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April 23, 2014 - Vol. 3 No. 24

Build the Independent Politics of the Working Class!

All Out for May First --
International Day of Working Class Solidarity


Build the Independent Politics of the Working Class!
All Out for May First -- International Day of Working Class Solidarity

Public Servants Take a Stand for Rights
Unions Sign Solidarity Pact

Government Legislates Provincial Bargaining in Education
Problems Begin to Reveal Themselves - Mira Katz
The Need for Democratic Renewal Comes to the Fore - Enver Villamizar

Coming Events
April 28 Day of Mourning


Build the Independent Politics of the Working Class!

All Out for May First --
International Day of Working Class Solidarity


2012 May Day march, Toronto

May First is a day for the working class internationally to affirm its independent political demands and fight for its rights and the rights of all. In Ontario, actions are being held in Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and Windsor. The government has announced that it will also table its latest austerity budget on May 1, setting the stage for a possible provincial election.

Since May Day 2013, the working people of Ontario have made advances in blocking the austerity agenda and denying both the Liberals or the PCs the ability to emerge as champion. They have been defeated in three by-elections, forcing Hudak to publicly back down on his "right-to-be-slave-labour laws" while the Liberals have not been permitted for an instant to hide their anti-worker agenda in hopes of appearing "fair" or "progressive."

May Day 2014 is an opportunity for the working people of Ontario to to advance their own stands against nation-wrecking and for manufacturing; to oppose the illegitimate austerity agenda and its corollory the privatization of public services and public assets; and say No! to attacks on workers' wages and working conditions and the most vulnerable in society, including injured workers -- all of which will no doubt be pushed in the Liberals' budget.

Everyone is encouraged to join in the actions where they are taking place, or call actions where they are not.

All out for May Day 2014!

Event Listings

Ottawa
Solidarity Against Austerity
Gather at McNabb Park -- 4:00 pm
March -- 5:00 pm
For information: www.MayDayOttawa.ca

Toronto
Honour Our Communities! No One Is Illegal!
Rally and March -- 5:30 pm
Gather at Allan Gardens (Gerrard between Jarvis and Sherbourne)
For information: maydaytoronto14@gmail.com

Hamilton
Defend the Rights of All!
Rally and March -- 3:00 pm
Assemble at Max Aicher (MANA) plant gates, 855 Industrial Dr
.

BBQ -- 5:00 pm
Local 1005 USW Union Hall (350 Kenilworth Ave. N)
Organized by: Local 1005 USW
For information: 905-547-1417 or info@uswa1005.ca

Windsor
March
for Our Rights -- 4:30 pm

Art Gallery of Windsor  (Bruce and Riverside)

Labour Village -- 6:00-8:00 pm
OSSTF District 9 Office (547 Victoria Ave)

For information: may1windsor.wordpress.com

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Public Servants Take a Stand for Rights

Unions Sign Solidarity Pact

At a press conference on April 16, the presidents of the Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO), the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU) and the Professional Engineers Government of Ontario (PEGO) signed a solidarity pact to stand together against the austerity attacks of the government. Three other Ontario Public Service (OPS) bargaining agents, the Association of Law Officers of the Crown (ALOC), Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association (OCAA) and the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA) expressed their support for the pact in a media release.

The solidarity pact states:

"We, the undersigned labour unions and associations that represent Ontario Public Service (OPS) employees, pledge to join forces and support this solidarity pact. Our convergence stems from the need to protect public services in Ontario, ensure good jobs, fair contracts, liveable wages and decent benefits for employees, retirees and our families.

"As professionals, our hard work touches the lives of all Ontarians on a daily basis. We are the ones that make the Ontario government work. In return, we ask that our employer, the Ontario government, show us the respect, dignity and fairness we have earned and deserve.

"Instead, the government is taking a mean-spirited approach to labour negotiations and it is seeking vindictive cuts, concessions and claw-backs.

"In a historic move, we pledge to work together to withstand these aggressive attacks.

"Today, we join forces in defence of all OPS employees. In signing our solidarity pact, we send a message to the government that OPS employees will not be a scapegoat for the government's financial situation; a crisis that we did not create. We affirm our commitment to act in a united fashion to defend and protect the rights of more than 57,000 OPS employees.

"The undersigned agree to act together in respect to these areas of common interest. To ensure this, the parties will communicate and coordinate accordingly. The parties agree to respect this common approach throughout 2014.


(OPSEU Local 549)

"We pledge to work together to do the following:

- Defend the importance of keeping Ontario's services public;
- Advance the social, economic and general welfare of all employees in the OPS;
- Support each other in protecting the provisions of our collective agreements;
- Protect the long-term viability of the OPS;
- Establish strong working relationships with all OPS labour unions and associations;
- Act to defend and protect the civil rights and liberties of employees and protect the rights and freedoms of trade unions in Ontario."

AMAPCEO President Gary Gannage pointed out, "The employer is attacking not just AMAPCEO members, retirees and their families, but the entire public service in Ontario. The support of the other public service unions and associations is a powerful message of unity the government should pay attention to."

AMAPCEO has worked hard to keep its members as well as the broader public informed of its fight for a just contract with the Ontario government, their employer. The fight these workers are waging is one not only for their rights but for the rights of all workers in Ontario to have dignified working and living conditions.

By sticking to their demand for negotiation and no dictate, and by defending the services they provide, members of the OPS are exposing the fraud that the working people can rely on the Liberals to affirm their rights, an empty promise Wynne repeats in hopes of achieving a majority through an electoral coup.

(With files from OPSEU, AMAPCEO)

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Government Legislates Provincial Bargaining in Education

Problems Begin to Reveal Themselves

Bill 122, the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act, 2014 ("SBCBA"), passed third reading on Tuesday, April 8 and received Royal Assent on Wednesday, April 9.

The process to pass the legislation saw the Liberals and NDP cooperate to ensure its passage as the PCs sought to delay it claiming they wanted more public input, while they sought to amend it to explicitly curtail teachers' right to withdraw from voluntary extra-curricular activities.

After the legislation was stalled in committee for two days as a result of the PCs' filibustering, on April 2 the committee passed 70 amendments without any public discussion, according to official transcripts of the meetings dedicated to clause-by-clause consideration of the bill. In other words, the rationale and purpose of amendments to various clauses of the original legislation seem to have been agreed to behind closed doors, mainly between the Liberals and NDP, while the public and in particular, teachers and education workers, were kept in the dark about the significance of these changes. In this way the Liberals sought pass the legislation as fast as possible so the new arrangements they want for provincial-level bargaining in the K-12 education sector are in place before everyone involved and affected actually knows the new regime for determining their wages and working conditions. This is all the more significant given that in the last round of negotiations the Liberals and PCs gave themselves the power to flout the normal laws pertaining to collective bargaining using Bill 115.

Of course the indecent haste to ram through the legislation has left significant problems hidden from the light of day. Only now are they coming to light.

An analysis of the legislation released by the law firm Hicks Morley, which says it acts for more than 40 school boards across Ontario as well as their provincial associations on matters relating to labour, employment and education law, raises a number of issues which reveal various grey areas within which the government can use its executive regulatory powers to decide how the legislation will be interpreted.

The Requirement for "Good Faith"

Writing for Hicks Morley in a section entitled "Good faith duty to cooperate with school board associations expressly imposed on the Crown (subsections 18(2) and 43(3))," Michael Hines points out:

"This is, from the perspective of school boards, the most important amendment to the Bill. Formerly, the Bill obliged school board associations (and councils of associations established for support staff central bargaining) to 'co-operate in good faith with the Crown in preparing for and conducting central bargaining.' However, no reciprocal obligation was owed by the Crown to school board associations. This situation has now been remedied. The Crown will be required to 'co-operate in good faith with an employer bargaining agency in preparing for and conducting central bargaining.'"

The law firm adds however: "The Crown owes no similar obligation to teacher federations or unions. This, in our view, makes it clear that the Crown no longer occupies a strictly neutral position as between employers and unions, but rather has a special, qualitatively different relationship with school boards within the central bargaining process. Interestingly, neither the 'duty to co-operate' placed upon school board associations nor the reciprocal 'duty to co-operate' placed on the Crown are enforceable as if they formed part of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 ('LRA'), begging the question as to the proper enforcement mechanism for these duties." (OPF emphasis.)

In a section entitled "Applicability of LRA to the Crown (subsection 4(2))," the Hicks Morley report states that "the LRA does not, according to its own terms (subsection 4(2)) bind the Crown. This means that the Crown cannot, for example, be held liable for any unfair labour practice under the LRA such as interfering with a trade union or an employer's association. In the original draft of Bill 122, the LRA was made applicable to the Crown, but only 'to the extent necessary to enable the Crown to exercise its rights and privileges' under the Bill. Once again, this appeared to insulate the Crown from possible liabilities under the LRA. This was criticized and the SBCBA now makes the Crown also subject to the LRA to the extent necessary 'to perform the Crown's duties' thereunder.' It remains unclear as to whether this goes so far as to expose the Crown to liabilities under the LRA in respect of, for example, 'bad faith bargaining.'" (OPF emphasis.)

Who Decides and How

Another issue in the new legislation concerns possible restrictions on how teachers' federations and unions are able to ratify a central (provincial) tentative agreement. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, for example, at its recent annual meeting adopted important changes to its by-laws which now require a double majority vote for ratification of terms negotiated at a central table. This means that a simple majority of all members across the province affected by the agreement must approve it as well as a simple majority of affected bargaining units. The idea is to ensure that any agreement negotiated provincially must be acceptable not just to a majority of members -- which could be used by the government and employers to try and fashion agreements that would be accepted by districts and bargaining units with the largest number of members, while ignoring the issues of smaller districts and bargaining units -- but also to a majority of the bargaining units, thereby also preserving the ability of local bargaining units to exercise some decision-making power at the provincial level. A similar double majority vote of bargaining unit presidents or chief negotiators will also now be required to obtain approval of a central bargaining brief that has been endorsed by the Federation's provincial executive.

Hicks Morley has raised the question as to whether this arrangement is legal for ratification votes governed by the LRA under the (amended) SBCBA:

"The Bill required ratification of a central memorandum of settlement ('MOS') by central parties (and 'approval' by the Crown) as well as ratification of any local MOS by the local parties. However, it did not specify the mechanism by which such ratification was to be achieved. The SBCBA now makes it clear that the ratification processes for trade unions and employees are as set out in sections 44 and 79 of the LRA, requiring votes of more than 50 percent in favour as applied separately in respect of central and local MOUs. Local parties have no ability to 'ratify' central items, so the ratification vote of a central employee bargaining agency will evidently involve the entire group of employees that will be affected by the central MOU. It does not appear that a federation or union could specify any form of double majority in respect of a central ratification."

In terms of how this affects school boards, Hicks Morley points out: "The SBCBA also now clarifies that the 'weighted majority' voting process for the employer bargaining agency specified in subsection 21(4) is to be followed in its ratification process -- a matter previously left in doubt. Where the central bargaining involves support staff bargaining and a council of trade unions, the weight to be assigned to the votes of employees in each bargaining unit may be determined in the documents that establish the council."

Scope of Arbitration

In terms of the manner in which provincial bodies have been given the power to usurp local decision-making the Hicks Morley points out under the heading "Arbitration of central terms within local agreements (section 42)":

"Bill 122 permitted central parties to seek arbitration over disputes regarding central terms. However, the Bill restricted the issue to 'the interpretation' of the central clause and confined the remedy available to the 'obtaining of a declaration' -- no substantive relief against individual boards or unions could be ordered. The SBCBA has changed this by providing central parties with access to 'final and binding arbitration to resolve any difference concerning the interpretation, application or administration of any central term of a collective agreement.' This suggests that a central employee bargaining agency can involve itself (and its corresponding central employer bargaining agency) directly in the interpretation and application of the central provisions of an individual school board's collective agreement. This is reinforced by the fact that the new subsection 42(5)2 allows the centrally appointed arbitrator 'to interpret and apply local terms to the extent necessary for the purpose of resolving a difference respecting any central terms at issue in the arbitration.' The revised section 42 no longer limits the arbitrator to making declarations. Rather, subsection 42(5)4 will allow the arbitrator to 'make orders in respect of each of the collective agreements' that contain the central term. The Crown is entitled to 'intervene' in such arbitrations. Where a local school board has obtained a decision of a local arbitrator involving a central term, this decision is subject to displacement by a subsequent decision of a centrally appointed arbitrator, which will have to be applied on a going forward basis." (Emphasis in original.)

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The Need for Democratic Renewal Comes to the Fore

Bill 122, the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act received Royal Assent on April 9 with more than 70 amendments made to the original legislation. The amendments eliminated some of the broad arbitrary powers the Minister of Education wanted to assume over negotiations, particularly the ability to unilaterally decide what issues would be negotiated centrally, precluding them from local jurisdiction.

During the one-day public hearing convened by the Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly, many education workers' unions and school boards expressed their opposition to provisions of Bill 122 that violated their rights. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, District 9, for instance, told the Committee that "wherever this legislation eliminates the right of one party, whether it be the unions or the boards, to say no, it violates democratic rights." Unions unanimously addressed the Committee with their proposed amendments to limit the ministerial prerogative and areas they wanted to see changed. They also held their own meetings with the various political parties and MPPs on the committee to lobby for changes to the legislation, presenting them with specific amendments they wanted adopted.

The fact that the unions spoke with almost one voice on the importance of eliminating the arbitrary powers the government wanted to give itself speaks volumes about the fact that the government has yet to back down from its program to try and usurp power to impose austerity. It also shows the legacy of the fight of teachers and education workers against Bill 115: they continue to refuse to accept dictate.

In the end, some of the proposed amendments were passed by the Committee, while others were not. It was the parties which decided, without any public deliberation about what would or would not be changed and why. A number of linchpins for the austerity agenda within the legislation were left in. For example, the government's "ability to pay" and "Ontario's economic conditions" -- the regime the government already applies to essential services workers to impose austerity on them, and to interest arbitration for settling local teacher contracts. These conditions are now extended to apply to province-wide teacher agreements, and to non-teaching support staff for the first time.

Negating the essence of the fight of teachers and education workers for legislation that does not facilitate the imposition of the austerity agenda and the fact that this demand of their unions was not respected, Education Minister Liz Sandals simply declared: " ... Speaker, as you can see, the feedback from our education partners has been respected, and it is reflected in this bill through these amendments. This shows that we listened and responded in a positive, respectful way."

This experience reveals how the parties in the Legislature do not function as mechanisms to represent the concerns of the people, as purported, but rather act as representatives of the economically powerful, in this case to defend the austerity agenda. Neither the Liberals nor the NDP were prepared to accept the essence of what the teachers and education workers were demanding: that the government's ability to impose austerity be eliminated. They decided what would or would not be accepted. The parties use their decision-making power to ensure that the neo-liberal direction for society is not reversed. Meanwhile the people who have to live under the laws are reduced to spectators hoping that their rights will be recognized. Organizations of teachers and education workers were beholden to the parties on the committee in the hopes that they would "see the light" or, out of concern for their electoral prospects, would see the advantage in making some concessions to teachers and education workers.

The more the party system disintegrates under the weight of the neo-liberal anti-social offensive and the dictate of the monopolies, the more the flaws of the unrepresentative party-dominated system come to the fore. Measures are needed to enable the people to affirm their right to determine the direction of the society and to have a say over their living and working conditions. Instead, more and more governments hold fraudulent "consultations" and "reviews" and talk about "accountability" to hide that the neo-liberal agenda is set and no changes will be accepted.

Canada's Constitution needs renewal so that citizens and organizations which represent workers and people in various sectors of the economy are able to draft and propose changes to legislation as a basic right. They must also be able to select and elect candidates of their own choosing, not just those which the parties put forward and the media declare "legitimate." This would contribute to ensuring governments are able to transform the popular will into the legal will and defend it, something which is not the case today. As more and more Canadians take a stand against the anti-social austerity agenda, they increasingly recognize the need to fight for their empowerment to deprive the monopolies and the parties that represent their interests of the ability to deprive the people of decision-making power.

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Coming Events

April 28 Day of Mourning


April 28 marks the 30th anniversary of the National Day of Mourning for Workers Injured or Killed on the Job. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Uranium miners in Elliott Lake going on an illegal wildcat strike to protest their occupational health concerns on the job after a spike in cancer cases. In the course of their fight, they learned that the Ontario government knew that the poor working conditions caused their illnesses, but had not informed them of the dangers or acted to improve their situation. As a result of the miners' actions, the Ontario government was forced to create the Ham Commission to investigate and make recommendations. Its hearings revealed the industry's scandalous conditions, and its report eventually resulted in the Ontario Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The Act did not cover the miners until 1984, so they took matters in their own hands and worked through their internal health and safety committees to fight for improvements in the work environment.

Ontario Political Forum encourages everyone to join memorials in their areas to show the sentiment of Ontarians that it is the government and employers that have a social responsibility to ensure that workers have the highest possible health and safety standards so they can return home safe and healthy at the end of each day.

Mourn for the dead, Fight for the living!

(All events on April 28 unless otherwise noted)

NORTH EASTERN ONTARIO

Kapuskasing
11:00 am

Riverside Park, Riverside Drive
Contact: USW Union Hall (705) 335-2289

Kirkland Lake
11:00 am
Miner's Memorial, Hwy 66 Kirkland Lake

North Bay
10:45 am
North Bay City Hall, 200 McIntyre Street East
Contact: Dave Vadnais, dvadnais@opseu608.org

Sault Ste. Marie
11:00 am
The Grand Gardens (formerly USW Union Hall), 68 Dennis Street
Contact: 705-759-4565

Sudbury
10:00 am
Laurentian University, Fraser Auditorium
Guest Speaker: Leo Gerard, USW International President
Contact: Jo-Ann Marshall: 705-674-1223

Timmins
11:00 am
Miner's Memorial, 85 McIntyre Street
Contact: 705-365-7403

NORTH WESTERN ONTARIO

Atikokan
5:30 pm
Injured Workers Monument, Burns Street
Contact: Ken Brasseur, Labour Council President, (807) 597-6155

Kenora
5:30 pm
Labour Council Day of Mourning Monument
Lake of the Woods Cemetery (East gate)

Contact: Donna Wiebe, Labour Council President, 807-468-7203

Thunder Bay
5:30 pm
Labour Council Day of Mourning Monument, Lakehead Labour Centre,
929 Fort William Road

Contact: Day of Mourning Committee email: committee@domtbay.ca
Labour Council: 807-345-2621; Injured Workers Support Group: 807-622-8897
We request you bring one red rose to place at the Monument
For details, visit: www.domthbay

EASTERN ONTARIO

Cornwall
11:45 am
Day of Mourning Monument Site (west of the Clock Tower), Lamoureux Park
Lunch will follow the ceremony.

Kingston
12:00 noon
USW Union Hall, Greenridge Plaza, 105 Sutherland Drive, Suite 7
Lunch: (hot dogs and beans)
Cost: $5 for single ticket or $50 for a sheet of 10 tickets
Contact: Kingston and District Labour Council: 905-548-4952

Perth
12:00 noon
Crystal Palace (across from the library)
Contact: Danny Whitmore: 613-283-4834

Smiths Falls
7:00 pm
Memorial Park (Cenotaph)
Contact: Danny Whitmore: 613-283-4834

Ottawa
12:30 pm
Vincent Massey Park (Entrance on Heron Road at Riverside Drive)
Speakers: Ken Georgetti, President, Canadian Labour Congress
Sean McKenny, President, Ottawa & District Labour Council
Fundraising BBQ will follow the ceremony
Contact: Ottawa and District Labour Council: 613-233-7820

Renfrew
12:00 noon
O'Brien Park
Contact: Marian Fraser: 613-432-6528

Pembroke
6:00 pm
Pembroke Marina
Contact: Marian Fraser: 613-432-6528

CENTRAL ONTARIO

Barrie
Sunday, April 27, 2014, 11:00 am
Barrie City Hall, flag-lowering ceremony

Oshawa
12:00 noon
Day of Mourning Parkette, Oshawa City Hall (corner of King Street and Centre Street)
Reception to follow at USW Hall, 125 Albert Street

Cobourg
4:15 pm
Lucas Point Park (behind the Belden Plant), Willmott Street

Orangeville
12:15 pm
Flagpole in front of Orangeville Town Hall, 87 Broadway
Contact: Primrose Short: 519-941-3074

Brampton
11:00 am
Brampton Monument Site, Brampton Flower City, 8870 McLaughlin Road
Contact: Patrick Williams: 905-866-4275

Peterborough
11:00 am
Peterborough City Hall, 500 George Street North
Followed by lunch at the Black Horse Pub, 452 George Street North

Lindsay
Sunday April 27, 2014, 12:30 pm
Victoria Park, 210 Kent Street West

Bracebridge
12:00 noon
Bracebridge Sportsplex, 110 Clearbrook Trail
at The Day of Mourning Memorial Bench

Woodbridge
11:00 am
Woodbridge Memorial Arena, 5020 Highway #7 (at Islington)
Contact: Toronto & York Region Labour Council: 416-441-3663

Toronto
12:00 noon
Larry Sefton Park, Bay & Hagerman Streets (behind City Hall)
Contact: Toronto & York Region Labour Council: 416-441-3663

SOUTH CENTRAL ONTARIO

Brantford
5:00 pm
Fordview Park
Speaker: Wally Lucente, Office of the Worker Advisor
Proclamation: Mayor Chris Friel
Contact: Gary MacDonald, President, Brantford and District Labour Council: 519-753-9142

Guelph
5:30 pm
Goldie Mills Park (corner of Cardigan & Norwich)
Speakers: Mayor Karen Farbridge and Speakers from Labour and Community
Refreshments to follow ceremony. Live Music.
Contact: Laura Maclure: 519-400-4655

Hamilton
12:00 pm-1:00 pm
McMaster University, MUSC Room 308-309
Contact: Jim McAndrew: 905-525-9140 x 26257 or safety@unifor5555.ca

5:00 pm
Hamilton City Hall
Commemoration in City Council Chambers, 71 Main Street West
Candlelit procession to the Workers' Monument for the laying of wreaths,
Reception follows in City Hall

Contact: Hamilton and District Labour Council: 905-547-2944 or hdlc@cogeco.net

Oakville
6:00 pm
Oakville Public Library, 120 Navy Street
Contact: Tim Batke, Vice President, ODLC: 905-334-8228

Milton
11:00 am
Chris Hadfield Park (corner of Steeles and Martin)
Aboriginal Blessing; Refreshments to follow.
Contact: Jo-Ann Newell, (647) 983-5076;  Alma Gildea, (905) 878-9838
Please RSVP to Jo-Ann Newell, Unifor 414

Waterloo
10:25 am
Waterloo City Hall (at the Workers Monument), 100 Regina Street South
Contact: Waterloo Regional Labour Council: 519-743-8301

NIAGARA REGION

Fort Erie
9:30 am
Town Hall, Hwy #3, at the Monument

Port Colborne
9:00 am
HH Knoll Park at the Monument, Sugarloaf Street

Niagara-on-the-Lake
9:00 am
Centennial Park Arena, Four Mile Creek Road, Virgil

Niagara Falls
10:15 am
City Hall, 4310 Queen Street

Welland
11:00 am
Merritt Park Monument, King Street

Port Robinson
11:00 am
Esquire Explosion Site, 125 South Street North

St. Catharines
11:00 am
The Workers' Monument, Government Road beneath St. Catharines' Skyway

12:00 noon
Merrit Park Monument, St. Paul Street West at Burgoyne Bridge

Thorold
2:00 pm
Monument at Niagara Region Headquarters, 2201 St. David's Road
Contact: Bruce Allen: 905-934-7233

SOUTH WESTERN ONTARIO

Chatham-Kent
4:00 pm
Workers' Memorial Rock and Bench across from Thames-Lea Mall
Reception after Ceremony at Unifor 127, 280 Merritt Avenue
Contact: Bill Steep: 519-627-5234

Kincardine/Tiverton
10:30 am
Bruce Power Corporate Training Centre, Building 10, Tiverton
Contact: Kevin MacKay: 519-396-1848, kmackay@bmts.com

Owen Sound
10:45 am
City Hall, 808 - 2nd Avenue East
Contact: Linda Dow Sitch: local004@ona.org
Brad Drake: campaign@unitedwaybg.com or 519-376-1560

Hanover
11:00 a.m.
Heritage Square
Contact: Hazel Pratt-Paige: 519-379-4300

Goderich
April 27, 2014, 1:00 pm
Location: Workers' Monument, top of North Harbour Road
(across from the Historic Gaol)

London
10:00 am
Tolpuddle Co-operative Common Room, 380 Adelaide Street North
Guest Speakers: Patti Dalton, President, LDLC

Len Elliott, Local 102, Executive Board Member of OPSEU
Steve Holmes, ATU, WHSC Volunteer Award Recipient
Light Lunch to follow the ceremony
Contact: London and District Labour Council: 519-432-3188 or ldlc@execulink.com

Ingersoll
5:00 pm
Dewan Park (corner of Charles & Thames)
Contact: Broderick Carey, President: 519-421-5938

Sarnia
6:00 pm
Flag Court, Centennial Park
Guest Speakers: John Millholland, Health & Safety, Shell Canada, Unifor 848
Sandra Kinart, Victims of Chemical Valley
Contact: Penny Jakubowski: 519-542-2375, sdlc@bellnet.ca

St. Thomas
5:15 pm
Pinafore Park, Elm Street, (at the Monument)
Speaker: David Kerr, President, St. Thomas and District Labour Council
Contact: David Kerr: 519-318-3861

Stratford
10:30 am
Upper Queens Park, Bandshell, Queens Park Drive
Contact: Kim Kent, stdlcnew@sympatico.ca

Windsor
5:00 pm
Begins at St. Augustine, 5145 Wyandotte Street East at Westminster
6:00 pm March to the Injured Workers' Monument in Reaume Park/Coventry Gardens
Riverside Drive at Pillette
Contact: Tracie Edward: 519-257-9942

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