Feb 2009

I was proud to accept on behalf of our membership a Labour Campaign Award from the United Way. Not only did your prize donation raise much-needed funds, but also membership payroll deduction tripled. With times as they are, more and more people will be drawing on the services, which are supported by the United Way. Thank You!

Elections to send delegates to the 49th annual OPCM convention held in Milton, will be held at our March regular meeting. Four delegates will be sent, one with only Peterborough members as candidates, one with only members under the age of 30, and two regular delegates. For Peterborough candidate’s acceptance of nomination can be done in writing. The convention will be held Friday, May 29th to Sunday, May 31st, see your steward for more information.

Bylaw amendments are now being accepted. Five members must sign any amendment proposal. Our Bylaw Committee will be reviewing all proposals in March. Readings will occur at our membership meetings in April and May.
 
Dave Thompson L.L. 905 President
 

Montréal, QC – The 138 members of IAMAW Local Lodge 1758 have ratified a new five-year collective agreement with Messier-Dowty Ltd.

“There was no doubt that the 100 per cent strike mandate given the bargaining committee by the membership two weeks ago had an impact on the final negotiations,” said IAMAW District 11 Business Representative Claude Boisvert. “Communications between members of the bargaining committee and their brothers in the plant was also very important.” The membership ratified the new agreement by a margin of 79 per cent.

The new agreement provides for a $1,000.00 signing bonus and a wage increase of 12.5 per cent over the five year life of the contract. Other agreement highlights include:
A 1 per cent increase in the employer RRSP contribution over the life of the agreement
Improvements in sick days
Increased vacation days

The members manufacture aircraft landing gear at the Mirabel plant in suburban Montréal.

IAMAW

A new index produced by the social policy organization German watch and the Climate Action Network-Europe has dropped Canada even further down an international climate change performance ranking.
The 2008 index ranked Canada 53rd out of 56 countries. The rankings are based on a country’s current greenhouse gas emission levels, emissions trends, and an evaluation of their climate change policy.

CUPE/CALM

 

Toronto, ON – Workers at Ambutrans Incorporated are the latest health care sector workers to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
The 170 new members of IAMAW Local Lodge 1295 provide non-emergency ambulatory patient transfers from Toronto to Durham Region in the east and Mississauga in the west. This is the second group of patient transfer workers to join the IAMAW this year. One hundred workers at Ontario Patient Transfer in Hamilton joined IAMAW Local Lodge 1295 in January. The IAMAW also represents Patient Transfer workers at Medi-Van in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

“The need for structure in this industry is very important to these workers, that and the desire for better wages and benefits are the reasons they turned to the Machinists,” said IAMAW District 78 Organizer Scott Jackson. “I can’t say enough about the hard work of apprentice organizers Roy Bhansingh and Ralph Martin. They were in constant contact with our new members either by text messaging or through the use of our web site. Communication was a key factor.”

IAMAW
 

Roy was an assembly worker and Chief Steward at Westinghouse in Hamilton. Roy was the first labour cartoonist to become a member of the Association of Editorial Cartoonists.
He always believed that a cartoon was a powerful tool to change the behaviour of politicians. He drew about 5 cartoons a day in the shop. “I drew them so fast, they could never catch me,” he said. If something happened on the line, he would drew a cartoon.
A few weeks before his death, the national Portrait Gallery of Gallery had accepted his editorial cartoons. He was the first editorial cartoonist to receive this honour.

Leonard Yeung/Editor
 

Vancouver-based outdoor sportswear company Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) has become the first Canadian apparel retailer to disclose the supplier factories of its own-brand products.
MEC cited its “commitment to being upfront about how and where [it sources] MEC-brand products” and its belief “that doing so will further workers’ rights and lead to better sourcing practices,” as reasons for its decision.
The company believes transparency is more important than maintaining any advantages the company may have over its competitors by keeping its sources secret. The co-op went on to call on other Canadian retailers to follow suit.
MEC did not enter into this lightly. They initially worried competitors would use the factory disclosures to steal MEC designs and problems at a supply factory might result in negative media coverage—but neither concern has happened.

MSN/CALM
 

Lured to Iraq by promises of jobs in the dining halls of U.S. military bases, 1,000 South Asian migrant workers shelled out thousands of dollars each to land a job in a war zone.
They were flown to Baghdad, where their work was subcontracted by Kellogg, Brown and Root, a large, U.S.-based non-union construction company. After arriving, the workers were held inside large warehouses at the Baghdad airport, and their passports were confiscated.
However, they didn’t take it for long, rioting against their detention in early December and raining stones and water bottles on visiting officials.
Now Kellogg, Brown and Root is under investigation by the U.S. Defense Department and faces a federal lawsuit for human trafficking crimes.

Labor Notes/CALM
 

An old man slowly crossed Pennsylvania Avenue after sitting for while on a park bench across from the White House.
He went up the U.S. marine standing guard and said, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The marine looked at the man and said, “Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and he no longer resides here.”
The old man said, “Okay,” and walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the same marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The marine again told the man, “Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.”
The man thanked him and, again, and just walked away.
The next day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the same U.S. marine, saying, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The marine was annoyed. He looked at the man and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I’ve told you that Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer lives here. Don’t you understand?”
The old man looked at the Marine and said, “Oh, I understand perfectly... I just love hearing it.”
The marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “See you tomorrow, sir.”

Internet/CALM
 

Some compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) can emit ultraviolet radiation above the current recognized guideline levels, according to research carried out by Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA).
The HPA is recommending people should not be within one foot of an open bulb (where the tube is visible) for more than one hour per day. In cases where exposure is for longer durations, an encapsulated bulb should be used.
“This is precautionary advice and people should not be thinking of removing these energy saving light bulbs from their homes,” says Justin McCracken, chief executive of HPA. “We are advising people to avoid using the open light bulbs for prolonged close work until the problem is sorted out and to use encapsulated bulbs instead.”
This issue was explored by Global TV’s investigative news program “16x9—The Bigger Picture,” which aired January, 4, 2009. Reporters interviewed a number of people who claim to suffer from CFL-related health issues including skin rashes and migraines.
They also sought input from Health Canada and other experts in the field. An email from Health Canada explained “CFLs are not provided with a prismatic diffuser that filters ultraviolet radiation out. Therefore, there may be skin sensitivity issues, especially in people with certain skin diseases.”
Though much of the discussion to date has been on CFL bulbs and public health, occupational exposure must also be considered. Many use task lighting that may fall within the one-foot range of concern identified by the HPA. These potentially harmful exposures may significantly exceed the one-hour limit also recommended by the HPA.

WHSC/CALM
 

International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early 1900s. It was a great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.
The following year, in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman’s Day was observed across the U.S. on February 28. Women continued to celebrate National Woman’s Day on the last Sunday of February until 1913.
In Europe, at a Socialist International meeting in Copenhagen in 1910, an International Women’s Day of no fixed date was proposed to honour the women’s rights movement and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. More than 100 women from 17 countries unanimously agreed to the proposal. Three of these women were later elected the first women to the Finnish parliament.
Following the decision made at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women’s Day was honoured for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland and celebrated on March 19. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.
On March 25, 1911, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the U.S. that became a focus of subsequent International Women’s Day events. 1911 also saw women’s Bread and Roses campaign.
On the last Sunday of February in 1917, Russian women began a strike for “bread and peace” in response to the death over two million Russian soldiers. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote.
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women’s Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For many years the United Nations has held an annual International Women’s Day conference to coordinate international efforts for women’s rights and participation in social, political and economic processes.
Women’s organizations and governments around the world have also observed International Women’s Day annually on March 8 by holding large-scale events that honour women’s advancement and while diligently reminding people of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women’s equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.
Now International Women’s Day is an official holiday in Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends and colleagues with flowers and small gifts. In some countries International Women’s Day is equivalent to Mother’s Day with children giving small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

UN IWD/CALM
 

Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Canadians are hanging on a short rope because the federal government hasn’t provided the immediate stimulus our economy needs.
The Conservative’s 2009 budget failed to expand Employment Insurance (EI) to ensure laid-off Canadians are eligible for benefits. Its infrastructure promises require the provinces and municipalities to match funding—a condition that will stall many projects.
“The omission of major EI reforms in the face of massive unemployment stands as its biggest weakness, says , says Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives senior economist Armine Yalnizyan.
“Canada is facing a potentially massive wave of economic dislocation as out-of-work Canadians turn to an EI system that is not recession ready,” Yalnizyan says. “Six out of 10 Canadians don’t get EI and everyone agrees that’s a problem, but this government inexplicably decided to ignore the problem—and that will lead to disaster for many.”
Broad-based tax cuts are also a problem, says CCPA analyst David Macdonald.
“In the coming recession, the government will help you adjust the colour palette of your kitchen, but if you’re poor you’ll be on your own,” says Macdonald. The average Canadian will only get a $300 tax break with low-income Canadians receiving a maximum of only $33.
For every dollar spent in federal infrastructure stimulus, provinces and municipalities must pony up 73 cents for the money to flow—delaying critical job-creating projects that should be stimulating Canada’s economy this year, not next.

CCPA/CALM
 

25 Years Marilyn Ferguson
23 Years David Brown
14 Years Peter Ng
14 Years Thomas (Jack) Talent
14 Years Jaswinder Sidhu
13 Years Barry Asselin
13 Years Don Beadle
13 Years Esteban Fernandez
8 Years Anne Graham
4 Years James Kyle Brown
4 Years Ivan Kralj
4 Years Trevor Lomax
4 Years Arthur (Joe) Tune
4 Years Steven Woolsey
3 Years Charlene Craig
3 Years Glen Reeve
2 Years Derek Green
2 Years Chand Mahajan
2 Years Robert Gammage
2 Years John Tapp
1 Year David Balan


 

Pavel Blaha
Randy Crawford
Delfin Flores
Thani Nagalingam