National Day of Mourning Events in Niagara
The St. Catharines and District Labour Council will sponsor three memorial ceremonies in Niagara On The Lake and St. Catharines to mark the April 28 National Day of Mourning for Workers Killed and Injured on the Job. One will be held at the Day of Mourning monument next to the Centennial Arena in Niagara On The Lake at 9:30 am and another will be held at the worker’s monument next to the Homer Bridge11:00 am in the morning on Tuesday April 28, 2009. The main ceremony will be held in St. Catharines at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 and take place at the Day of Mourning monument in Merrit Park next to the Burgoyne Bridge. The keynote speakers at the main ceremony will be Al Bieksa of the Ontario Federation of Labour and Dan Crow of CUPE Ontario. The main ceremony will also feature local labour leaders and politicians.
These ceremonies serve to focus public attention on the shocking extent of workplace fatalities and injuries in this country. They also express our renewed commitment to fight to prevent workplace deaths and injuries and achieve safe workplaces.
Members of the media are cordially invited to attend the April 28th Day of Mourning events. Persons wishing to obtain further information are encouraged to contact: Bruce Allen at (905) 682-2611 ext. 225 or (905) 934-6233.
4/22/2009
4/20/2009
Labour Council Fights Hospital Cuts
Labour Council activists join the Niagara Health Coalition to protest cuts to Niagara Hospitals.
4/02/2009
Major Cuts to Niagara Hospitals Threaten our Health
Niagara’s Hospitals are Particularly Hard Hit
The NHS has to find cuts to eliminate a budget deficit of approx. $16 million this year and $15 million next year, even though all experts agree that the hospital system is grossly underfunded.
The Niagara Health System has already announced major cuts to staff and services, including:Closing the Emergency Rooms and surgical beds – and ultimately the entire hospitals in Port Colborne and Fort Erie. These ERs saw more than 40,000 patients last year -- patients who will now have to travel into St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls. This is threatening to overwhelm our already overstretched ERs and hospital beds.
Closing birthing and mental health services across the peninsula – all patients will have to travel into St. Catharines further overcrowding the hospital here.
Cuts to hospital beds and other services
The hospital cuts and restructuring plan for Niagara will result in a net loss of hospital services for our whole region. We should be very concerned that our hospital cannot take the influx of patients from all across the Niagara peninsula as services are cut and closed down.
What We Can Do: Take Our Fight to Jim Bradley
Did You Know?Ontario’s hospitals are funded $100 less per person than hospitals in other provinces. This equals $1.2 billion in total less than other provinces. McGuinty is forcing these cuts by funding the NHS at less than the rate of inflation. It is very important that our local Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Jim Bradley, hears from us in St. Catharines, that we are concerned and want him to stop the cuts.
April 4 : Mass leafleting day.Join us at the market square at 8:00 am or at the CAW Hall, 124 BuntingSt. Catharines at Noon . We will be leafleting for two hours.
April 8: Planning Meeting Niagara Health CoalitionCAW Hall , 124 Bunting RD, 7:00 pm
April 18: Join in the Cross Province Protest atJim Bradley’s office at noon. Unit 2, 2 Secord Drive, St. Catharines.
Write/call/email Jim Bradley our local MPP:Unit 2, 2 Secord Drive, St. Catharines, ON, L2N 1K8T: 905-935-0018 F: 905-935-0191 E: jbradley.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Write/call/email Premier Dalton McGuinty:Room 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, M7A 1A4T: 416-325-1941 F: 416-325-3745 E: dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Volunteer with the Niagara Health Coalition: 905-932-1646
The NHS has to find cuts to eliminate a budget deficit of approx. $16 million this year and $15 million next year, even though all experts agree that the hospital system is grossly underfunded.
The Niagara Health System has already announced major cuts to staff and services, including:Closing the Emergency Rooms and surgical beds – and ultimately the entire hospitals in Port Colborne and Fort Erie. These ERs saw more than 40,000 patients last year -- patients who will now have to travel into St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls. This is threatening to overwhelm our already overstretched ERs and hospital beds.
Closing birthing and mental health services across the peninsula – all patients will have to travel into St. Catharines further overcrowding the hospital here.
Cuts to hospital beds and other services
The hospital cuts and restructuring plan for Niagara will result in a net loss of hospital services for our whole region. We should be very concerned that our hospital cannot take the influx of patients from all across the Niagara peninsula as services are cut and closed down.
What We Can Do: Take Our Fight to Jim Bradley
Did You Know?Ontario’s hospitals are funded $100 less per person than hospitals in other provinces. This equals $1.2 billion in total less than other provinces. McGuinty is forcing these cuts by funding the NHS at less than the rate of inflation. It is very important that our local Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Jim Bradley, hears from us in St. Catharines, that we are concerned and want him to stop the cuts.
April 4 : Mass leafleting day.Join us at the market square at 8:00 am or at the CAW Hall, 124 BuntingSt. Catharines at Noon . We will be leafleting for two hours.
April 8: Planning Meeting Niagara Health CoalitionCAW Hall , 124 Bunting RD, 7:00 pm
April 18: Join in the Cross Province Protest atJim Bradley’s office at noon. Unit 2, 2 Secord Drive, St. Catharines.
Write/call/email Jim Bradley our local MPP:Unit 2, 2 Secord Drive, St. Catharines, ON, L2N 1K8T: 905-935-0018 F: 905-935-0191 E: jbradley.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Write/call/email Premier Dalton McGuinty:Room 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, M7A 1A4T: 416-325-1941 F: 416-325-3745 E: dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Volunteer with the Niagara Health Coalition: 905-932-1646
3/22/2009
3/19/2009
April 28 Day of Mourning Events in the St. Catharines Area
The St. Catharines and District Labour Council will be sponsoring a series of three memorial ceremonies in Niagara On The Lake and St. Catharines to mark the April 28 National Day of Mourning for Workers Killed and Injured on the Job.
9:30AM at the Day of Mourning monument next to the Centennial Arena in Niagara On The Lake.
11:00AM at the worker's monument next to the Homer Bridge in Niagara On The Lake (beneath the skyway)
4:30 pm at the Day of Mourning monument in Merrit Park next to the Burgoyne Bridge (at the corner of St. Paul Street and McGuire Street)
The main ceremony will feature local labour leaders and politicians. These ceremonies serve to focus public attention on the shocking extent of workforce fatalities and injuries in this country. They also express our renewed commitment to fight to prevent workplace deaths and injuries and achieve safe workplaces.
Members of the media are cordially invited to attend the April 28th Day of Mourning events. Persons wishing to obtain further information are encouraged to contact: Bruce Allen at (905) 682-2611 ext. 225 or (905) 934-6233.
9:30AM at the Day of Mourning monument next to the Centennial Arena in Niagara On The Lake.
11:00AM at the worker's monument next to the Homer Bridge in Niagara On The Lake (beneath the skyway)
4:30 pm at the Day of Mourning monument in Merrit Park next to the Burgoyne Bridge (at the corner of St. Paul Street and McGuire Street)
The main ceremony will feature local labour leaders and politicians. These ceremonies serve to focus public attention on the shocking extent of workforce fatalities and injuries in this country. They also express our renewed commitment to fight to prevent workplace deaths and injuries and achieve safe workplaces.
Members of the media are cordially invited to attend the April 28th Day of Mourning events. Persons wishing to obtain further information are encouraged to contact: Bruce Allen at (905) 682-2611 ext. 225 or (905) 934-6233.
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
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.
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.
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