News & Events Archived Newsletters CONTACT 2007 August 31, 2007Windsor Economy Gets a Boost
CAW President Buzz Hargrove was on hand for the official unveiling of Chrysler's new minivan model that rolled off of the assembly line in Windsor, Ontario on August 21. Alongside Hargrove were CAW Local 444 President Ken Lewenza and First Vice President Tom Lesperance.
CAW National President Buzz Hargrove spoke to the audience at Chrysler's Assembly Plant in Windsor about the economic benefits of "Made-in-Canada" vehicles.
The new state-of-the-art minivan comes to the Windsor Assembly Plant following a $511 million investment from Chrysler to retool the facility.
According to Hargrove, this investment will "pay back huge dividends not just for Chrysler, but for the City of Windsor, province of Ontario and Canada."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was also in Windsor for the event and thanked the province's workers for their productivity and work ethic.
Production of the new Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan models gives an important boost to Windsor's struggling manufacturing sector, which has been hit with more than 17,000 job losses in the last five years.
CAW President Meets New Chrysler Boss
During his stop in Windsor, CAW President Buzz Hargrove took the opportunity to meet with new Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli for the first time since his appointment to the position on August 5.
Nardelli, former CEO of Home Depot, confirmed Chrysler's commitment to support its Canadian facilities during the one-hour meeting, according to Hargrove.
"We were reassured that there would be no 'strip and flip' situation at Chrysler," said Hargrove after the meeting. "He [Nardelli] expressed a willingness to work with the CAW to strengthen the company for the future.'
CAW Activist Runs for Sick Kids
August 17 marked the end of a two-week fundraising marathon for Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital organized by CAW Local 1090 member Mike Coll.
Coll, a competitive runner, ran 462 kilometers - the equivalent of 11 full marathons - from August 5-17 and raised approximately $5,000 for the hospital.
The fundraiser, entitled "Mike's Run for Sick Kids," was inspired by a traumatic motor vehicle accident that Coll was involved in nearly a decade ago. That incident saw one of his good friends sustain life-threatening injuries and was immediately transported to Sick Kids for treatment.
"I got an opportunity to see how great the hospital is and I got the chance to tour around. I was with her every moment for several weeks as she was guided back to health," Coll said in an interview with the Sudbury Star.
The 13 day event covered 18 communities across Ontario, starting in Sudbury and ending at the front entrance to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.
Coll is a 27 year old industrial firefighter for General Motors in Oshawa. He is active on the CAW Local 1090 political education committee, chair of the local Union in Politics Committee (UPC), a delegate to Durham Region Labour Council and a member of the CAW Youth Network.
"I am one to believe that anything is possible and that collectively we can change everything."
For more information on this event visit:
www.mikesrunforsickkids.com
Lessons in Global Feminism
The nearly 200 participants at the annual CAW Women's Conference in Port Elgin, Ontario took cues from their Brazilian and Australian counterparts, forming international alliances with the women trade unionists from other parts of the world.
The impassioned speeches of Emilia Valente and Maria Ferreira of the Brazilian union, the National Confederation of Metalworkers (CNM/CUT) brought delegates to their feet as they heard about the struggles the pair face in mobilizing other women and getting women their place at the collective bargaining table.
'Negotiations are often based on what's possible, instead of what's necessary," said Valente, emphasizing that women's, and by extension family, issues are the first to leave the table. "As women we will not be talking about what's possible, but what we need as citizens and as workers."
Brazil has no automatic certification system even when the majority of workers choose a union, so the CNM/CUT may represent some workers in a given location and job description, but not all, making union dues voluntary.
The result is unions have to keep mobilizing every day, explained Director of Women's Programs Julie White. "It is worker talking to worker everyday, keeping them plugged into the union and building a culture of solidarity that we don't see in other places."
Over the four day event from August 19-22, women took part in workshops about political and union organizing - the central themes of the conference. The conference also featured a key-note address by CAW President Buzz Hargrove, a spoken word performance by artist Evalyn Parry as well as a speech by Assistant to the President Carol Phillips.
CAW Members Ratify First Contract with Serco
Members of CAW Local 5454 recently ratified an historic first agreement with their employer, Serco Facilities Management, in Goose Bay, Labrador. The agreement covers a 25-member unit of air traffic controllers, assistants and military coordination centre staff at 5 Wing, a remote air base for the Canadian Forces.
This three-year contract makes gains in members' wages, benefits and improves language on items such as shift and retention premiums, seniority provisions, overtime and training. The agreement is set to expire on December 31, 2009.
"This contract represents an important step in building a productive and successful working relationship between Serco and our union," says CAW national representative Abe Rosner.
More than 95 per cent of Canada's air traffic controllers became CAW members when the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association (CATCA) merged with the union in 2001.
Air traffic control staff at the 5 Wing base in Goose Bay, who were formerly military controllers and historically non-unionized, joined the CAW in 2006.
"These ex-military controllers are the first in Canada to be unionized," said Local 5454 President Greg Myles. "We intend to prove to them that they made the right choice."
Ottawa Protests Kick Off Three Amigos Meeting in Montebello
Thousands of peaceful protestors snaked their way through the streets of Ottawa and rallied on Parliament Hill Sunday in opposition to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). The August 19 Ottawa demonstrations pre-empted a meeting between U.S., Mexican and Canadian leaders in Montebello, Quebec from August 20-22.
Maude Barlow, National Chair of the Council of Canadians, along with a host of other speakers representing labour unions, war resistors, environmental groups and First Nations People, condemned the SPP process for its lack of public accountability and access during what have been private, closed-door meetings between North American government officials.
Barlow criticized the level of involvement granted to the North American Competitiveness Council, a panel of top North American CEO's invited to advise government officials on issues related to cross-border trade.
'We want Canadians, Americans and Mexicans to know that this is a big-business driven process, for them and by them, to deregulate all sorts of regulations across the board - environment, health, safety worker standards,' Barlow said.
The afternoon demonstration was followed by an information forum held at the University of Ottawa, an event that drew hundreds of activists and concerned citizens.
During this recent meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderón, issues of water, energy and border security were allegedly all on the table.
In an effort to ramp up security for the meeting, protestors were not allowed near the hotel resort meeting site in Montebello.
For more information, visit:
www.Canadians.org
CAW Demands Release of Iranian Union Leaders
Members of CAW Local 1688 working at various Ottawa taxi companies joined more than a hundred activists in front of Queen's Park in Toronto to protest the abduction and imprisonment of two Iranian trade unionists - Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi.
The demonstration was part of an international day of action on August 9, called for by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), which saw protests in more than 30 countries around the world. Both arrests are part of the wide-spread violent suppression of independent trade unions in Iran.
Osanloo is the president of the ITF-affiliated bus workers' union Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed (Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company). He was arrested for his union activities on July 12, 2007 for the third time in only two years.
Salehi is a founding member of the Saqez Bakery Workers' Association and was originally imprisoned in 2005 for organizing a workers' rally on May 1 2004. Most recently he has been imprisoned since April 2007 for union activities.
The CAW, along with the Canadian Labour Congress, is demanding the immediate release of both Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi and that all charges against them be dropped.
For more information, visit:
www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/freeosanloo.cfm
New Agreement at Philips Electronics
CAW Local 124 members at Philips Electronics in Markham, Ontario have ratified a new three-year agreement with wage, benefit and pension gains.
Wages increase 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 per cent in each year. The agreement also includes increases in pension, benefits, and training opportunities that lead to higher paid job grades.
The Local 124 members work at the Philips Electronics warehouse distribution centre.
CAW Miners Show Support for Utah Community
CAW locals 598, 599, 991, 1959 and 3019 sent a joint letter of support to the families of six trapped coal miners and three rescue workers whose lives were lost during a mine collapse and rescue effort in Utah.
In a letter addressed to Helper City, Utah Mayor Mike Dalpiaz, CAW Local 598 President Rick Grylls shared his sympathy on behalf of the five CAW mining locals, the CAW Mining Council and CAW National President Buzz Hargrove.
"It is truly a sad time for your community and its citizens with the loss of these workers," wrote Grylls. "These incidents tear apart the fabric of the families and bring together the miners of the world in the hopes of preventing the circumstances that lead to disaster."
The Crandall Canyon mine in Utah collapsed on August 6, trapping six miners underground who have yet to be recovered. Rescue efforts were marred by a second collapse on the same site that killed three workers and wounded six others on August 16.
A donation of $1,000 was made by Local 598 and the CAW Mining Council to the families of the victims.
"It just tugs on your heart strings in terms of what these families are going through. We want these people to know that we are thinking of them," said Grylls.
The CAW represents mine workers in Sudbury, Timmins, Windsor, Campbell River and North Bay.
New Agreement with Scepter Corporation
Members of CAW Local 303 have ratified a new agreement with the plastic injection moulding company Scepter Corporation in Scarborough, Ontario.
This three year agreement will be the third one with the CAW since joining, securing jobs for local manufacturing workers. The agreement includes improved benefits and wages as well as strengthened language in key areas such as qualifying for overtime, call-in pay provisions and job posting procedures. It will also include safety footwear allowance and joint human rights training.
Scepter employs 220 CAW members who manufacture jerry cans, garbage cans, military ammunition plastic cases and marine tanks.
Sunshine Vitamin Helps Reduce Cancer, Study Finds
The Canadian Cancer Society is praising the benefits of vitamin D as a cancer-preventing agent following the results of a recent study by researchers at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha.
The four-year clinical study found that vitamin D supplements in postmenopausal women resulted in a 60 to 77 per cent decrease in cancer rates. Results were published in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
This study is the latest in a growing list of scientific evidence that identifies the health benefits associated with vitamin D. Earlier in the year, scientists at the University of California, San Diego found that higher levels of vitamin D reduced the incidence of colorectal cancer and breast cancer.
Similar studies in the past two years link vitamin D with a reduction in multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis and arthritis cases.
The human body absorbs vitamin D naturally through exposure to the sun. However, according to Canadian Cancer Society too much sun may increase the risk of other health threats such as skin cancer and recommends oily fish and fortified foods such as milk, rice or soy as supplements to increase vitamin D levels.
According to Heather Chappell, senior manager of cancer control policy at the Canadian Cancer Society, the organization's 'sun-sense messaging' has not changed and urges people to continue protecting themselves from harmful ultraviolet sun rays.
For information on this, and other cancer-related research visit the Canadian Cancer Society website at:
www.cancer.ca
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