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Labour Council General Membership meetings are held the 1st Thursday of every month.
- Tuesday, September 13, 12noon - Rally to safeguard public health care at Queen's Park, organized by Ontario Health Coalition | PDF poster.
- Monday, September 19, 7:30 - 9am - Breakfast of Champions, sponsored by OneToronto, Holy Trinity Church | PDF poster.
- Tuesday, September 20, 8:00am - Strike Support Rally, Humber College - 205 Humber College Blvd (Finch + Hwy 27).
- Tuesday, September 20, 8:30am - Labour Breakfast in support of the United Way of York Region. SEIU Local 1 office, 201-125 Mural St, Richmond Hill | PDF poster.
- Monday, September 26, 6pm - Rally to Defend our City at City Hall.
- Wednesday, September 28, 6:00pm - OPSEU Public Forum - Public Services, Good Jobs and the Ontario Election. Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street | PDF poster.
- Tuesday, October 11, 7:30pm - General membership meeting, OFL Building, Auditorium.
- Thursday, October 27, 7pm - Labour on the March: 150 Years of Labour Parades in Toronto. Craig Heron (York University), Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street.
- Saturday, November 5, 9am - 4pm - State of Readiness Forum by Labour Council. A follow-up forum to the June 4 Strike/Lockout Forum based on the Labour Council's new discussion paper "Achieving a State of Readiness." Register at council@labourcouncil.ca. OFL Auditorium.
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LABOUR COUNCIL FORUM OFFERS TOOLS FOR UNIONS IN KEY STRUGGLES
On Saturday, June 4, the Labour Council held a forum on how to win strikes and defeat lockouts. A theme of the day was building a "new normal" in our unions to respond to the new challenges we face in the current bargaining
climate. Over 130 union members from public and private sector unions participated in discussions about developing strategy and preparing their union for strikes, lockouts, and other campaigns.
A show of hands in the beginning of the day indicated that the majority of those present were already in negotiations or were preparing for bargaining in their local unions. Participants shared their past experiences and
discussed a broader range of tactics that could be used to win a strike in addition to withdrawing our labour.
The concept of building a "state of readiness" was introduced at the forum. A union in a state of readiness is able to effectively respond to major attacks or labour disputes on short notice. Many participants said that they
were eager to bring the discussions back to their local unions.
Building on the success of the event, the Labour Council will hold a second forum in November on how to achieve a state of readiness.
In the meantime, the Labour Education Centre is offering customized strategy workshops on how
to activate local unions. Email sshallhorn@laboureducation.org for further information on the workshops.
APRIL 9 - RESPECT our COMMUNITIES, PUBLIC SERVICES, GOOD JOBS
What an amazing day! Yes we can say that ten thousand people turned out to start the fightback against the policies being pursued by the Ford regime at City Hall. From the great speakers and performers at Dundas Square, to the spirited march that filled Yonge Street for blocks, to the final rally at City Hall square - it was simply breathtaking.
Torontonians heard from community voices talking about the importance of city services and good jobs. They included:
- Kay Bisnath, the Chair of the Gordonridge Scarborough Chapter of Toronto ACORN since 2006.
- Brian Demareski grew up in Regent Park/Cabbagetown and has been a solid waste worker for the City of Toronto since 1997. He was flanked by fellow CUPE 416 members Tony Ramdeen and Leslie Frost, and by CUPE 79 members Alexandra Pinosa who teaches aquatics and cleaner Trish O'Brien.
- Bishara Mohamed and Catherine Wilkinson, TCHC tenants and active members of Tenants for Social Housing.
- Sabrina "Butterfly" Gopaul, a grassroots community activist speaking on behalf of Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty and the Green Change anti-poverty movement.
- Krisna Saravanamuttu, President of York Federation of Students, active in the Tamil community and a life-long public transit user.
They were joined on stage by OFL President Sid Ryan and ATU Local 113's Bob Kinnear. The rally co-chairs were Labour Council President John Cartwright and Winnie Ng of the Good Jobs for All coalition.
Thanks goes out to everyone for helping to make this day an overwhelming success.
Unions and community groups who brought out great numbers, leaders who helped inspire the possibility of this happening, and staff of the different organizations who worked so hard in so many ways.
PUBLIC SECTOR LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Over four hundred front-line leaders from public sector unions in greater Toronto packed the room at the
April 15th Summit called to develop a common response to the attack taking place on public services and
public sector workers. Noted economist Armine Yalnizyan outlined a brilliant analysis of the disparities
created by the global economic model, including a conscious shrinking of public revenues and services.
Steelworkers Canadian Director Ken Neumann linked the nine month strike at VALE Inco to the attack
on decent pensions earned by both public and private sector workers.
And unions were invited to join a major campaign for public services being launched by
the Good Jobs for All coalition.
Click here for pictures. pictures, to download
the resolution go here resolution
FIRST ANNUAL YORK REGION LABOUR AWARDS
The first ever York Region Labour Awards social provided a wonderful opportunity for members of many
different unions to meet each other and honour the efforts of union and community activists in York Region.
Keynote speaker Daniele Zanotti of the United Way of York Region also presented the
United Way Leader Award
to Gerry Harrison of OSSTF D16. Labour Council Vice-President Mike Seaward received the "Julius Deutsch
Labour Veteran Award", named after the former Labour Council Executive Assistant who headed up the Council's
initiatives in the region.
Other awards included:
Community Leader - Fa Lim of the PMP Workers; Equity Leadership - Vinay Sharma, CAW 112;
Health and Safety Activist - Doug Dutton, CEP 52; Best newsletter - OECTA York Sentinel;
Best website - CAW 112; Highest number of Union Counselor graduates - CUPE 905;
Newly organized workplaces - USW (Sears Warehouse) and ATU 1587 (transit workers).
For pics click here Awards
LEADERSHIP SUMMIT VOWS TO PROTECT PUBLIC SERVICES
Over four hundred frontline leaders from public sector unions
across the greater Toronto area (GTA) attended the Toronto & York Region Labour Council's Public Sector
Leadership Summit on April 15, 2010, to craft a united defence against the attack on public services and
public sector workers.
Leaders voted unanimously to adopt a resolution calling for the Labour Council and affiiliates to build a
Public Services Solidarity Network for the greater Toronto area.
The network will: work with our community allies to assert the crucial role of public services in upholding
our quality of life; campaign to cancel the provincial and federal corporate tax cuts; coordinate support
for unions involved in key contract issues; and support fights to protect and expand public services,
including Toronto hydro, T ransit City , and the CPP national pension plan.
Armine Yalnizyan from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives was the leadership summit's keynote
speaker. Armine delivered a brilliant analysis on the impacts of the dominant neoliberal global economic
model on society and workers. Canada is experiencing the attempted rollout of the neoliberal agenda,
includes a dismantling of the public sector through privatization and tax cuts for the wealthy.
Statements by union leaders revealed the immediacy and enormity of the dangers facing Canada's public sector.
Schools, Toronto Hydro, Ontario Power Generation, the TTC, garbage collection, social services,
Canada Post, and hospitals are reeling from budget cuts, grappling with the threat of privatization,
or both.
The global business agenda is also hurting private sector workers. National Director of the Steelworkers
Union, Ken Neumann, spoke of the strategic importance of the USW's nine-month long strike in Sudbury,
Ontario, against Brazilian multinational mining company, VALE Inco; negotiations with the company have
broken down over the right for all workers - young and old - to receive a decent pension so they could
retire with dignity.
In a recession, the value of good public services becomes obvious. The public sector provides support to
society's unemployed and vulnerable, through programs like Employment Insurance and public health care.
Public sector workers also traditionally lead the fight in improving wages and working conditions for all
workers - both through the contracts they bargain for and by advocating for legislative change.
It is time for the union movement to ensure our public services are expanded upon, not dismantled, and the
Public Services Solidarity Network is the vehicle to actualize this agenda.
Click here for pictures. pictures, to download
the resolution go here resolution
The May 7th Stewards Assembly a resounding success!
The turnout was overwhelming – over one thousand six hundred stewards, staff and leaders
jammed the Sheraton's grand ballroom for this historic event. The evening kicked off with a great presentation by economist Jim Stanford on
the economic crisis, followed by five rank and file workers either impacted directly by job loss, or recalling past struggles won against
impossible odds. Other speakers included CLC President Ken Georgetti, Labour Council President John Cartwright, Judy Persad and Winnie Ng
of the Good Jobs for All Coalition, Fa Lim of the PMP Action Centre and surprise guest Mayor David Miller.
The entire assembly took time for roundtable discussions on the Labour Council's Solidarity Checklist and how to implement that in every
workplace. Then one after another, leaders from every union stood up to pledge to stand together in this time of crisis. Finally, the crowd
was led in singing a rousing rendition of labour's anthem – Solidarity Forever.
What next? People were asked to follow through on four simple tasks:
- Take the Fix EI petition back to the workplace, get every member to sign, get them back to your union and delivered to Labour Council
by Friday May 29th. It's the least we can do for those who have lost their jobs.
- Put the Solidarity Checklist poster up on every union bulletin board in every workplace
- Talk to the members about the issues raised at the Assembly and in the Solidarity Checklist
- Mobilize for a great turnout from both union and community to the June 13th mass rally, where we will raise our voices and tell the
federal government to take real action to deal with this crisis.
To read the rabble.ca article click here
For pictures of the Stewards Assembly click here
To see Jim Stanford's Powerpoint click here see Jim Stanfords presentation on YouTube click here
For the Solidarity Checklist click here
For the FIX EI petition click here
For the June 13th Flyer click here
To view speeches by Judy Persad and Winnie Ng click here
To view Labour Council President John Cartwright's speech click here
For the Solidarity forever song click here
To view and print past information on updates visit the
archives page at Archives
CELEBRATING OUR VICTORIES AND OUR STRUGGLES 2007
For pictures of the event go here
www.labourcouncil.ca/lcmeetdec07/index.htm
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