{"id":1342,"date":"2013-05-09T18:56:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T18:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamaw16.ca\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2013-05-09T19:11:10","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T19:11:10","slug":"the-fight-of-our-livesstand-up-for-fairness-clc-political-action-conference-toronto-march-22-24-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamaw16.ca\/?p=1342","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Fight of Our Lives\u2019\/Stand up for Fairness CLC Political Action Conference Toronto March 22-24, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018The Fight of Our Lives\u2019\/Stand up for Fairness CLC Political Action Conference<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"CLC\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The IAM held a one day political action conference on March 22 in advance of the CLC political action conference.\u00a0 \u2018The Fight of Our Lives, Machinists take a Stand\u2019, the conference focussed on the threat posed to both our members and the Canadian middle class by the Harper Conservative government and the Global Corporate agenda.\u00a0 IAM identified what needs to be done and what the Canadian Regions needs to do in the coming months to support fairness, equality and values\/rights.<\/p>\n

\"images<\/a><\/p>\n

The conference proceeded with Bro. Ritchie sharing the fact made by the affiliated members of the CLC that Unions must work together and in solidarity to turn back the deterioration of human rights, worker distinction and basic Canadian values like fairness and social justice. He advised that he will shortly be tasking one of his staff with taking on a full time political action portfolio to enable the Machinists to take a leading role in this fight.<\/p>\n

Bro. Matt Mckinnon of Washington, DC then made a presentation on the present state of the IAM and the Labour movement in the USA.\u00a0 His statistics and the shocking details presented by form of a video \u2018Wealth Inequality in America\u2019 provided a warning account on where the Conservative agenda will take Canadian society if unchecked.\u00a0 So called \u2018right to work\u2019 states in the USA where there is no automatic dues collection such as Canada has under the Rand formula have lower wages, more poverty, lower education and higher infant mortality than states with a stronger Union movement.\u00a0 Unions are weakened defending those who are not required to pay any dues and in an even more grossly unfair turn these \u2018freeloaders\u2019 can file a duty of fair representation charge if they feel the Union has not adequately defended them.\u00a0 Primarily focussed in the southern states, the attack on the Union movement has recently moved north into the industrial and manufacturing bases of the US economy.\u00a0 The Labour movement is under attack and Union members do not vote in their own economic interest the middle class is disappearing and the only ones to benefit are the super rich \u20181%\u2019.\"images\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The IAM conference then turned to discussion on the issues faced by the IAM and labour in Canada, effective Communications by means of Practical Measures and Tools, by Bros. Frank Saptel and Erlichman.\u00a0 There was a town hall discussion where delegates raised their concerns and shared their experiences.<\/p>\n

The meeting finished with another speech by Bro. Ritchie in which he reiterate his commitment to having a dedicated political action staff member and strongly urged the members to go back and engage every local to educate members on the importance of political action and voting in their own economic best interests. Don\u2019t risk and make the mistake of being silent because it\u2019s a fight for your life.\"Idle-No-More-Logo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The CLC convention opened that evening with welcoming remarks by Bro. Hassan Yussaf, ST of the CLC.\u00a0 Guest speaker Tom Walkom of the Toronto Star spoke about how in the 1930-40\u2019s the threat of communism gave rise to a compromise between unions and capitalists saw the development of the CBAs at a time where businesses had wealth to spare.\u00a0 By the 60\u2019s business and governments accepted unions, but more recently there has been a push to lower wages, make access to welfare and EI difficult, and young workers today face part time jobs, no pensions, low wages and precarious work.\u00a0 From there he turned his attention to the current crisis faced by workers in America, where the right wing agenda has hijacked language with the so-called \u2018right to work\u2019 which is a deliberate assault on unions, defunding them through the drain on defending workers who are dues dodgers.<\/p>\n

In Canada, changes in the economy have allowed the right wing in Ontario to broach this topic and to suggest discarding the Rand formula which has supported the Canadian middle class all these years.\u00a0 He closed by identifying the \u2018enemy\u2019 of unions as the Harper Conservatives, the Ontario Conservatives and the BC Liberals and how labour\u2019s failure to keep pace with events has opened the door to the right wing agenda.\u00a0 Unions need to stay relevant and to work with allies and the broader community in Canada to fend off the attack on the middle class.\"badge6-en\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bro. Tim Lyons, Assistant General Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions outlined the recent experience of labour in Australia, where John Howard\u2019s government brought in many of the same changes that Harper has or has proposed.\u00a0 The labour movement rallied together in an impressive show of solidarity.\u00a0 The Unions agreed to work together to counter the government in a campaign called \u2018Your Rights at Work\u2019.\u00a0 The ACTU identified member apathy and limited understanding of labour\u2019s role in society by the public as their two main challenges.\u00a0 By the end of their campaign they had raised public awareness of the importance of a healthy labour movement to the existence of a solid middle class and defeated the Howard government in the next election, winning repeals of the destructive laws that had been passed.<\/p>\n

March 23 opened with an address by Bro. Ken Georgetti of the CLC.\u00a0 He began by reminding delegates that Steven Harper was a member of the right wing anti-Union National Citizen\u2019s Coalition prior to becoming PM, and that they share an agenda with the misleadingly named Workplace Democracy Institute, an anti-Rand Formula group headed by Catherine Swift.\u00a0 The 3 jobs Labour must do now to overcome the right wing strategies, to reconnect with our members, to get our message and our members out to reengage with the Canadian public, and to shift public perception of unions and all we do, also educating people on the link between free collective bargaining and union density and a healthy middle class in Canada.\u00a0 Our members need to view the labour movement not as \u2018the<\/i> Union\u2019, but as \u2018My<\/i> Union\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"untitled-1_0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a panel discussion on \u2018Reconnecting with our members\u2019, featuring James Carvin from USW who outlined just how the so-called \u2018right to work\u2019 exhausts a union\u2019s resources so they have no power to operate politically, and how Unions in the US are the only organizations required by law to provide a service for free.\u00a0 He bluntly stated the endgame for this strategy is to provide a mechanism for business to take advantage of workers.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Beattie of Strategic Communications spoke on messaging around ADC (automatic dues collection) and the Rand formula and how members need to understand the benefits of Union density, more job security, benefits, safety and how Unions raise the bar for everyone.\u00a0 US \u2018free-riders\u2019 who do not pay dues weaken Unions and the middle class, create conflict in the workplace, and that it is essential to stop and reverse the erosion of gains made by the union movement in Canada and that to do this unions need to communicate more effectively.\"stand-up\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jan Schaffer of the AFL-CIO detailed how \u2018right to work\u2019 was turned back in New Hampshire and Maine and that member to member communication and mobilization was the key to these successes.<\/p>\n

Delegates then broke into workgroups to hear speakers on chosen topics and to have small group discussion on the different topics available.\u00a0 The afternoon wrapped with an address by Tom Mulcair, Leader of the Official Opposition and the NDP.\u00a0 He spoke on how Harper\u2019s policies are changing Canada, making us less progressive and giving more power to corporations, how this comes at the expense of average Canadians and the risk the Conservative agenda poses to the middle class.\u00a0 He also spoke on what the NDP is doing to counter the right wing agenda and the need to look ahead to the next election and the critical need to ensure Harper does not retain a second majority.<\/p>\n

Sunday opened with another panel on Labour\u2019s image, community and political engagement.\u00a0 Trish Hennessy of the CCPA spoke about the corporate agenda that pits workers against workers and the importance of not retreating, avoiding defensiveness and weakness.\u00a0 Outlined the importance of defining the threat if unions are weakened, and balancing that with aspiration, to protect the middle class, and that to do this the labour movement must be more inclusive and \u2018grow the tent\u2019.<\/p>\n

Marie Della Mattia, Now communications spoke on using the media effectively, that not everyone wants to join a union but people want to hear what we have to say, how tax cuts are the only way people are getting a raise if 80% of Canadians are making less today than years ago and that using more anecdotal stories will get the message across best.<\/p>\n

Christian Quenneville of TAXI reminded the delegates that most Canadians agree with most labour policy positions but that the perceptions remain negative.\u00a0 He also bluntly outlined that if 35% of Canadians are progressive, 20% are conservative and 37% switch depending on the frame that the focus must be on the 37% who are undecided.\u00a0 \u2018Unions make fairness happen\u2019.\"vote\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jennifer Huang of the Toronto and York Labour council spoke on how assumptions by the public on how unions work are not always flattering and how her group has focussed on outreach to those who do not speak English or French as a first language.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Monk of the Broadbent Institute finished up by advising the message discipline is hard but everyone must remember what is at stake. Labour must be heard, cut through the noise and right wing rhetoric.<\/p>\n

There followed more workshops.\u00a0 They ranged from utilizing the media to connecting with members, to talking politics with members, engaging young workers and women, getting active and mobilizing. The US where union density is less than 10% and living standards for 99% of people have been degraded provided a stark backdrop and leant urgency to the message.\u00a0 The experience of the Australian Labour movement and the success that is possible with united, concerted action fuelled many of the discussions.<\/p>\n

The conference concluded with closing remarks by CLC ST Hassan Yussaf.\u00a0 He stated that to defeat the right Labour must have one campaign, one message and absolute discipline.\u00a0 There have been 100 pieces of legislation in the last 10 years that limit or undermine worker\u2019s rights in Canada and that Harper\u2019s extension of OAS to 67 years will take $6000.00 from each person.\u00a0 He also spoke on the travesty of Harper and Flaherty transferring $52 billion from EI to General Revenue, when it was paid for by workers and businesses and was not government money, and then making it harder for workers to access EI.\u00a0 There are no short cuts to the work ahead.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

In Solidarity,<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>John Vincent, Communicator<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>Local Lodge 16, IAM & AW<\/b><\/p>\n

https:\/\/iamaw16.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/IAM-CLC-Report.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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