11/11/2008

Activist Dinner Award Winners



Malcolm Allen (NDP MP) Eric Blair Social Justice Award winner




Jonathan Neufeld (BUFA) Health and Safety Activist Award winner


9/17/2008

Migrant Workers in Canada: A Documentary and Panel Discussion

Migrant Workers in Canada: A Documentary and Panel Discussion

Co-presented by the St. Catharines & District Labour Council, the Centre for Labour Studies at Brock University, and NAC

Wednesday 24 September 2008 at 7pm
At NAC, 354 St. Paul Street

El Contrato, a documentary directed by Min Sook Lee (2003)
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada
Winner of the Taureau de Platine Award - For Best Documentary in 2003

El Contrato follows Teodoro Bello Martinez, a poverty-stricken father of four living in Central Mexico, and several of his countrymen as they make an annual migration to southern Ontario. For eight months of the year the town's population absorbs 4000 migrant labourers who pick tomatoes for conditions and wages no local will accept. Under a well-meaning government program that allows growers to monitor themselves, the opportunity to exploit workers is as ripe as the fruit they pick. Grievances are deflected by a long line of others "back home" who are willing to take their placeDespite a fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect, as much as for better working conditions. El Contrato ends as winter closes in and the Mexicans pledge, not for the first time and possibly not the last, that it's their final season in the north.

Guest Speakers include:
Min Sook Lee, Director, El Contrato
Stan Raper, United Food and Commercial Workers
Jonah Butovsky, Centre for Labour Studies, Brock University

8/12/2008

Labour Day March in Niagara Falls

Labour Day 2008

MARCH IN NIAGARA FALLS

September 1st, 11am

Meet at the Corner of Stanley and Dixon. Here is a map.

Following the march, come to the FAMILY FUN FESTIVAL!

Join us for games, food and fun for the whole family at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (5485 Victoria Avenue). Here is a map.

7/23/2008

Gabe MacNally R.I.P

From the St. Catharines Standard:

Union leader MacNally dead at 63

Gabe MacNally was a devoted union man who especially enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren. MacNally, 63, died in his St. Catharines home July 14 of natural causes. A funeral was held Saturday.

He was the president of the Canadian Auto Workers Union Local 199 in 1996-97 and then became a CAW national representative. MacNally retired from that position in 2006. He was also a past president of the St. Catharines and District Labour Council and sat on the United Way of St. Catharines and District board of directors.

In the 1990s, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat on city council in the St. Patrick’s ward.
MacNally was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, and spent his teenage years in Port Dalhousie. In 1974, he started working at General Motors in St. Catharines and became heavily involved in union activities.

“He got affiliated with the union and that pretty much was his career,” said his son,
Ryan MacNally. “I can’t tell you the endless amount of people that came to his
funeral and said what an asset he was to the union. He was an excellent professional arguer for the union. “Politics was also always a big thing for him.”

When his sons Ryan and Paul had children of their own, Gabe MacNally became heavily involved in the lives of his grandchildren. “He always wanted to be around his grandchildren; take them up to the cottage, take them fishing, to Toronto Rock (lacrosse) games,” Ryan MacNally said.

CAW Local 199 president Wayne Gates paid tribute to his predecessor.
“The one thing from his family, and people I’ve talked to, is how much Gabe loved our union, our local and our community,” he said. “I believe we all owe Gabe a great deal of thanks for his integrity, honesty and hard work,” Gates said. “He improved the lives of our members and helped make the community a better place to live and raise our families.”

6/03/2008

Injured Workers' Rally


Labour Council activists participate in the June 1, 2008 Injured Workers' Rally at Queen's Park.


5/12/2008

EI Monitoring & Assessment Report

The EI Commission makes public every year the EI Monitoring & Assessment report.

The report provides an overview of the labour market context by province, by sector and by demographic groups, as well as information from key studies and evaluations on the impact and effectiveness of the EI program.

The following is a link to the 2007 Monitoring & Assessment report for your reference: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/employment/ei/monitoring_assessment/index.shtml

4/18/2008

Day of Mourning Events in Niagara

April 28, 2008 Day of Mourning Events:

Niagara on the Lake
Location: Centennial Park Arena
Four Mile Creek Road, Virgil
Time: 9:30 a.m.

St. Catharines (Workers’ Monument)
Location: Government Road beneath St. Catharines’ Skyway
Theme: In memory of workers killed during a construction project
on the Skyway
Time: 11:00 a.m.

St. Catharines (Merrit Park Monument)
Location: St. Paul Street West at Burgoyne Bridge
Time: 4:30 p.m

Port Robinson (Rededication Service)
Location: Esquire Explosion Site, 125 South Street North
Time: Sunrise Service 7:30 a.m.

Welland (Rededication Service)
Location: Merritt Park Monument, King Street
Time: 9:30 a.m.

Port Colborne (Rededication Service)
Location: H.H. Knoll Park Monument, Sugarloaf Street
Time: 11:30 a.m

Fort Erie
Location: Fort Erie City Hall, Hwy #3
Time: 2:30 p.m.

Niagara Falls
Location: Niagara Falls City Hall
4310 Queen Street
Time: 4:30 p.m.

2/06/2008

It's Time for Public Child Care

Public Child Care Forum

Tuesday March 4,
Howard Johnson's Hotel
7-9 pm


We have a vision for child care in Ontario.

Together, parents, the labour movement and child care advocates have fought for:

- A universal, high quality child care system with a space for every child
- Decent wages and working conditions for child care workers and Early Childhood Educators.
- A comprehensive, affordable child care system modeled on Quebec’s $7/day early learning and child care programs.