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Workers Nationwide Organize to Uphold the Rights of All All Out to Activate All Working People to Make Sure the COVID 19 Crisis Is Resolved in Their FavourWorkers' Forum salutes all of Canada's working people whose contribution makes life possible, especially under the conditions of all out mobilization to contain the coronavirus COVID-19. The immediate aim is to flatten the curve so that lives are saved and the health care system is not overwhelmed.
A big challenge faced by workers -- particularly in health care
but also other services -- is how to deal with the consequences
of the neo-liberal wrecking that has been going on to
undermine the capacity of the health system to adequately care
for all those needing it, and protect the workers from harm
with proper personal protective equipment (PPE) for all who
need it, and through working conditions that provide for
safety for patients and workers and proper provision of care
in every respect in hospitals, clinics, long-term care homes
and other facilities. It is to be expected that governments at
all levels which have been carrying out the wrecking and
privatizing to pay the rich will now only act as the situation
requires if the workers raise the claims which they must and
keep the initiative in their own hands about how things should
be organized and operated, instructing their unions about what
is needed and so on. The Workers' Centre of CPC(M-L) has received inspiring stories of workers in all spheres of the economy mobilizing their co-workers to make sure the rights of all are upheld. The first story came in from women workers at a large grocery chain who took action to instill calm in the people at the store who were being caught up in panic buying. They took charge of the situation and everyone was served in an orderly manner. Client after client thanked the women profusely for not only establishing calm but showing that the workers have a very important role in setting how the current crisis plays out.
Today, March 18, Prime Minister Trudeau announced economic measures the government is taking. Workers' Forum calls on workers' organizations and collectives as well as individuals to rely on themselves to understand what these measures mean for them and make sure the demands put forward by unions and district labour councils are fulfilled adequately and not lost through deferrals and other ways which force everyone to fend for themselves just to access what they should be receiving as a matter of right. The demands of unions include the following: - Paid sick
leave for all workers, including paid leave for all workers who are
quarantined, or required to self-isolate; Also, remuneration for all workers including contract and self-employed people laid off or otherwise deprived of income during this crisis. It is also clear that a national supply chain should be activated on a permanent basis. Such a thing will go a long way to humanizing the natural and social environment and mitigating the financial crisis which is expected as a consequence of the emergency measures. Workers' Forum calls on all its readers to be in constant touch with family members across the country, co-workers and organizations in their neighbourhoods to look after the homeless, the elderly and those in need. All kinds of initiatives are being taken such as posting information in lobbies of apartment buildings or elevators and bulletin boards at workplaces, on social media and keeping lines of communication open in other ways. Even at places of work social distancing should be facilitated and practiced wherever possible along with hygiene measures. Crises reveal what a people are made of. Canada can establish its own internal supply chain and there is no need for empty shelves and never a cause for hoarding or panic -- usually caused by private interests that seek to profit from the situation. The spread of coronaviruses does not mean that the working peoples of all countries cannot establish their own programs to make sure the situation is brought under control and exercise control over the situation. Making governments accountable to them is a matter of practical stands to make sure the crisis is resolved in favour of the people. In this issue, Workers' Forum is bringing to your attention the statement of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), "Strict Comprehensive Measures Urgently Recommended to Contain the Disease and Protect the Population" excerpted below.
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
The
workers
cannot merely demand that governments uphold
their rights but must take action to make sure both their rights and
the rights of all are defended, no matter whether or not authorities
show good faith. Working people are taking action in all sectors, first
and foremost the health care sector as well as to sort out how parents,
teachers
and families will make sure children of parents who are not able to
stay home are looked after. In Ontario, the government announced the
closure of not only schools but also all licensed day care centres
without explaining what measures it is putting in place to make sure
people who have to go to work are not left to fend for themselves. It
shows
that it is up to the working people to take collective action to take
matters in hand in a manner that is advantageous to them. There are
many ways to make sure governments accede to the demands of the workers