CANADIAN LABOUR MANITOBA:

'MANITOBA MIKE' MAYBE:

American film maker Michael Moore has a long history of supporting the cause of labour, and some of his support has been to Canadian unions such as during the Vale strike in Sudbury. That strike is, of course, now history, but Vale has "rewarded" the workers at its plant in Thompson Manitoba for not going out on a wildcat solidarity strike by...closing down their operations in Thompson thereby throwing 100s out of work and essentially gutting the economy of the town. As Moore says in his blog posting this "economic development" is being financed at least in part by "economic development" grants from the federal Conservative government. Some development !

Here's Moore's well written and entertaining blog posting on this subject. It's nice to see that this province occasionally gets at least a little notice. Please be aware that I do not share Moore's enthusiasm for the NDP, though I guess in the context of American politics even a right leaning social democratic party like the NDP looks good.

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Why I Support the People of Thompson, Canada -- And You Should Too
By Michael Moore

To people down here in the U.S., Thompson, Canada and its fight with the Brazilian mining giant Vale may seem very far away.

It's not.

(Don't be embarrassed if you need a map to find Thompson, though -- blame the U.S. media, which will only tell you about Canadians if they have some connection to Justin Bieber.)

Right now Thompson is fighting a frontline battle in a war that's been raging for the past 30 years -- the global war of the world's rich on the middle class. It's a war the people of Flint and all of Michigan know much too well. It's a war going on right now in Wisconsin. And it's a war where the middle class just won a round in Egypt. (You probably didn't know -- because the U.S. media was too busy telling you about Justin Bieber -- that Gamal Mubarak, son of Egypt's dictator and his chosen successor, worked for years for Bank of America.)

Here's what's happening in Thompson, and why it matters so much:

Canada isn't like the United States -- it's still a first world country, where corporations are supposed to exist to benefit people, not the other way around. They don't just have universal health care -- they even have something called the Investment Canada Act, which says multinationals like Vale can only invest in Canadian industries if it will benefit all of Canada. I know, crazy!

The mine in Thompson used to be run by Inco, a Canadian corporation that made peace with unions and shared the wealth. When Vale bought Inco in 2006, they signed a contract with the government setting out what they would do to benefit Canadians.

Immediately afterward, Vale violated the contract and went on the attack -- forcing miners in Sudbury, Ontario out on the longest strike in their history. And now in Thompson they're trying to shut down the smelting and refining operations that have made the city a major economic hub of the province. Meanwhile, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper -- think of George W. Bush with a Canadian accent -- is actually helping Vale do this to their fellow citizens, with a giant $1 billion government loan which Vale is using to move jobs out of Thompson. Moreover, the largest institutional investor in Vale is Blackrock, an investment firm which in turn is owned by several of America's bailed-out banks ... including Bank of America.

So this is about one thing and one thing only: killing the social contract of Canada. Vale and the Harper government don't want a future where Brazil gradually becomes more like Canada. Instead, they want a future where Canada becomes Brazil. And not just Canada: the corporations' plan is that the Third World will become the Only World.

That's why people everywhere need to support Thompson. As Niki Ashton -- the MP who represents Thompson and the second-youngest woman ever elected to the Canadian Parliament -- says: "It Was Flint Yesterday, It's Us and Wisconsin Today, and Tomorrow It's Going to Be Everyone."

And that's why I'm proud to feature Ashton and voices of the people of Thompson on my website. And it's why I'm asking you to watch their powerful video, hear their stories, and share them with everyone you know.

Regular people across the world are standing up right now and saying "No!" to the future they have planned for us. We won in Egypt. We're waking up and fighting back across the U.S. Let's all stand with Thompson and make it the place where we turn the tide in this awful war. As Kamal Abbas, one of Egypt's most important union leaders, said in a video message to Wisconsin: "We stand with you, as you stood with us."

(Confidential to people of Thompson: we're not saying Americans will only help if you promise to introduce us to Justin Bieber. We're just saying, you know, it couldn't hurt.)

CANADIAN LABOUR-MANITOBA:

MANITOBA WORKERS AGAINST THE WAGE FREEZE:

Here in Manitoba the provincial NDP government has recently announced a wage freeze for the public sector. The ostensible rationale of this policy is that in a "recovery period" from the recent recession/depression government spending will have to be curtailed both in order to recover from a deficit position and to act as a brake on inflationary pressures. All of this, of course, depends upon some pretty 'ify' projections concerning the speed of recovery, inflationary pressures and how much provincial policy can influence the latter-if at all. It also depends on what is probably a "worst case" scenario in terms of government revenue (which depends not just on the rate of recovery but also on its qualitative aspects). What is not "ify" is that the government has determined to set their wage freeze in stone rather than await the unknown future.

During times when the "health" of our managerial economy demands that ordinary workers sacrifice it is very often the social democrats such as our provincial NDP (or even more obviously the "socialist" government of Greece) who lead the lambs to the slaughter. Unfortunately public memory is short, and ordinary workers often give their support to such parties because the alternatives seem worse.

No doubt they are ! This is not, however, an argument against a policy of distancing the unions and other working class organizations from such social democratic parties---if for no other reason than to hold a threat over the head of the parties. It is even less of a reason for people not to look into non-statist, cooperative ways of achieving social goals, ways that depend less on government and more on popular initiative. Even should there never be a society free of bosses, both public and private, this Independence would serve ordinary people well. This latest attack on public service workers in Manitoba is best situated in the long historical tradition of thousands of such attacks on ordinary people by social democrats in power.

Here's the story from the CBC about how the Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU) is planning a public relations campaign against the wage freeze.

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Wage freeze sparks MGEU ad campaign

CBC News
The MGEU's ads feature profiles from people like Ryan Espy, a correctional officer who works with youth at a provincial jail. (MGEU) The union representing more than 32,000 public-sector employees in Manitoba has embarked on a campaign to win public support in the wake of an announced wage freeze by the government.

On Monday, the Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU) launched TV advertisements under the title of Your Province, Your Services.

The ads introduce the public to civil servants who do everything from test water quality to guarding offenders in provincial jails. Currently, the union has produced five such profiles for the ads.

MGEU spokeswoman Lois Wales suggested it's important the general public realize that wage freezes will have an impact on the provincial economy and the services people receive.

"If you're cutting back on the public service's spending power, then you're stalling out the whole recovery of the recession," Wales said.

"Because the private sector is just starting to come back, people need to have money to spend to keep that economy going, and that's what our members expect," she said.

Freeze part of long-term plan
The government announced in its recently tabled 2010 budget that it would incur heavy deficits for five years before returning to surplus.

A two-year wage freeze for government employees was announced as a cost-cutting measure.

Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk has defended the wage freeze, saying the government could have laid off workers and cut programs in order to balance the budget, but instead decided to go ahead with deficits to preserve front-line programs such as health care.

The wage freezes would be rolled out as collective agreements expire, Wowchuk previously said.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/05/03/man-wage-freeze-mgeu-ads.html#ixzz0mzFQhrqK

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Now here's the story from the horse's mouth so to speak. Here's the MGEU on their campaign.

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Campaign Highlights Importance of Public Sector Workers
To highlight the importance of Manitoba’s public sector employees, the MGEU is launching a public campaign to remind Manitobans just how critical public services are, especially during tough economic times.

“Too often, when economic times are tough, talk turns to cuts to public services. But at what cost?” asks MGEU President Peter Olfert. “Right now many departments are struggling with unacceptably high vacancy rates. We need to start talking about what’s at stake here.”

Two ads will be running on local television stations throughout the month of May, aiming to remind Manitobans that a strong public service is key to keeping our province going and growing.

“These are the men and women who get us through the tough times, whether its flood protection, or making sure kids are safe when their families are in crisis,” said Olfert. “And now is not the time to scrimp on our safety standards, whether it’s making sure our water is free of e-coli, or striving to keep young offenders from returning to gang life.”

Olfert pointed out that while most Manitobans know public sector workers are there to protect our quality of life, they may not consider their role in keeping our economy as stable as possible.

“Take the current workforce shortages in certified trades,” Olfert said. “We’ve currently got Aboriginal Apprenticeship Coordinators throughout the province working to get young Aboriginal Manitobans into apprenticed trades like carpentry and plumbing. If the government needs to make up for cash shortfalls, are public programs like these really what we want to take the hit? When the private sector is struggling, we need the public sector to help make sure we don’t stall altogether.”

The Provincial government is currently at the bargaining table with over 14,000 public service employees. So far, the Province has essentially said accept an across-the-board wage freeze or there will be cuts such as reduced work weeks or lay-offs.

As you may have already noticed on our website, the MGEU is profiling the many different jobs of provincial public sector workers – highlighting what they do and how it affects Manitobans. Over the next few months, the union will continue to feature different members every week who are the faces behind Manitoba's civil service.

“Let’s remember: a public sector wage freeze would mean significantly less buying power for thousands and thousands of middle class families across our province,” Olfert said. “And cuts would mean the loss of critical services that most Manitobans take for granted.”

Watch Ad #1
Your Province Your Services Ad schedule

Read Profiles of Civil Service Members

CANADIAN LABOUR MANITOBA:

MANITOBA HYDRO STRIKE NOTICE:

The following news item from the CBC comes Molly's way via the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog, the blog of our local branch of the IWW. Keep your eyes trained on said blog for notice of any upcoming solidarity actions. Also look over at the website of IBEW Local 2034 for more on the union point of view on this strike.

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Local: Union hits Manitoba Hydro with strike notice:
This is one we will be watching. We'll post info if the branch do any solidarity support.-----
Union hits Manitoba Hydro with strike notice
Nearly 3,000 unionized workers have given a 48-hour strike notice to Manitoba Hydro.
After counting the votes on the latest contract offer from the Crown corporation, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) declared Wednesday evening that its workers rejected the offer.

The main issues of dispute in the negotiations have been salaries and length of the contract, said Lauris Kleven, business manager with the IBEW.

Conciliation meetings are scheduled for Thursday but the workers could be on the picket lines as early as Friday. If they do go on strike, it would be the first one to hit the utility in its 48-year history.

Another 1,300 workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, as well as 300 more who belong to the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, are also in negotiations with Hydro. (Seems to me that all three unions should have arranged to go out at once- Molly )

Contracts between Hydro and all three unions have expired, with the IBEW agreement expiring in April.

Hydro spokesperson Glenn Schneider previously told CBC News that the corporation is not prepared to discuss details about the negotiations.

"We are making plans to do what we can to maintain service if a strike were to occur," he said at the time.

Electrical workers, truck drivers, transmission techs, clerical and customer service workers, would be included in a strike.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR/LOCAL LABOUR:

WORKERS' MEMORIAL DAY:

Today was the International Workers' Memorial Day, a national day in many countries worldwide set aside to remember workers killed or injured on the job, including those affected by workplace induced illness. The facts themselves are startling enough. Each year over two million workers die of workplace injuries and illness across the globe. The rate of occupational accidents (270 million per year) and work-related illness (160 million) is even more disturbing (see the Wikipedia article on Workers' Memorial Day). Here in Canada, according to a CBC article, there have been 13,106 people killed in workplace "accidents" from 1993 to 2007. In 2007 alone 972,407 Canadian workers were injured or became ill due to work.

Workers' Memorial Day is actually a Canadian innovation. It was initiated by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in 1984, and the Canadian Labour Congress declared the day to be official in 1985. The US government recognized the day in 1989, and the Canadian government followed suit in 1991.

Here in Winnipeg this year's events were distinctly low key, and mostly in commemoration of the 61 Winnipeg City employees who have been killed on the job since 1978. Here's the story from the CBC article mentioned above.

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Firefighters remembered during Manitoba's day of mourning:

CBC News
The names of three Winnipeg firefighters were added to the list of workers killed on the job, as the annual National Day of Mourning was commemorated Tuesday in the courtyard at city hall.

Leslie Helman, Alfred McDonald and Fred Roy died of work-related illness in the past year.

"These workers are not statistics. They are parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbours," Manitoba Labour Minister Nancy Allan said to the crowd. "Their loss and the loss felt by their families, their colleagues and their communities lingers."

The National Day of Mourning, held annually on April 28, was officially recognized by the federal government in 1991 — eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress.

The national event to remember workers who were injured or died on the job, or who died from a work-related illness, is now marked in more than 100 countries.

In Winnipeg, Tuesday morning's commemoration was the start of a full day of observances.

Worksite ceremonies are also being held at city facilities at 1155/1199 Pacific Avenue, 1220 Pacific Avenue, 598 Plinquet Street, and at the Millennium Library.

Sixty-one city employees have died of work-related causes since 1978.

"As public servants, it's our mission to serve citizens well, to do so safely, and return home safely to the ones we love," said City of Winnipeg chief administrative officer Glen Laubenstein.
Political and labour leaders will also gather at 11:55 a.m. at the Union Centre, 275 Broadway Ave., and then walk to the Manitoba legislature.

A news conference with Allan will be held at 12:15 p.m. in front of the grand staircase at the legislative building.

The event is organized by SAFE Workers of Tomorrow, a local organization dedicated to promoting workplace health and safety among young workers.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, in the 15-year period from 1993 to 2007, there were 13,106 people who lost their lives due to work-related causes.
In 2007 alone, 1,055 workplace deaths were recorded in Canada — an increase of 976 from the previous year. Another 972,407 were injured or become ill.

Data from 2007 is the most recently available.

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Of course Winnipeg, not being the centre of the universe, was hardly the only place where the day was commemorated. The website of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union has a fine list of where there were events in Canada, and Hazards Magazine has a more general list of events worldwide. Down in the States there is also a fine new site, the United Support & memorial for Workplace Fatalities that I have mentioned before on this blog. Speaking of "mentioned before" it seems that i have written quite frequently on the subject of WMD over the years. Three times in 2009-Feb 27, March 7 and April 26. Three time in 2008-April 12 and two articles on April 28, and once in 2007-April 28. That first one is still my favourite. Here's what Molly said about this day two years ago.

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WORKERS' MEMORIAL DAY:
Today, April 28th is international Workers' Memorial Day. This is a day set aside each year to remember workers killed or injured on the job and to demand changes that will prevent such occurrences in the future. This day is one of Canada's lesser known contributions to the world.

Workers' Memorial Day was first promoted by CUPE and other Canadian unions in 1984 following the deaths of four miners in Sudbury. The Canadian Labour Congress declared an annual day of remembrance in 1985 on April 28th, which is the anniversary of the first Workers' Compensation Act proclaimed in 1919. The Americans followed in 1989 with credit being given to the fact that April 28th is also the anniversary of the establishment of OSHA. The Canadian Parliament passed an act recognizing this day in 1991.

The campaign spread to the UK in 1992 where it was adopted by the TUC in 1999.

Meanwhile the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions began to observe the day in 1996, and in 2002 the International Labour Organization(ILO) announced that Workers' Memorial Day was to be an official event in the United Nations system. Today the day is observed worldwide as an "official" day in many countries while in others the union movement is pursuing recognition.

The ILO estimates that two million people die per year of work related accidents and diseases and that, every year, there are 270 million occupational accidents and 160 million incidents of work related illnesses. Work actually kills more people in the modern world than wars do. In the USA 5,734 workers were killed and 4.2 million people were injured at work in 2005. The Canadian statistics are available at http://awcbc.org/english/NWISP_stats.asp . The situation is grimmer in Canada than in the USA in terms of fatalities which were at 1,097 in 2005. On a per capita basis workers are killed almost twice as frequently in Canada as in the US. This number has been steadily increasing in the last decade. The number of workplace injuries, however, has been steadily declining since it peaked in 1989, and in 2005 337,930 Canadian workers had suffered "compensatible injuries".

Hazards magazine maintains a website devoted to WMD with links to events worldwide. Together with the Labour Start online union solidarity site Hazards has initiated the Health and Safety Newswire. See this for more information.

For other resources on workplace health, injuries and deaths see the following:
Labour Start
Hazards Magazine
Trade Union Sustainable Development Unit
The Pump Handle
The Weekly Toll
Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK)
Centre for Corporate Accountability
Life Quilt (a quilt project honouring young workers killed on the job)
Canadian Injured Workers Society
Community of Injured Workers in Canada
Canadian Injured Workers Alliance
Canadian Council for the Rights of Injured Workers
Research Action Alliance on the Consequences of Work Injuries
And, of course, go to Le Revue Gauche for megablogger Eugene Plawiuk's take on this Worker Memorial Day with lots more info than Molly has presented here.

Finally, there is a petition at the Canadian Injured Workers Society calling on the Canadian federal government to hold a federal public judicial inquiry into wrongdoing by workers compensation boards across the country. Go here to view the petition or to sign it.
Labels: Canada, CUPE, events, labour, Workers' Memorial Day, workplace health