REMEMBERING JACK PRESIDENT'S REPORT Ontario Federation of Labour Executive Board Meeting, September 12, 2011 The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) represents 54 unions and one million workers. It is Canada’s largest provincial labour federation. President’s Report, Ontario Federation of Labour, Executive Board Meeting, Sept. 12, 2011 General inquiries regarding this document should be directed to: Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) | Fédération du travail de l’Ontario (FTO) 15 Gervais Drive, Suite 202, Toronto, Ontario M3C 1Y8 Telephone: 416-441-2731 Fax: 416-441-1893 Toll-Free: 800-668-9138 Email: [email protected] TDD: 416-443-6305 Web: www.OFL.ca Follow the OFL online: Twitter.com/OntarioLabour • Facebook.com/OntarioLabour • Flickr.com/OntarioFedLabour This document was proudly produced with unionized labour: JD/ph/ss:cope343 PRESIDENT’S REPORT Ontario Federation of Labour Executive Board Meeting, September 12, 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1: CAMPAIGNS & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS .................................. 1 SUMMER OF LABOUR DISPUTES ................................................ 1 CAW Air Canada Workers Defend Good Jobs & Pensions .............................. 2 Postal Workers Refuse to be Broken ............................................................ 3 IQT Solutions Flees Town with Workers’ Wages ............................................5 OPSEU College Workers Strike for Good Jobs .............................................. 6 ONTARIO ELECTION .................................................................. 7 Oct. 6 is Chance for Change ........................................................................... 7 OFL & CLC Revive Political Action Training ................................................... 8 Women’s Vote and Equity Resources ............................................................ 8 OFL Convenes Common Front Meeting to Build New Social Movement ........ 9 “In the Bag” Campaign .................................................................................. 9 HEALTH & SAFETY/WCB .......................................................... 10 Ontario Hires Chief Prevention Officer .........................................................10 Submissions Wrap Up for WSIB Funding Review .........................................10 OFL Intervenes in Hunger Strike to Secure Justice for Injured Worker .......11 Injured Workers Occupy Six MPPs Offices for Justice ..................................12 GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ...................................................... 13 OFL Weighs in on Social Assistance Review .................................................13 Labour Adjustment ......................................................................................13 EQUITY & HUMAN RIGHTS ....................................................... 14 Workers Under 30 Develop Plan for Youth Involvement ..............................14 Aboriginal Gathering Serves as Call-to-Action ............................................15 Ontario Pride Events ....................................................................................16 PART 2: AFFILIATIONS ......................................................................... 17 OFL Membership Leaps by Nearly 75,000! ...................................................17 PART 3: OFL SUPPORT ..........................................................................17 ODRT Update ................................................................................................17 OFL EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING • SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 i PART 4: AFFILIATE & LABOUR MOVEMENT SOLIDARITY ....................... 18 City of Toronto Puts Services and Jobs on Chopping Block ..........................18 PSAC Prepares to Fend Off Job Cuts and Privatization ................................19 U.S. Steel Comes Back to the Table with USW 1005 .....................................19 USW Takes on Infinity Rubber ......................................................................20 CAW Local 27 Sisters Raise Thousands to End Gender-Based Violence .......20 Building Trades Pave Way for Youth Success through “Hammer Heads” .....21 UFCW Wins Award for Migrant Workers Initiative........................................21 Labour Day Honours Jack Layton & Defends Good Jobs ..............................22 PART 5: COMMUNITY & INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY .......................... 23 G20:Redux Rally Draws Thousands for Civil Liberties .................................23 Progress Child Care Centre Keeps Doors Open ...........................................24 Labour Meeting Chinese Trade Union Federation ........................................24 Labour Meeting with Hong Kong Union Activist ...........................................24 PART 6: ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE ...................................... 25 Promoting Labour Online .............................................................................25 Facebook: Building an Online Labour Community .......................................26 YouTube: Online Labour Television ..............................................................26 Twitter: Spreading the Word ........................................................................26 Flickr: Sharing Labour Photos .....................................................................26 The OFL Daily: Labour News Digest .............................................................26 PART 7: EXTERNAL MEDIA ................................................................... 27 PART 8: UPCOMING EVENTS ................................................................. 28 September – October: Take Back the Night Marches ...................................28 September 13: Ontario Health Coalition Rally .............................................28 September 15: Pay Equity Workshop ...........................................................28 September 26: Rally for Toronto ..................................................................29 September 28: Human Rights Workshop .....................................................29 October 6: Ontario Election ..........................................................................29 October 13: Post-Election Common Front Meeting ......................................29 October 26: Child Care Worker Appreciation Day ........................................29 October 26: Danish Workers Study Pay Equity .............................................29 November 20-25: OFL Convention ...............................................................30 December 6: Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women ...........30 PART 9: PHOTO CREDITS ....................................................................... 30 PART 10: IN MEMORIAM ........................................................................31 Jack Layton (July 18, 1950 to August 22, 2011) ............................................31 ii PRESIDENT’S REPORT, ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR PART 1: CAMPAIGNS & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS SUMMER OF LABOUR DISPUTES The succession of strikes and lockouts that have characterized the first four months of Stephen Harper’s majority government have dubbed the summer of 2011 the “Summer of Labour Disputes.” From June’s three-day CAW strike at Air Canada and the Canada Post lock-out of CUPW employees to the OPSEU support worker strike at community colleges across Ontario that erupted in September, labour unrest has spread across the public and private sectors. However, it hasn’t only been unionized workers who have been facing callous employers. The Ontario Federation of Labour had to defend 400 Oshawa workers at IQT Solutions, who were hung out to dry by the company’s owners. The message to Ontario workers is simple: no sector is safe and no worker can afford to stand alone. Stephen Harper’s aggressively anti-union approach to governance and his heavy-handed interference in the collective bargaining proceess is a foreshadowing of what workers can expect if Tim Hudak is elected Premier of Ontario in the October 6 election. Hudak shares Harper’s eagerness to erode the labour standards and workers’ rights that were won by past generations. Concern about the impact of two-tier wages, benefit concessions and pension cuts on the next generation of workers has been at the root of all of this summer’s labour disputes. Steelworkers, postal workers, auto workers, college workers and many others have pushed back against attempts to pit the workers of today against the workers of tomorrow. This edition of the OFL President’s Report is dedicated to this spirited defense of the future of good jobs in Ontario. This lead section will focus on four prominent labour disputes that erupted this summer, but these are by no means the only ones. There are updates on some other disputes in Part 4 of this report. For trade unionists, the outpouring of labour solidarity is the real headline of the summer. We need to bring this optimistic and principled spirit – which was so wonderfully personified by Jack Layton, but is lived every day by union activists everywhere – from the bargaining table to the ballot box. It is time to vote for candidates who vow to make new investments in jobs, public services and pensions their top priority. In solidarity, Sid Ryan President, Ontario Federation of Labour OFL EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING • SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 1 CAW’s Ken Lewenza defends jobs & pensions CAW Air Canada Workers Defend Good Jobs & Pensions There was no “honeymoon period” with the Stephen National President Ken Lewenza. “The speed at which Harper government