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DELEGATES MEETING
Thursday, June 7, 2012 7:30 p.m. OFL Building Agenda: "Delegation from Guangzhou Federation of Trade Unions, Guangzhou, China" |
 Aboriginal, Workers of Colour Conference gallery
Job Posting: United Way Services Coordinator Labour Community Services (LCS) is currently seeking a United Way Toronto Coordinator. This is a permanent full-time position reporting to the Executive Director of LCS. |
MONTREAL LEADERS AT LABOUR COUNCIL
Labour Council delegates and guests were privileged to hear a presentation by leaders of the Montreal Labour Council on recent actions in Quebec – by the students, by workers around Rio Tinto, and why a quarter million people jammed the streets of Montreal on Earth Day, April 22nd, demanding social justice and climate justice.
President Michel Ducharme, Secretary Danielle Cassandra, and Fonds de Solidarite's Daniel Champagne came to help build an ongoing relationship between labour in Toronto and Montreal, and help provide a context of the political analysis of Quebec and the issue of sovereignty and self-determination. To see the resolution supporting Quebec students passed by Labour Council after their presentation click here. To download the backgrounder on solidarity click here.
They also attended the Bromley Armstrong Dinner and the Workers of Colour/Aboriginal Workers Conference on May 5th and are taking back ideas for developing a new equity framework for their Council.
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WISCONSIN
The world premier of the movie “We Are Wisconsin” was greeted with a standing ovation at the HotDocs festival, and later again on the same day at a special labour screening at Ryerson University. It is a truly inspiring film that follows the day-to-day unfolding of public outcry against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s controversial anti-labour legislation, as the state Senate was occupied for eighteen days in February-March, 2011. On Thursday night, Paul Booth, assistant to the President of AFSCME, spoke to Labour Council delegates meeting about the ongoing fightback in Wisconsin, and the success of labour in rolling back of anti-union legislation in Ohio and other US states.
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Armstrong Award
On Friday May 4th, the Labour Council and its Equity Committee sponsored an award dinner to honour life-long activist Bromley Armstrong. The dinner featured a video of past recipients of the Bromley Armstrong Award talking about Bromley’s legacy. The award has been bestowed annually since 2004 to a union member who has shown outstanding leadership on human rights issues. This year’s award was presented to Jojo Geronimo, labour educator, anti-racist activist, and for Executive Director of the Labour Education Centre. View picture gallery.
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AWOC
Labour Council’s tenth annual Aboriginal Workers/Workers of Colour conference was held on Saturday May 5th, with the theme of “Advancing Equity in a time of Austerity”. Union members from a wide variety of sectors came together to hear keynote speaker MP Olivia Chow outline who the Harper government is rolling back decades of social gains under the cover of an invented fiscal crisis, while spending billions on jets, jails and dirty oil.
Her speech was followed by four respondents, each describing austerity in their work and life. Nezrine Edwards, a CUPE 416 cleaner, talked about the campaign to defend city cleaners from privatization, and the recent victory of her union in bargaining the contracting in of 150 cleaning positions. Ibrahim Bozai of OPSEU described the Ontario government’s attempt to use the Drummond Report to rationalize the attack on provincial public employees and teachers. Chris Sutton of CUPE 416 talked about the devastating cuts to Educational Assistants and school support staff at the Toronto District School Board. And Terri Monture of the Canadian Media Guild shared the concerns about cuts to CBC and the attempt to erode first nations sovereignty on behalf of oil and mining interests.
The 160 participants spent the day in workshops coming up with ideas of how to counter the Austerity Agenda at the federal, provincial and municipal level, and how to engage communities of colour in this crucial fight. The day ended with a heartfelt thanks from the leaders of the Montreal Labour Council who had attended, with the goal of learning how they might replicate this kind of equity work in greater Montreal.
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LOCAL 416 CLEANERS VICTORY! CUPE Local 416 scored a massive victory in its new collective agreement with Toronto Community Housing. Not only did it resist concessions, but it won the right to contract back in 180 cleaners positions at TCHC. In recent years, any vacancies or retirements were filled by contract cleaners, being paid little over minimum wage. An inititiative to train TCHC residents through an apprenticeship program career track was arbitrarily cancelled when the Ford regime removed the TCHC Board and put Case Ootes in charge. Now, a number of those residents will be hired on as part of the new contract.
This victory comes as a result of months of hard work by the Justice Dignity for Cleaners campaign led by the Good Jobs for All Coalition working closely with CUPE Locals 416 and 79. It follows the successful vote at Toronto City Council earlier in April that requires full accountability for any future outsourcing of cleaning work. www.goodjobsforall.ca
WISCONSIN
The world premier of the movie “We Are Wisconsin” was greeted with a standing ovation at the HotDocs festival, and later again on the same day at a special labour screening at Ryerson University. It is a truly inspiring film that follows the day-to-day unfolding of public outcry against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s controversial anti-labour legislation, as the state Senate was occupied for eighteen days in February-March, 2011. On Thursday night, Paul Booth, assistant to the President of AFSCME, spoke to Labour Council delegates meeting about the ongoing fightback in Wisconsin, and the success of labour in rolling back of anti-union legislation in Ohio and other US states.
**************************************************
Armstrong Award
On Friday May 4th, the Labour Council and its Equity Committee sponsored an award dinner to honour life-long activist Bromley Armstrong. The dinner featured a video of past recipients of the Bromley Armstrong Award talking about Bromley’s legacy. The award has been bestowed annually since 2004 to a union member who has shown outstanding leadership on human rights issues. This year’s award was presented to Jojo Geronimo, labour educator, anti-racist activist, and for Executive Director of the Labour Education Centre. View picture gallery.
**************************************************
AWOC
Labour Council’s tenth annual Aboriginal Workers/Workers of Colour conference was held on Saturday May 5th, with the theme of “Advancing Equity in a time of Austerity”. Union members from a wide variety of sectors came together to hear keynote speaker MP Olivia Chow outline who the Harper government is rolling back decades of social gains under the cover of an invented fiscal crisis, while spending billions on jets, jails and dirty oil.
Her speech was followed by four respondents, each describing austerity in their work and life. Nezrine Edwards, a CUPE 416 cleaner, talked about the campaign to defend city cleaners from privatization, and the recent victory of her union in bargaining the contracting in of 150 cleaning positions. Ibrahim Bozai of OPSEU described the Ontario government’s attempt to use the Drummond Report to rationalize the attack on provincial public employees and teachers. Chris Sutton of CUPE 416 talked about the devastating cuts to Educational Assistants and school support staff at the Toronto District School Board. And Terri Monture of the Canadian Media Guild shared the concerns about cuts to CBC and the attempt to erode first nations sovereignty on behalf of oil and mining interests.
The 160 participants spent the day in workshops coming up with ideas of how to counter the Austerity Agenda at the federal, provincial and municipal level, and how to engage communities of colour in this crucial fight. The day ended with a heartfelt thanks from the leaders of the Montreal Labour Council who had attended, with the goal of learning how they might replicate this kind of equity work in greater Montreal.
**************************************************
LOCAL 416 CLEANERS VICTORY! CUPE Local 416 scored a massive victory in its new collective agreement with Toronto Community Housing. Not only did it resist concessions, but it won the right to contract back in 180 cleaners positions at TCHC. In recent years, any vacancies or retirements were filled by contract cleaners, being paid little over minimum wage. An inititiative to train TCHC residents through an apprenticeship program career track was arbitrarily cancelled when the Ford regime removed the TCHC Board and put Case Ootes in charge. Now, a number of those residents will be hired on as part of the new contract.
This victory comes as a result of months of hard work by the Justice Dignity for Cleaners campaign led by the Good Jobs for All Coalition working closely with CUPE Locals 416 and 79. It follows the successful vote at Toronto City Council earlier in April that requires full accountability for any future outsourcing of cleaning work. www.goodjobsforall.ca
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IT'S CALLED POLITICAL BARGAINING
Congraulations to the NDP, the OFL and all affiliates who turned out big numbers to Saturday's rally at Queen's Park. Over ten thousand union members and community activist jammed the lawn of Queen's Park with a strong message to the government, calling for a no-cuts budget paid for by a modest increase on the wealthy, and rolling back the corporate tax cuts. The deal hammered out by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will put over $400 million into public revenues, and stop some of the cuts, although not all.
Now we need to keep up the pressure to respect free collective bargaining and get off the obsession with
"zero" for workers while CEO's are wallowing in fat salaries and bonuses. And to make it clear that the corporate tax cuts need to be reversed, not just "paused" as the Finance Minister wants. Thanks to all whocared enough about the
future of this province to put their feet on the street on April 21st. It seems your voices were heard!
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THE AUSTERITY AGENDA IS WRONG An "austerity agenda" is now being imposed on working people in most parts of the world, including Canada. When Stephen Harper invited the G20 Leaders here in 2010, he won their agreement to embrace austerity measures instead of taking action against the greed of banks and speculators. Now austerity is being rolled out as if there is no other alternative. Governments at every level are playing the austerity card. Yet the people being targeted had nothing to do with creating the financial meltdown of global capital. And they had very little to
do with causing budget deficits. Workers who find themselves on the wrong end of this assault are part of the 99 percent trying to make ends meet, just like all the rest of us. For the 1 percent, the reward is new opportunities to take over public services or assets, while continuing to reduce the cost of labour. To read Labour Council statement click Austerity agenda is wrong
******************************************************
IT'S CALLED POLITICAL BARGAINING
Congraulations to the NDP, the OFL and all affiliates who turned out big numbers to Saturday's rally at Queen's Park. Over ten thousand union members and community activist jammed the lawn of Queen's Park with a strong message to the government, calling for a no-cuts budget paid for by a modest increase on the wealthy, and rolling back the corporate tax cuts. The deal hammered out by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will put over $400 million into public revenues, and stop some of the cuts, although not all.
Now we need to keep up the pressure to respect free collective bargaining and get off the obsession with
"zero" for workers while CEO's are wallowing in fat salaries and bonuses. And to make it clear that the corporate tax cuts need to be reversed, not just "paused" as the Finance Minister wants. Thanks to all whocared enough about the
future of this province to put their feet on the street on April 21st. It seems your voices were heard!
***********************************************
THE AUSTERITY AGENDA IS WRONG An "austerity agenda" is now being imposed on working people in most parts of the world, including Canada. When Stephen Harper invited the G20 Leaders here in 2010, he won their agreement to embrace austerity measures instead of taking action against the greed of banks and speculators. Now austerity is being rolled out as if there is no other alternative. Governments at every level are playing the austerity card. Yet the people being targeted had nothing to do with creating the financial meltdown of global capital. And they had very little to
do with causing budget deficits. Workers who find themselves on the wrong end of this assault are part of the 99 percent trying to make ends meet, just like all the rest of us. For the 1 percent, the reward is new opportunities to take over public services or assets, while continuing to reduce the cost of labour. To read Labour Council statement click Austerity agenda is wrong
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TELL THE IOC TO GET RIO TINTO OFF THE PODIUM!
Mining giant Rio Tinto is providing 99% of the fine metals that go into the Olympic Summer Games medals, and yet the company does not live up to the Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play when it comes to its treatment of its workers, their families and communities. |
Rio Tinto’s Olympic involvement tarnishes the Games. The latest example is that hundreds of aluminum smelter workers in Quebec Canada are locked out of Rio Tinto’s Alma plant because they refuse to bow to company demands to replace retiring unionized members with precarious contract workers earning 50% less in wages for the same work. The demand appears part of a global effort to wring more profits by driving down living wages.
The Off the Podium campaign will pressure the IOC to reject Rio Tinto as a supplier to the Olympic games by having the medals recast, and bring greater attention to Rio Tinto’s poor treatment of workers, their communities and the environment. Join our campaign to keep Rio Tinto ‘Off the Podium’ at the 2012 Olympic Games. |
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DON'T GET STUCK ON THE BUS
In response to the defeat of the Ford regime at City Council on the transit plan and the new TTC Commission, expect a massive dis-information campaign about our transit future. No, the LRT's are not streetcars, and yes Eglinton will be widened. Labour rejects Ford's dream of a privatized subway line on Sheppard, especially because there is no way to pay for it. And the provincial Liberals and NDP rejected Tim Hudak's attempt to climb on the subway bandwagon in a vote at Queen's Park. Ironically Hudak was part of the Harris Conservative government that cancelled the Eglinton West Subway at a cost of over $100 million. To download the Labour Council flyer “Don’t Get Stuck on the Bus” click here.
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WHAT DO THEY HAVE AGAINST CLEANERS? Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday and City management are using deliberate distortions to attack City of Toronto cleaners. Holyday’s claim that cleaners make high salaries totals all wages and
benefits, including healthcare and pensions. It’s a setup to make people wonder why taxpayers should be paying such an unreasonable amount for“unskilled” cleaners. Nowhere else are the costs of benefits included to describe other people’s income. When City officials or journalists report on management or any other salaries, they only refer to the actual salary. Imagine if they used the same formula as Holyday does for cleaners - every police officer and every manager would be on the “sunshine list” earning over $100K.
For the record, city cleaners make an average of $22/hour, which translates into about $45,000 annual salary. That
is still less than the average wage in Toronto. On the other hand, non-union cleaning contractors pay either minimum wage ($10.25/hour) or slightly more. Nobody can raise a family on $22,000 a year in this city. That is the fact that Holyday and others in the Ford regime want to cover up as they go after cleaners and pursue their outsourcing agenda. It’s why they keep repeating the distorted figureand why honest people need to challenge them every time they do so.
DON'T GET STUCK ON THE BUS
In response to the defeat of the Ford regime at City Council on the transit plan and the new TTC Commission, expect a massive dis-information campaign about our transit future. No, the LRT's are not streetcars, and yes Eglinton will be widened. Labour rejects Ford's dream of a privatized subway line on Sheppard, especially because there is no way to pay for it. And the provincial Liberals and NDP rejected Tim Hudak's attempt to climb on the subway bandwagon in a vote at Queen's Park. Ironically Hudak was part of the Harris Conservative government that cancelled the Eglinton West Subway at a cost of over $100 million. To download the Labour Council flyer “Don’t Get Stuck on the Bus” click here.
********************************************************************
WHAT DO THEY HAVE AGAINST CLEANERS? Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday and City management are using deliberate distortions to attack City of Toronto cleaners. Holyday’s claim that cleaners make high salaries totals all wages and
benefits, including healthcare and pensions. It’s a setup to make people wonder why taxpayers should be paying such an unreasonable amount for“unskilled” cleaners. Nowhere else are the costs of benefits included to describe other people’s income. When City officials or journalists report on management or any other salaries, they only refer to the actual salary. Imagine if they used the same formula as Holyday does for cleaners - every police officer and every manager would be on the “sunshine list” earning over $100K.
For the record, city cleaners make an average of $22/hour, which translates into about $45,000 annual salary. That
is still less than the average wage in Toronto. On the other hand, non-union cleaning contractors pay either minimum wage ($10.25/hour) or slightly more. Nobody can raise a family on $22,000 a year in this city. That is the fact that Holyday and others in the Ford regime want to cover up as they go after cleaners and pursue their outsourcing agenda. It’s why they keep repeating the distorted figureand why honest people need to challenge them every time they do so.
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GET CONNECTED To sign up for the newsletter Labour Action, or to get on the email and or mailing list email tylabourcouncil@gmail.com or go to contact us. Follow us on Facebook
GET CONNECTED To sign up for the newsletter Labour Action, or to get on the email and or mailing list email tylabourcouncil@gmail.com or go to contact us. Follow us on Facebook
