March 22, 2000
Volume 30, No. 11
SEIU Hearings A Farce
Service Employees International Union trusteeship hearings were held March 21 and 22, with members and suspended local union leaders expressing frustration and slamming the credibility of the process. Ken Brown, the suspended president of SEIU Local 210 in Windsor, said he doesn't expect the hearings will mean his return to office. "It's a kangaroo court," Brown told The Windsor Star. Dave Eales, former president of SEIU Local 220, covering the London and Kitchener areas, said the international's hearings are a "complete farce" with normal rules of evidence not being followed and some locations and times making it next to impossible for members to attend. In the case of Local 101 in Niagara Falls the hearing was held in Toronto and in London the hearing was held in a non-union hotel despite the fact an SEIU hotel was just a short distance down the road. In addition, despite earlier allegations there was no evidence presented by SEIU at the hearings about missing money or property of the locals or any evidence of financial gain made by suspended local union officers. In Windsor, London, Thunder Bay, Toronto and Belleville members turned out to blast SEIU leaders over the process and to also emphasize their desire to join the CAW. The SEIU appointed a trustee on February 23 to take control of eight Ontario locals after the international was notified they planned to hold a vote on a merger with the CAW.
Solidarity With Mozambique
CAW Buzz Hargrove has issued a call to CAW local unions to come to the aid of flood ravaged Mozambique. "Entire communities have been washed away, many people have died and many more will perish as a result of the malaria and cholera resulting from the flood waters." "Our union wants to help in the rebuilding of the lives of Mozambican families and will be making a substantial donation towards those efforts along with the CAW Social Justice Fund. I am also asking CAW local unions to make a donation towards our combined CAW funds for Mozambique." As well, the union is calling on the government of Canada to pressure its G7 partners to forgive the debt for Mozambique.
International Day For The Elimination Of Racial Discrimination
March 21 was declared the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 1966 by the United Nations. In an unprecedented move, the Security Council of the United Nations condemned The Sharpeville Massacre and the South African government for this racist action. This day was chosen to commemorate 69 black South Africans who were killed and 180 wounded on March 21, 1960, while peacefully demonstrating against the country's apartheid system. With the collective efforts of the anti-apartheid activists and workers throughout the world, apartheid was finally buried in April 1994. However, its legacy of exploitation, segregation, poverty and illiteracy still continue to exist in South Africa and throughout the world. All of us must put our collective efforts together to eliminate racial discrimination from the face of the earth. To commemorate March 21 and every day thereafter, posters and buttons have been sent out but most importantly local unions are encouraged to arrange human rights training for leadership, negotiate training into collective agreements and continue to actively fight racism in the workplace and the community.
CLC Statement On International Trade
The Canadian Labour Congress supports fair trade, managed in a social framework of respect for social development, workers rights and the environment. The case against continuous economic liberalization is evident to anyone who looks at the state of the world economy. Two decades of liberalization have brought with them a slowdown in world economic growth combined with increasing inequality within and between countries. The Canadian government must ensure that the Canadian Public Services - the Medicare system, health and health protection regulations, public education, social services programs, water and environmental services and systems - are not part of the ongoing negotiations on services at the WTO and in other venues. It must be made absolutely clear that our right to maintain public services in the public interest and to protect the Canadian cultural sector is non-negotiable. At the same time, we condemn the closed and secretive decision making process of the WTO that has resulted in attacks on Canadian industries and sovereignty - the Autopact, aerospace industry, pharmaceuticals - restricting our ability to develop and expand industries in the interests of Canadian workers. A more transparent process with input from workers' organizations including the right of labour to appeal any decision must be incorporated into these organizations. The WTO, and the new world economic order, are in need of fundamental change. The purely commercial and economic values and interests that currently dominate the WTO and the world economy need to be made subordinate to broader community values and interests, including those embodied in the core labour standards of the ILO. International trading organizations must be made more open, accountable, democratic and representative of civil society so that all of the processes, including the appeal process, are open to unions, environmentalists and other NGO's. The Canadian government must work with the CLC and our partners in Civil Society to develop a mechanism for meaningful consultation and participation in international trade talks. Trade agreements must be tabled in the House of Commons, and fully debated by Parliamentarians and the public before the government signs on. The CLC insists trade agreements respect workers' rights, particularly the right to organize, the right to equal pay for work of equal value and work free of discrimination, and contain prohibitions on child labour and forced labour. Developing countries that agree to abide by these core ILO labour standards should be given increased access to Canadian markets. The Canadian government must work with the CLC and other groups to implement appropriate transition and human resource adjustment programs for Canadian workers whose livelihood is impacted by international trade. The CLC will continue to work with provincial federations of labour, affiliated unions, social justice groups outside the labour movement and with international labour organizations and non-government organizations to lobby, demonstrate and agitate for agreements that bring real social and economic development to individual nations. The CLC president will establish a Labour Working Group on Trade to assist in the development of policy advice to the Executive Council and to coordinate activities with popular sector allies and the Common Front on the WTO.
* REMINDER * - Working With Pride Conference
The first CAW conference for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders and allies will be held April 14-16 at the CAW Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, ON. Deadline for registration is March 24. Contact the CAW Human Rights Department at 1-800-268-5763 ext. 781 for more information.
WEB PREVIEW: CAW Web Page
Here's a brief look at just some of the information available on the CAW home page. CAW Video News Mozambique De-mining Effort Succeeding dated March 14, 2000 Mozambique February 2000 CAW Social Justice Fund dollars are making a huge difference in the lives of the people of Mozambique. A year and a half into the four year de-mining program, a team of CAW members got a first hand look at the painstaking and extremely dangerous work of the 32 de-mining crews funded by the CAW.... For the full text, go to the CAW web site, www.caw.ca, under What's News - CAW Video News.
