road) at 11am **with
tokens

Parkdale: Meeting at PARC (1499 Queen St. West) at 11am **with tokens

From Out of Town

Pick up in Hamilton: CUPE 5167 office, 818 King St East at 9 am
Departing Toronto to arrive back in Hamilton at the 5167 office for 4 pm.

Pick up from Kingston, Belleville, Peterborough: please call 613 328-1938
for a ride

**Vans are also coming from Ottawa, Sudbury and Kitchener

GET IN TOUCH: Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Email: ocap@tao.ca
Phone: 416-925-6939
Web: http://OCAP.ca
Facebook: OCAP
Twitter: @OCAPtoronto#maketherichpay

CANADIAN LABOUR SUDBURY:

VALE'S ANTI-UNION MOVES PROVE FATAL FOR WORKERS:

The end of the 2009-10 strike at Vale in Sudbury and Port Colburgh left company management emboldened. From their point of view they had beaten the union, USW Local 6500, and could do whatever they wanted. This included refusing to rehire 9 workers who had been fired for union activity during the strike despite an Ontario Labour Relations Board that the company's actions were "patently unreasonable". More ominously Vale has persisted in unsafe working conditions that have killed 4 workers since the end of the strike. Here's the story from the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions. The story contains links to a summary and full report of a health and safety audit carried out by the union itself- the company refused to collaborate in such an audit.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Safety, Union Busting Haunts Vale inside Sudbury, Canada, Mines

If anyone needs further proof to Vale’s global social neglect, it comes in a pair of dirty deeds committed by the Brazilian mining company in and after the bitter 2009-10 strike at a major nickel and copper operation in Sudbury, Ontario.

One involves circumstances surrounding two deaths inside Vale’s Frood-Stobie Mine on 8 June 2011 and the other is added legal proof that Vale’s strong-arm tactics in firing union activists during the United Steelworkers (USW) strike was meant to hinder legal collective bargaining.

An extensive report issued 29 February by the USW over the June 2011 deaths of Jordan Fram, 26, an equipment operator, and Jason Chenier, 35, a supervisor, was done because Vale refused the offer of the USW to investigate the accident jointly. USW blames negligent water drainage maintenance directly tied to lax and “little experience or training” of front-line supervisors.

Fram and Chenier were buried 900 metres underground by an overflow of muck, a term for an avalanche of wet rock, gravel, sand, water washing down a mine shaft. Even though USW Local 6500 is the legitimate bargaining representative, the report notes, “Vale officials refused to be interviewed by members of the USW team” even though union members “cooperated fully in management’s investigation.”

The Executive Summary and the full 207-page USW Report are here.

The week before USW issued the report, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ruled that Vale violated provincial labour law by maintaining a “patently unreasonable” stance over nine workers Vale fired for strike activity. The OLRB agreed with the USW that the nine trade unionists were denied rights to third-party arbitration by the company, and further cited Vale for “troubling” labour relations conduct across several areas.

In January, the OLRB cited Vale with union interference for denying entry onto company property for one of the nine discharged workers is the elected head of Local 6500’s Grievance Committee. The USW is now confident that arbitrated decisions will prevail and the nine workers will return to their rightful jobs.

The USW District Director for Ontario and the Atlantic Region, Wayne Fraser, said the OLRB’s 24 February ruling “should give Vale pause to consider the hardship inflicted on families,” adding that the unlawful conduct “prolonged the suffering and uncertainty for families in our community.”Vale’s safety record in Canada was tarnished again on 29 January 2012 when 47-year-old Stephen Perry, an explosives worker, was crushed to death when a rock face collapsed on him while he was working in a lift basket. This death occurred 1,300 metres inside Vale’s Coleman nickel mine near Sudbury.

A fourth Canadian Vale death in 2011 occurred on 19 October when 51-year-old scooptram operator Greg Leason was killed when his machine fell 40 metres into a cavern inside the T-3 Mine in Thompson, Manitoba.

Historically, the four 2011 deaths at Vale in Canada are atypical because the USW is a vigilant proponent of joint labour-management process safety procedures that prevent workplace accidents. But with Vale’s hostile labour relations still simmering some 20 months after the strike, no cooperation with the union over health and safety issues is proving detrimental to workplace safety

CANADIAN LABOUR ONTARIO:

PENSIONERS AND ALLIES OCCUPY 21 ONTARIO TORY OFFICES:

It's called "Blue (collar)-Grey Power", an alliance of workers and pensioners to oppose Tory plans to gut Canada's Old Age Security (OAS). Here's the story, from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) of how they occupied 21 Conservative MP offices across Ontario. You can read more about this action and find out which Tory bench warmers were targeted at the website of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL). A great example of how labour is taking up the innovative tactics of the Occupy movement.

◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘
Seniors and the OFL occupy 21 Ontario Tory offices: Threats to Old Age Security ignite new movement of Blue-Grey Power
Share Labour activists teamed up with seniors, retirees and supporters on February 9 to occupying 21 Tory MP offices across Ontario, while other actions are taking place elsewhere in Canada. The Harper government’s recent threat to cut Old Age Security (OAS) benefits has inflamed a new movement of workers and pensioners, calling itself a movement of “Blue-Grey Power,” that is bringing the fight against the Conservative assault on retirement security directly to Tory constituency offices.

“Prime Minister Harper’s hypocrisy is stunning. He chose to announce his plans to cut Old Age Security in front of the one percenters in Davos, Switzerland when he knows full well that if he were to retire in 2015, he would have a Platinum-Plated, taxpayer-funded pension of $223,517 a year,” said OFL President Sid Ryan, from the sit-in at Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s Whitby constituency office.

Feeling pushed to the brink, the outraged pensioners, soon-to-be pensioners and supporters resorted to the constituency office occupations to demand that Conservative Members of Parliament abandon plans to push back the OAS eligibility age from 65 to 67, or make any reductions to benefits. Instead, they are calling for the Harper government to introduce modest increases to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions that would double benefits for all retirees and seniors.

“Harper’s attack on retirement security is another example of the Conservatives putting ideology over reality and the interests of working families,” says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “Even the government’s own Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, has said that the pension system’s long-term sustainability is sound. We as workers in Canada need to take note of this most recent attack on our rights and standard of living, and mobilize to once and for all elect a government that works for working families.”

To find out more about the occupation, go to www.ofl.ca .

CANADIAN POLITICS:

ONTARIO PREMIER'S SPEECH DISRUPTED:

What does a politician have to endure these days ? Just for the simple act of bragging in front of one's numerous rich friends about the devious ways that he plans to increase their (and his own) incomes by offloading hard times onto the poor. Poor Dalton McGuinty found out today as he addressed the opulent gathering of the Canadian Club, a social club for our so-called elites. The world outside came to visit the world of foie-gras and 30 year old Scotch in the personages of protesters from Under Pressure, an Ottawa anti-poverty group.

Here's the statement of Under Pressure, presented by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dear Rich People-We’re Coming For You!"

Under Pressure’s Statement On Today’s Disruption of McGuinty’s Speech‏
Dear Rich People- We’re Coming For You! Under Pressure’s Statement On Today’s Disruption of McGuinty’s Speech

On Thursday, February 09, 2012, in the fancy Ballroom of Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty addressed members of the Canadian Club, a social club for Ottawa’s wealthy elite. Disgustingly, the Premier was there to promise the gathered rich people a ‘relentless’ attack on Ontario’s deficit, which we all know means a ‘relentless’ attack on workers and poor people.

Rather than letting McGuinty get a free pass to spew more nonsense, Under Pressure, an Ottawa-based anti-poverty group, joined with community allies to disrupt his speech. The group of 10 activists attempted to storm the Chateau Laurier Ballroom while McGuinty was speaking. Four members were able to enter the Ballroom and loudly express their anger before being removed by security and the RCMP.

The rest of us raised hell just outside the room. Much banging on doors, chanting, throwing of confetti, and unfurling of banners ensued. Several liberal hacks got pretty aggressive but, despite repeated attempts to remove us, we refused to leave until we were good and ready.

The message we delivered to the gathered rich people was clear: workers, students and poor people in Ontario are under increasing attack by the provincial government of Dalton McGuinty. Cutting the Special Diet Allowance, deplorable social assistance rates ($599/month), a tuition grant that is unavailable to 2/3 of university students and comes at the expense of funding for graduate student research, and the province’s absolute failure to support workers at the Electro-Motive plant in London, Ontario, are only a few of the signs that rich people and their government don’t give a rat’s ass about us.

Under Pressure and its community allies promise that this is only one of many confrontations to come. We will not sit by, silently waiting for the next election or for this government to do the right thing. We will work with allies across the province to disrupt business as usual and to take the fight directly to the homes and boardrooms of the rich.

They say ‘Cutback’, we say ‘Fightback’!

Come to Toronto, March 16th, for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty Pre-Budget FIGHT POVERTY March! http://www.ocap.ca/node/984

Contact Under Pressure at rasietherates@gmail.com

Full text of the flyer distributed during the action: http://on.fb.me/Ams4vF

Ottawa Citizen article on the action: http://bit.ly/zMEr2P

CANADIAN LABOUR LONDON ONTARIO:


COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR LOCKED OUT CATERPILLAR WORKERS:





Time ticks on until this Saturday's mass demonstration in solidarity with workers at the Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London Ontario. While this is being planned the local community in London Ontario is rallying behind the workers affected who are supposed to have their wages cut by 50% as per the company's offer. There has been much discussion about the culpability of the federal government in allowing a foreign purchase of this enterprise insofar as it was "in the interests of Canada". Obviously it is not, and the federal government still refuses to release documentation regarding its decision.


All this is neither here nor there aside from establishing the fact that our government was privy to an agreement that included the possible relocation of a plant to a non-union area in the USA. Were they privy to corporate plans ? Who knows. All that can be said is that the ideology of our present government sees the interests of ordinary Canadians as worthless and merely an obstacle to be overcome.


In any case here is an article from the "Londoner", a local newspaper in London Ontario, about the community support for the Electro-Motive Diesel workers in London Ontario. Let's see what happens as Ontario labour gathers there this weekend.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Community supportive of locked out workers

Workers at London’s Electro-Motive Diesel plant have been shut out since January 1. Unwilling to accept a 50 per cent wage cut, they’re uncertain of their future as London City Council asks the provincial and federal governments to get involved.

Albrechtas is retired, but he had a good reason to be standing out on the picket lines on Oxford Street one grey, unseasonably warm day last week.

"I got three generations working here," he said, standing outside London's Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. "I've got my son working here and my grandson working here. They're both locked out. I'm retired (from the plant) now for 10 years under General Motors, but I'm here to support them."

And he wasn't the only one who came out to stand alongside the workers, locked out since January 1 after they rejected a blunt offer for a roughly 50 per cent wage cut from the Caterpillar-owned company.

"I want to support the people working here on the picket line," said retired educator Lynne Shantz. "They have a legitimate right to their workplace and the wages they've been making. I think the company did not intend to negotiate in good faith by coming in with a hardball offer like they did. It's pretty ridiculous."

Shantz said she'd like to see more Londoners come out to support the workers and said people should realize the fight going down at the plant could affect far more people than the workers in question.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg because along the line if people see that they can get away with this type of ridiculous offer ... then they'll be doing this again and again and again," she said. "This impacts people who are non-union as well and everybody is going to suffer."

Workers themselves are already feeling the pinch. With strike pay of $200 per week, most can just get by for now. But for some, that cash might be insufficient sooner rather than later

Take for example Vince Gugliotta and Sarah Smith. The couple — both locked out workers at Electro-Motive — are currently supporting four kids aged seven to 11 months old. Already they're watching the dollars and cents, keenly aware that they may soon be cutting into savings.

"(We're) eating in, shopping frugal, buying things only if it's an absolute necessity," Smith said. "We're just fresh into the lockout so we're not feeling the big impact right now. But a couple weeks from now, a couple months, we're definitely going to be feeling it."

She added that for their family, the prospect of going from $32 per hour in pay to roughly half that is simply untenable.

Out on the picket line, Chris Kwiatkowski agreed. Having worked at Electro-Motive for nearly 24 years, the last time he saw wages that low was when he just started at the plant.


"I started in 1988. It was just about 16 bucks an hour then," he said. "It's scary. I'm hoping (a deal) comes through. I like my job."

He added he's hopeful city council's recent unanimous vote of support for the workers will draw further help from Ottawa and the province, which have so far been tepid in their desire to get involved in the lockout.

"Right now they (the politicians) are about the only people that can save us I think," Kwiatkowski said.

Albrechtas agreed.

"I hope the government steps in soon," he said. "It's getting bad."

A representative at Electro-Motive said there was no one who could talk about the lockout situation.

Organized labour movements in Ontario have promised a day of action to show support for the locked out workers at Electro-Motive on January 21. According to a Canadian Auto Workers release, thousands of supporters are expected to converge on London to show solidarity with the workers in what has become a flashpoint for the labour movement in Canada.

josh.freeman@sunmedia.ca

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:

NO TO BUDGET CUTS IN TORONTO:

The following call out for protest against proposed budget cuts in the City of Toronto comes from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

**********************
[ocap] Stop the Cuts - Final Ford Budget Showdown!‏

Important Update on City Cuts:

1) January 17th Mobilization: Final Budget Showdown

2) What you need to know about the 2013 City Budget

-------------------

1) Final Budget Showdown

Toronto vs Ford!

Toronto Stop the Cuts Rally and Action

January 17, 5:30pm

City Hall

**Join OCAP and the Downtown East Committee as we meet up and march together to City Hall: 4:30 pm at Moss Park (Queen and Sherbourne)

On January 17th-19th, City Council will vote on the 2012 budget. Ford and his buddies want to cut nearly $90 million in services, even though the city has a surplus of at least $140 million. They plan to slash services, hike fares and user fees, and lockout or layoff workers when there is actually enough money to improve life in this city.

Toronto Stop the Cuts has been organizing in neighbourhoods across the city to build powerful resistance against Ford and his cuts. On January 17th, we are all coming together for a Final Budget Showdown - a rally and actions to oppose the cuts and demand an expansion of city services for all!

Join us - together we can Stop the Cuts!

More info:

www.torontostopthecuts.com

www.facebook.com/stopthecuts

www.twitter.com/tostopthecuts

tostopthecuts@gmail.com

Get involved:

Join a neighbourhood committee

Learn more about the cuts

To endorse, email tostopthecuts@gmail.com

-------------------

2) What you need to know about the 2012 Toronto City Budget?

First, there is no $774 million deficit. In fact, there is a $154 million surplus.

Second, the Budget Committee votes on a draft Budget on January 9th. This budget is amended by the Executive Committee on January 12th and then sent to the full Council. All City Councilors debate the Budget on January 17th and will vote on the budget on the 17th, 18th, or 19th.

This is not just about stopping cuts and layoffs or ensuring that there are no more user fees in the city. The fight now is to ensure that the 2012 Toronto Budget invests more in services for poor people and undocumented people, in immigrant neighbourhoods, for disabled people, for youth and the elderly. It is to roll back the 10% budget cuts that have taken place.

Here are three things you can do to make this happen. Remember, now is the time.

1. Come to Final Budget Showdown: Toronto Vs Rob Ford Rally and Action& bring friends! January 17, 2011, 5:30pm

City Hall

Share! http://www.facebook.com/events/294553420588331/ & http://clicktotweet.com/auabo

2. Take time off work, school or other commitments and go to City Hall.

January 17, 18 & 19

9:30 am onwards.

Council Chambers

This is when they will be discussing the City Budget.

More info: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/meetingCalendarView.do?function=meetingCalendarView#current

3. Visit, call and write these 9 Councilors

Tell them that you are part of the Toronto Stop the Cuts Network, a neighbourhood organization with 10 chapters in all corners of the city.Tell them that they should not support any cuts, layoffs, reduction of services, or user fees in the Toronto City Budget 2012. In fact, with a Budget surplus, now is the time to invest in services for poor people, undocumented people, disabled people, elderly and children. It's time to build a Toronto for all.

(See see http://www.torontostopthecuts.com/uncategorized/read-and-sign-the-toronto-declaration/ for more ideas)

(If you live in one of these wards, try and get your entire street, or building to sign a petition and drop it off at their offices.

Sample petition: http://goo.gl/YucNn

Online Petition also available:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/maketorontobetterbudget2012/)

1. Michelle Berardinetti Scarborough West

Phone: 416-392-0213 Email: councillor_berardinetti@toronto.ca

2. Mike Thompson- Scarborough Centre

-Phone: 416-397-9274 Email: councillor_thompson@toronto.ca

3.Chin Lee- Scarb-Rouge River

-Phone: 416-392-1375 Email: councillor_lee@toronto.ca

[These coucillors will be at Scarborough Civic Centre on Tuesday, January10 at 7:30 p.m. Register to speak: scc@toronto.ca or 416-396-7287]

4.Josh Colle- Eglinton and Lawrence

Phone: 416-392-4027 Email: councillor_colle@toronto.ca Meeting: January 11, 6:30 p.m. at Glen Long Community Centre, 35 Glen Long Avenue (west of Dufferin, north of Glencairn)

5. Josh Matlow - Trinity St. Pauls

Phone: 416-392-7906 Email: councillor_matlow@toronto.ca Meeting: January 11, 7-9 p.m. at North Toronto Memorial Community Centre,200 Eglinton Avenue West

6.Jaye Robinson

Phone: 416-395-6408 Email: councillor_robinson@toronto.ca

7.Mary-Margaret McMahon

Phone: 416-392-1376 Email: councillor_mcmahon@toronto.ca

8.Gloria Lindsay Luby

Phone: 416-392-1369 Email: councillor_lindsay_luby@toronto.ca

9. Cesar Palacios- Davenport-Perth

Phone: 416-392-7011 Email: councillor_palacio@toronto.ca

(This info has also been posted here: http://www.torontostopthecuts.com/petition-to-councillors/ )

4. Check the Stop the Cuts Web Calendar For Other Upcoming Events/Meetings:

Davenport Public Meeting - Voice your concerns! Stop the Cuts!

Location: Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood & Community Health Centre, 1900 Davenport Rd.

Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Co-Hosted by: Bread & Bricks Davenport West Social Justice Group and Davenport Stop the Cuts Committee

CANADIAN LABOUR LONDON ONTARIO:

RALLY TO PUSH BACK AGAINST THE CORPORATE BULLDOZER CATERPILLAR INC.:

Since New Year's Day 425 workers at Electro-Motive (a subsidiary of heavy equipment firm Caterpillar) have been locked out. The demands of this quite profitable company are quite amazing - a 50% cut in wages as well as the decimation of benefits-, and it is entirely possible, as the following article points out, that management is not serious at all in its bargaining. The rally is being organized by a number of labour groups. The Electro-Motive workers are represented by the Canadian Auto Workers .The following article is from the Ontario Federation of Labour.

The CAW, along with other labour groups, is demanding that the federal government release the secret report undertaken for a foreign takeovers of a Canadian company on Caterpillar's purchase of the facility. This process is supposed to ensure that any foreign acquisitions are "in the interest of Canadians". How cutting Canadian wages in half is in said Canadians' interest is a mystery only known by Prime Minister Harper's inner circle. Caterpillar has a long record of hard nosed labour relations, having previously won a 17 month strike in the USA. On the other hand workers at Caterpillar France in 2009 won their contest with the company by taking managers hostage. Interesting thought.

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OFL TO MOBILIZE MASSIVE RALLY IN LONDON AGAINST CATERPILLAR INC:
London Day of Action declared for Saturday, January 21 at 11 am
(LONDON, ON) -- The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) today issued a call to workers across Ontario to mobilize for a massive rally in London, Ontario on Saturday, January 21 to oppose Electro-Motive Canada (a subsidiary of U.S. industrial giant Caterpillar Inc.) and its attack on decent paying Canadian jobs.

“We see this fight as being central to the entire labour movement and we are going to dig in our heels and fight Caterpillar with everything we’ve got,” said OFL President Sid Ryan. “Good jobs and retirement security are being threatened by greedy corporations and every level of government. If workers don’t start to fight back, decent jobs will become a thing of the past and the middle class will be decimated.”

Electro-Motive locked out workers at its London-based diesel train plant on New Year’s Day. It was the latest tactic in the company’s attempt to slash benefits and cut wages from $35 to $16.50 an hour, after a year in which Caterpillar enjoyed billion dollar profits and a 20 percent boost to production. The company is rumoured to be planning to take advantage of Ontario’s lax labour laws by bringing in scab labour to keep the plant operational while bullying the union into devastating concessions. Many fear that the company’s hidden agenda is to move production to a U.S. plant in Indiana.

“This greedy multi-national corporation is trying to bulldoze living standards in Canada. If Caterpillar is successful in halving wages and gutting benefits, families in London will lose their homes and the whole community will suffer,” said Ryan. “Prime Minister Harper and his friends on Bay Street don’t seem to care about the livelihood of working Canadians, so we are going to raise enough of a ruckus that it will be impossible for them to ignore us.”

In calling a Day of Action against Caterpillar, the OFL has promised to bus thousands of public and private sector workers from across Ontario to the London plant to demonstrate the support for the workers of Electro-Motive Canada. The rally will draw attention to the failure of the Harper government to protect Canadian jobs and interests when domestic companies are acquired by foreign multi-nationals. It will also call on Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to support fair collective bargaining by banning the use of scabs in labour disputes.

“This mass rally is meant to define 2012 as a year of militant resistance against corporate greed. Workers are fed up with growing income inequities in our society and the governments that are allowing citizen-funded corporate tax cuts to fatten CEO salaries while delivering no net benefit to our economy or our families,” said Ryan. “The message for employers is simple: support decent jobs and benefits or it won’t be business as usual in Ontario.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. OFL President Sid Ryan is the voice of Ontario’s labour movement.

Related Web Sites:
http://www.Twitter.com/OntarioLabour
http://www.Facebook.com/OntarioFedLabour

For More Information:
Patrick (Sid) Ryan, President
p: 416.441.2731 m: 416.209.0066 f: 416.441.0722
Toll-free: 1-800-668-9138

Joel Duff, Communications Director
p: 416-443-7665 m: 416-707-0349 f: 416-441-1893

cope343

CANADIAN POLITICS:

STOP PUBLIC HOUSING PRIVATIZATION IN ONTARIO:

The following appeal is from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).

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Stop the Sell Off of Toronto Community Housing!‏
STOP THE SELL OFF OF TORONTO HOUSING!

Statement from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty www.ocap.ca

In a move that falls in line with the plans of Rob Ford, Toronto CommunityHousing is looking to sell off close to 1000 homes. The money raised in the sale would, we are told, go to meet the $600 million repair bill that years of neglect have created in public housing owned and operated by the City of Toronto. The sell off will involve ‘stand alone’ homes throughout the City.

Tens of thousands of desperate people sit on the 10 years’ long waiting list for rent geared to income housing in this City and the housing authority is now looking to sell off a major portion of this precious resource. Displaced tenants will have to be moved into units presently standing idle, that will be renovated with the money from the sale. This will mean that few people on the waiting list will get housed while the stock of public housing is reduced massively.

As bad as this move is, for Rob Ford and his allies, this is only a first move. They will carry on until public housing is entirely privatized.

This attack is a major part of an austerity agenda to destroy public services in Toronto and it has to be fought. TCH tenants and their allies must mobilize to stop the sale and defend their homes.

On Friday, October 21, from 9.00 AM to 2.00 PM, the TCH Board is meeting at their main offices at 931 Yonge Street. A call has been issued for people to make deputations to the Board by Tenants for Social Housing which we are including with this statement. However, it is beyond doubt that the fight will continue beyond this Friday and a serious and determined struggle on this vital issue will have to be taken up.

Join Toronto Stop the Cuts Network in the fight-back against city cuts!

Join a neighborhood committee or start a new one! www.torontostopthecuts.com

www.facebook.com/stopthecuts tostopthecuts@gmail.com http://www.youtube.com/user/TOstopthecuts

twitter.com/tostopthecuts

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Join with the Tenants for Social Housing - We Are Not for Sale Mobilization:

Stop the Sell Off of Social Housing - We are Not for Sale!

Toronto Community Housing Corporation Board Meeting

THIS Friday October 21, 9 am to 2 pm 931 Yonge Street

TCHC will be recommending the sale of your home and over 1,000 more at a Board meeting on Friday, October 21. We still have a chance to stop the sale of our homes and the dismantling of our communities!

• Register to make a deputation at the Board meeting by emailjanice.lewkoski@torontohousing.ca or call 416-981-4232 before October 21,2011.

• Send TCHC CEO Len Koroneos an email at len.koroneos@torontohousing.ca today and let him know that you do not support the sale of our homes! Join tenants at the Board meeting and let TCHC know that We’re Not For Sale!

Link for the report: http://www.torontohousing.ca/webfm_send/7677/1?#

CANADIAN POLITICS:

MARCH WITH OCAP AND CUPE THIS THURSDAY:

This appeal from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) asks you to join the 'Raise the Rates' contingent at the upcoming Canadian Union Of Public Employees Ontario (CUPE) convention. This is for our readers down Ontario way.

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Join OCAP at CUPE Ontario Rally: Thursday, May 26th 12Noon‏

Join the OCAP Raise the Rates Contingent at the CUPE Ontario Rally:

Meet: Thursday, May 26, Noon at the Sheraton Centre, 393 Queen Street West (at York - across from City Hall)

This coming Thursday, CUPE Ontario will be holding a rally during their Annual Convention in Toronto. It will demand decent jobs, improved public services as well as a raise in social assistance rates (OW/ODSP), a living wage, and restoration of the Special Diet.

For the last year (since 2010 Convention and the passing of a 'Raise the Rates' Resolution), OCAP has been working closely with CUPE Ontario to push forward jointly the 'Raise the Rates Campaign' to demand of the McGuinty Provincial Government a reversal of the Harris era cuts, a raise in Social Assistance rates to where people can live with health and dignity, and a restoration of the Special Diet Allowance.

We have developed a 'train the trainers' for CUPE members on 'why social assistance is a worker's issue' and how to concretely get involved in the campaign (see here: http://www.cupe.on.ca/doc.php?subject_id=287 ). We have had the chance to meet with CUPE members at sectoral conferences and in locals from Windsor to Ottawa to North Bay and beyond; building CUPE-community Raise the Rates alliances wherever possible. This work is ongoing and we know all too well that the broader fight back against austerity is only just beginning. Solidarity and alliances between poor communities and public sector workers is more important now than ever before!

Join with OCAP and the Raise the Rates Contingent on Thursday, May 26th as we march to Queen's Park and fight alongside public sector workers to defend public services and those who deliver them.

Join the Raise the Rates Campaign: http://update.ocap.ca/node/947

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty www.ocap.ca 416-925-6939

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pls forward widely All community allies, activists, workers, students, Torontonians, are invited to a RALLY!

Rally

Thurs May 26 Noon

@ Sheraton Hotel, 123 Queen St.

*This rally is held during CUPE Ontario’s Convention and ends at Queen’s Park In the lead up to the provincial election on October 6 there is an opportunity to make a difference in the province of Ontario. You are invited to join members of CUPE Ontario during their annual Convention to send a message to the provincial government.

BUILD A BETTER ONTARIO DEMAND:

1.AN END TO POVERTY: A raise in social assistance rates, a livable wage and a full restoration of the Special Diet allowance

2.PUBLIC SERVICES: An increase in public funding to services like: housing, childcare and post-secondary education to ensure key services are public and accessible for all

3.GOOD JOBS: Strengthen employment standards, safety provisions, sick pay and restore anti-scab laws and card certification

Join CUPE Ontario to send a message about poverty and public services in Ontario. Tell this government what kind of Ontario we want & need!

Bring your flags, noise makers and voice! *Wheel-trains vehicle provided

CANADIAN POLITICS ONTARIO: MARCH ON MCGUINTY: This Friday, April 1, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) along with sections of the Canadian Union of Public Employees CUPE are planning a mass demonstration to protest the McGuinty government's attack on poor people in that province. Here's the callout. Rather appropriate that this is being held on international politician day ;). TOTOTOTOTO **Please forward far and wide! All Out April 1st! March on the McGuinty Government RAISE WELFARE AND DISABILITY RATES, RESTORE THE SPECIAL DIET! /////////////////////// Friday April 1st Assemble at Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto 12 Noon *Free Meal ////////////////////// New Promo Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guk9jOXeUco On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=178670685510930 Download the Poster here: http://ocap.ca/files/ocap%20april%201%20poster%2011x17lo.pdf Below is important information about the day of action this coming Friday, including meeting points for Toronto locations, buses coming from Hamilton and Ottawa, and a call from CUPE locals to members to join us on the day. **If you would like to organize a contingent/meeting point from your neighborhood, organization, union local, etc – Let us know! ---------------------------- Toronto meeting points: • Jane-Finch: BUS meeting @ 10:30 am at Yorkgate Mall (North-West corner of Jane -Finch) in the parking lot closest to No Frills-Return: 2:30 • Sistering - 962 Bloor Street West - 11:15am *TTC Tokens available • Parkdale: 11:15am @ PARC drop-in (1499 Queen St.W) *Tokens available • Davenport-Perth Area: 11 am meeting at the drop-in at the The Stop (1884Davenport Rd). *Tokens available • Lawrence-Weston Area: 11 am at the Weston/King Neighbourhood centre,2017 Weston Rd. *Tokens available • Downtown-East: 11:30 @ North-East corner of Dundas/Sherbourne *Tokens available From Out-of-town: • Hamilton: 10:30 at 50 Dundurn St. South -Fortino's Plaza (corner of Dundurn and King St. W)-Return is 2:30-Contact Carol @ CUPE local 5167: 289-253-4789 to reserve a seat! • Ottawa: Contact Under Pressure to arrange with rides (opirgrc@gmail.com ) • Solidarity Action in Kingston - Join Kingston Coalition Against Poverty:-Rally at 12 NOON in Skeleton Park, Kingston-March to M.P.P. Gerretson's downtown office-Contact: kcap@tao.ca Calling All CUPE Locals, Activists & District Councils - Solidarity Needed April 1st Day of Action - Raise the Rates Campaign 12 noon - Nathan Philips Square - City Hall - Toronto At our last CUPE Ontario Convention we took an important stand for solidarity with people living in poverty and to fight poverty with our resolution to support the Raise the Rates Campaign. This vital work continues and we are asking for CUPE locals and district councils to endorse the April 1st Day of Action being organized by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and to get the word out to their members about this important event. People living in poverty struggle every day to survive. Since 1995 when Mike Harris cut welfare and froze disability rates the cost of living has sky rocketed, yet the McGunity Liberals have only made it worse since that time by gutting the Special Diet which enabled people to access funds for healthy food. Not only have they made the Special Diet cut, the Liberal's have refused to reverse the Harris cuts and raise welfare rates. It would now take an increase of 55% just to bring benefits up to pre-Harris levels. As CUPE members we need to continue to show our solidarity with poor people. Here is what you or your local can do: • endorse this event • send the info out to your members to get involved • join the CUPE Contingent on April 1st at 100 Queen St., West - 12 noon in Toronto - bring your banners, flags, whistles and noisemakers. Other actions and solidarity events are happening outside of Toronto, please contact us at raisetheratescampaign@gmail.com to get info for your area or to get further updates on the campaign. If you need more info and are in the Toronto area, please call 416-529-9600. An Injury to One is An Injury to All - All out April 1 - 12 noon - Raise the Rates Day of Action Raise the Rates Day of Action Endorsed by: CUPE Toronto District Council, CUPE 3393 Executive, CUPE 3903, CUPE 3906, CUPE 4308, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE ----------------- March on the McGuinty Government RAISE WELFARE AND DISABILITY RATES, RESTORE THE SPECIAL DIET! ////////////////////// Friday April 1st Assemble at Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto 12 Noon ////////////////////// It has been 16 long years since Mike Harris cut welfare and froze disability. McGuinty's Liberals have been in power for half that time and done nothing to deal with poverty. In fact people are worse off today. It would take a 55% increase to bring benefits to pre-Harris levels. If benefit levels were restored to the same level of spending power as they had in 1994, a single person on Ontario Works would now be receiving $904 a month instead of the miserable $593 now being issued. Now as the economy continues to slump and the need is greater than ever, this Government is destroying the vital Special Diet Allowance that has enabled people to survive. The new system they have proposed will provide benefits for fewer conditions and applicants will have to release medical information and face other intrusive measures designed to prevent access to the benefit. Within the Liberals’ own statement about this measure, they refer to the fact that ‘many will not be eligible’, and this is a move to ‘respect taxpayers’. The new Special Diet comes in to affect on April 1st, 2011 and all those who are not eligible under the new program will be cut off by July 31st. (See here for OCAP’s factsheet about the new Special Diet: http://www.ocap.ca/node/940) With no intention of dealing with the crisis of poverty they have created,the Liberals are setting up an 18 month long review of the welfare system to divert us from taking action to challenge them. We don't need a review to tell us we're hungry. What we need is decent income and a 55% increase in the rates now! UNITED WE EAT, DIVIDED WE STARVE March on the McGuinty Government April 1st! For More information contact the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) (416) 925-6939 / ocap@tao.ca ________________ ocap mailing list listocap@masses.tao.ca https://masses.tao.ca/lists/listinfo/ocap

CANADIAN LABOUR ONTARIO:

CRIMINAL CHARGES A0GAINST NEGLIGENT COMPANY FOR WORKER DEATH IN ONTARIO:

The following news item about charges of criminal negligence causing death being filed against an Ontario contractor who caused the death of a municipal worker in Sault St. Marie Ontario come from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union that the killed person was a member of. A few things should be noted about what follows. One is the actual rarity of such charges under Canadian law. Since 2004 only 4 such cases have been filed. Is this because Canadian employers are exceptionally cautious and follow best practices ? Very doubtful. The workplace death rate in the EU is 2.5/100,000 employees. The USA tops this with a rate of 4.0/100,000. Canada, however, comes in a a whopping 6.8/100,000. The only European country that tops this is Portugal at 7.6/100,000. Canada's workplace deaths are not inevitable, nor accidental. Pretty well all developed countries (and many underdeveloped ones as well) have lower rates. The obvious conclusion...criminal negligence causing death at the workplace in Canada is far more common than the legal cases would indicate. If things happen that others can easily avoid that is "negligence" from at least Molly's definition. Anyways, here's the story.

▬↨▬↨▬↨▬↨▬↨▬↨▬↨

Private company facing criminal negligence charges following city worker fatality

A private company is facing criminal charges over an incident that caused the death of a CUPE member.

Millennium Crane Rentals Ltd., the crane operator and the crane owner each face charges of criminal negligence causing death. They are scheduled to be in court in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, November 30 and December 6.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, this is one of just four cases in which a company has been charged under the Criminal Code since Bill C-45 (criminal liability of organizations) became law in 2004.

The bill sets out rules on criminal liability for organizations and their representatives. It establishes that everyone with authority to direct another person’s work has a responsibility, within reason, to prevent bodily harm to those they direct.

“We’re pleased to see the Sault Ste. Marie police and the Ministry of Labour have taken the time to thoroughly investigate the incident, and we’ll be paying close attention to this case” said CUPE National President Paul Moist.

“We’re hopeful that regardless of the outcome, employers will get the message that all levels of management bear a responsibility in making sure workers are protected on the jobsite, so that we can avoid terrible tragedies like this.”

The criminal charges stem from the April 16, 2009 death of municipal worker James Vecchio, who was crushed when a crane fell into an excavated hole he was working in at the Fifth Line Landfill.

Reports in the Sault Star suggest that the crane, which was loading concrete into the hole where Vecchio and another municipal employee were doing sewer work, was repositioning and backed up too far, falling into the hole and pinning Vecchio.

Vecchio, a 34-year old father of two, was rushed to hospital after firefighters extracted him, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital. The other worker was unharmed.

Millennium Crane Rentals, who were under contract with the city, also faces five charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act related to the condition of the crane and the qualifications of the operator. A court date for those charges is set for January 10, 2011.

CANADIAN LABOUR ONTARIO:

MIGRANT WORKERS WILDCAT FOR UNPAID WAGES:

Speaking of wildcat strikes, here's another one, this time from Ontario. According to the Justice For Migrant Workers site ( see also their Facebook page )migrant farm workers in Ontario have gone on a wildcat strike to demand unpaid wages. Like true criminals the employers have invoked the law to deport the workers rather than paying what is owed. Here's the story.

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Simcoe, ON-Migrant farm workers stage wildcat strike.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Migrant farm workers stage wildcat strike to demand thousands of dollars in unpaid wages: Employer responds with deportation

November 23, 2010

(Simcoe, Ontario) Over a 100 migrant farm workers employed at Ghesquiere Plants Ltd. are facing imminent repatriation (deportation) after staging a wildcat strike to demanding thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

The migrant workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados came together across racial, linguistic and ethnic lines to organize this wild cat strike and strengthen their collective power. The workers employed by this farm described numerous rights violations and complaints about their living conditions including the following:

• Workers are each owed from $1000 to $6000 in unpaid wages
• Workers are to be evicted and will be homeless as of Thursday, November 25th, 2010
• Most of the Mexican and Trinidadian workers will be repatriated by this Thursday. All Jamaican
workers have been repatriated.
• Electricity and heat has been cut off in one bunk
• Deplorable and very crowed living conditions

Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW), a grassroots advocacy migrant rights organization, calls for the immediate payment of all wages owing to workers. Migrant workers employed at Ghesquiere Plant Ltd. are being forced to return home and cannot provide for their families. Repatriation denies them access to pursue legal avenues under federal and provincial laws, basic protections accorded to permanent residents in Canada thus J4MW calls on both levels of government to intervene to protect migrants and prosecute employers who denied these workers basic rights. J4MW stresses that Temporary Foreign Worker Programs such as the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program denies migrant workers the ability to exert their rights and are in need of an urgent and complete overhaul.

J4MW Contacts

Chris Ramsaroop 1-647-834-4932 or ramsaroopchris@gmail.com
Carolina Alvarado Zuniga 1-647-296-6753

Justicia for Migrant Workers
c/o Workers’ Action Centre
720 Spadina Avenue, Suite 223
Toronto ON M5S 2T9
www.justicia4migrantworkers.org
www.twitter.com/j4mw

CANADIAN LABOUR ONTARIO:

UN FINDS CANADA AND ONTARIO GUILTY:

The International Labour Organization of the United Nations has found that Ontario's ban on farm workers' unions violates internationally accepted human rights. We'll see what the response is from governments that crow loudly about human rights elsewhere. Here's the story from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada (UFCW).

CLCLCLCLCLCL

UN FINDS CANADA AND ONTARIO GUILTY

An agency of the United Nations has ruled a ban on farm unions violates the human rights of Ontario’s 100,000 migrant and domestic farm workers

GENEVA, November 18, 2010 – The UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) has ruled that Canada and Ontario, through Ontario’s ban on farm unions, violate the human rights of the more than 100,000 migrant and domestic agriculture workers in that province. It follows a complaint filed in March 2009 by UFCW Canada — the country’s largest private-sector union and a leading advocate for farm workers’ rights for over two decades. The ILO is the UN agency responsible for formulating international labour standards including basic labour rights.

“The ILO has sent a clear message to the Canadian and Ontario governments that Ontario must end its blatant abuse of the rights of the workers who grow and harvest our food,” says Wayne Hanley, the national president of UFCW Canada. “These are farm workers, not farm animals, and people have human rights including the right to collective bargaining.”

The ILO ruling was handed down in Geneva. It found that Ontario’s Agricultural Employees Act, 2002 (AEPA)which denies all Ontario agriculture workers the right to join a union and engage in collective bargaining is a violation of human rights under two United Nation’s conventions: Convention No. 87 – Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, and Convention No. 98 – Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining.

Canada is a signatory to Convention 87 and supported Convention 98, “so you would expect a federal government that bid to get on the UN Security Council would have the integrity to follow up on the UN conventions,” said the UFCW Canada president. “The feds can say it’s a provincial matter but the reality is that both the Harper and McGuinty governments are partners with the farm lobby in plowing under the human rights of people doing some of the hardest and most dangerous work there is.”

The ILO ruling reinforces a November 17, 2008 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that found the AEPA violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms by denying Ontario farm workers their freedom of association. The Ontario government appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of Canada which has twice before upheld the Charter guarantee of collective bargaining rights. The Supreme Court heard the appeal in December 2009 and its final and definitive ruling is pending.

“While Ontario continues to stall by using the courts, the lives of the workers continue to be at risk,” says Hanley. “Without labour rights, Ontario farm workers remain powerless when faced with abusive employers and dangerous working conditions. The Ontario courts have said it. The Supreme Court has said it, and now the United Nations has said it. Labour rights are human rights, and that must include Ontario farm workers.”

UFCW Canada, in association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), operates ten agriculture worker support centres across Canada. The AWA is Canada’s largest national association and support network for both domestic as well as migrant agriculture workers.

CANADIAN POLITICS HAMILTON:

CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR BLATCHFORD PROTESTED IN HAMILTON:

Conservative author Christie Blatchford has made something of a name for herself over the years, but at least in Hamilton it seems she draws more protesters than fans. Regular readers of her columns in the Globe & Mail might think that she is a one note band devoted to kinky crime cases, but she's published on a lot more things over the years. The controversy reported here comes from her book on what seems to be the never ending saga of the Ontario town of Caledonia and the competing claims of land developers and local first nations people. Here's the story from the Ontario platformist site Linchpin.

◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙

Blatchford Abuses Privilege as Journalist

By Devon Ridge

[Hamilton, November 16th]- The momentum of concerned citizens confronting Christie Blatchford's speaking tour continued last night in Hamilton. Blatchford spoke to a relatively small and tightly-knit crowd consisting of several Caledonia Councilors, and a local MP.

About a dozen Hamiltonians from diverse communities gathered at the event to hand out resources and ask critical questions. They helped open doors for those attending the event and smilingly welcomed discussion. The group carried a Two-Row Wampum flag and signs stating 'Blatchford's Bad News' and 'Hamilton Does Not Welcome Racism'.

The group's focus was to question the strong media support Blatchford's book is receiving, while calling into question its undeniable ties to racist, anti-native organizing.

Blatchford’s book blames the government and police for a failure to protect the citizens of Caledonia, while neglecting to comment on the matter of land claims in the area, which is at the heart of the dispute. Blatchford has been known to publish material criminalizing anti-racist activists and accusing leftists of violence against their communities, meanwhile praising racist actors despite the violence that they perpetrate. This same trend is found in her book, Helpless, in which Blatchford gives praise to anti-native organizer Gary McHale.

Demonstrators felt the importance of creating a presence of opposition comes from a biased media slant, which suggests that the opinions of Blatchford reflect those of many people of Caledonia and the surrounding area. In fact, the Hamilton community did not support Blatchford's presence.

Many community members advocated for a constructive public discussion. Local Hamilton bookseller and businessman Brian Prince initially supported the event in Hamilton as a host - that is, until Blatchford, for whom democracy is, in her words, a 'game' denied his request to allow an alternative voice to speak at the event.

The vibrant and diverse presence of opposition to this speaking event demonstrated that many people in our community are opposed to the rhetoric of white supremacy that is blindly perpetuated by the corporate media.

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
NO MORE WORKPLACE DEATHS:

Following the recent deaths of two migrant agricultural workers in Ontario people are organizing to demand an end to such tragedies. Tonight there will be a public meeting in Toronto to educate and organize opposition to unsafe workplaces. Here's the info from No One Is Illegal Toronto.
WDWDWDWDWD

No More Deaths: People's Resistance to Undocumented and Precarious Work
Start: Nov/04/2010 - 6:00 pm
End: Nov/04/2010 - 8:00 pm
please participate in a Community-Labour discussion hosted by No One Is Illegal – Toronto

November 4, 2010
6:00pm – 8:00pm
OPSEU Union Hall, 31 Wellesley Street
(across from Wellesley Subway Station)

supported by: Justicia for Migrant Workers, Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario, OPSEU Workers of Color, Caregiver Action Centre, Labor Education Centre, Workers Action Centre, Health for All, Latin American Trade Unionist Coalition

speakers:

FRANCA IACOVETTA is Professor of History and author of “Such Hardworking People: Italian Immigrants in Postwar Toronto” that focused on the Hoggs Hollow disaster.

TZAZNA MIRANDA LEAL is an organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers

MOHAN MISHRA is an organizer with No One Is Illegal – Toronto

also remarks by Cosmo Mannella (Director of The Labourers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Canadian Tri-Fund); Elizabeth Ha (OPSEU Workers of Colour & OFL VP Workers of Colour); Jessica Ponting (Community legal worker with Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario); Pura Velasco (Caregiver Action Centre); Jojo Geronimo (Executive Director, Labor Education Centre) and members of the Workers Action Centre

on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159718884061029

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On September 10, 2010 two migrant workers Ralston White and Paul Roach died after inhaling toxic fumes at Filsinger's Organic Foods appleorchard and processing facility near Owen Sound, Ontario. On December 24, 2009, Alexander Bondorev, Aleksey Blumberg, Fayzullo Fazilov, Vladimir Korostin, migrant workers without full status, fell to their deaths when the scaffolding they were working on collapsed in half. Though these deaths made the mainstream news, migrant workers and undocumented workers continue to be hurt, to get ill and to die both in Canada or upon being deported to countries they have citizenship in. This injustice must end.

50 years ago, five Italian construction workers, Pasquale Allegrezza, Giovanni Correglio, Giovanni Fusillo, and Alessandro and Guido Mantella, died while working in a dangerous tunnel near Yonge Street in Toronto, remembered as the Hoggs Hollow disaster. Knowing
that workers without full status were facing flagrant workplace violations, negligent employers and little legislative protection from occupational hazards, workers across the city rose up, and carried out a series of actions and strikes in a fight to organize the
building trades.

Today as migrant workers continue to die, labour activists and community groups must gather together, to reignite a new fight. A fight that creates far-reaching changes and challenges the very root of people's inability to access real safety – immigration status and racism.

Join community groups and labour activist to discuss and demand:

** Moratorium on deportations for all workers with WSIB claims and MOL complaints
** Access to Health and Safety without Fear
** Status for injured workers and their families
** Status for All!

Please email nooneisillegal@riseup.net to endorse.

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For background

** Criminal charges not enough, more needs to be done to ensure migrant workers come home alive, say community organizations:
http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/490 (Oct 19, 2010)

** Stop the killing of migrant workers, end exploitative temporary work programs: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/483 (Sep 16, 2010)

** Hundreds mourn migrant worker deaths: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/391 (Jan 8, 2010)

** Justice for migrant workers killed at work: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/397 (Jan 7, 2010)