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Home  News & Events  Archived Newsletters  CONTACT  2000  November 26, 2000

November 26, 2000

Volume 30, No. 35

Plans For Drug Tests Of Welfare Recipients Slammed

A recent statement from the CAW's National Executive Board slams the Harris government in Ontario for its move to force drug testing on welfare recipients. Among many other commentaries a Globe and Mail editorial on November 22, also blasts Ontario Social Services Minister John Baird for wanting to force the 450,000 Ontarians who receive welfare payments to take a drug test. The editorial quotes the CAW NEB statement. "As the national executive of the Canadian Auto Workers wrote in responding to Mr. Baird 'mandatory drug testing and forced treatment creates a climate of mistrust and intimidation which is contrary to the objectives of substance abuse recovery." It continues: "Instead, the government's first instinct is to force hundreds of thousands of Ontarians, solely because they are poor and receiving social assistance, to submit to drug tests. If they refuse this arbitrary demand, they will forfeit the money they need to survive. The government should veer sharply away from this nasty abuse of power..." A full copy of the CAW NEB statement on the issue can be found on the CAW webpage at www.caw.ca. Look under What's News -> Press Releases.




CAW Sarnia Local Calls For Worldwide Asbestos Ban

In the wake of the tragic deaths of so many CAW members in the Sarnia, Ontario area as a result of exposure to asbestos from Holmes Insulation and Holmes Foundry, CAW Local 456 is calling for a worldwide ban on asbestos. Bill Hicks, president of CAW Local 456 in Sarnia, recently returned from Brazil after attending a Global Congress on Asbestos, which involved the participation of more than 30 countries around the globe. While in Brazil, Hicks met with Dr. Alberto de Araujo, a Brazilian doctor with extensive credentials in the field of occupational disease. Hicks and Dr. de Araujo discussed the Holmes Foundry project. Dr. de Araujo later visited Sarnia to make a presentation at the Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers. The CAW sponsored his November 24 visit to Canada hoping to further the alliance between countries in this fight against industrial disease. Hicks attended the meeting where he called for a worldwide ban on asbestos.




Joint CAW Council/Quebec Council: December 8 To 10

Hundreds of delegates to the Joint CAW Council/ Quebec Council will gather from coast to coast in Toronto to discuss and debate key issues facing the union from December 8 to 10. If you can't attend Council and want to know more about what went on check out excerpts from CAW president Buzz Hargrove's opening address and other highlights on the web. Video highlights of Hargrove's speech and other news will be available on the web starting Monday, December 11. Just go to www.caw.ca and look under What's News.




Health And Safety For Young Workers

Delegates to the April CAW Council meeting heard Rob Ellis, father of David Ellis, speak about the tragedy that occurred to his son who was killed at work by an unguarded machine in a bakery. David was only 18 years old. CAW Council delegates passed a resolution outlining the dangers young workers face in workplaces. Among other items the resolution calls for the CAW to mount a campaign to educate young workers on the right to know, the right to participate and the right to refuse unsafe work. Spearheaded by activists in CAW London area local unions, Locals 27, 88 and 1520, the London Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) wrote a new student safety handbook called The First Step, which outlines health and safety hazards in a style that young workers will enjoy. To order copies of The First Step, contact LOSH at #222-424 Wellington Street, London, Ontario, N6A 3P3 or telephone (519) 433-4156 or fax (519) 433-2887. The e-mail address is losh@execulink.com. Individual copies are $20 and bulk orders are $15 each. While the booklet focuses on Ontario legislation, most laws in other provinces have the same essential features so it would be useful in other provinces as well.



Liberal Party Headquarters Occupied


A group of CAW activists joined with CUPE activists to occupy federal Liberal party headquarters in Toronto recently to raise awareness of the strike by CUPE Local 3903 members at Toronto's York University. Members from CAW Locals 112, 673, 1285 and 222 took part in the occupation to send a message to York University president Lorna Marsden, who is a Liberal party insider. The main issue in the strike, which is a month-old, is protection from skyrocketing tuition for members of Local 3903 who are contract faculty, teaching and research assistants. Their current contract includes a clause on tuition protection, which the University wants to rollback. During the occupation CUPE activists stressed that the dispute is really a fight over the accessability of post secondary education. In Ontario, the Harris government has deregulated tuition fees. In solidarity with the striking workers at York University, CAW Local 112, with the support of the CAW national union, is supplying coffee, donuts and sandwiches at the picket lines each day.



Liberal Party Headquarters


Outside Liberal Party Headquarters




Big Three COLA

The COLA increase at General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, effective the first pay period on or after December 1, 2000, will be 15¢ bringing the current COLA float to 82¢. Total straight time earnings for an assembler at GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler will be as follows:

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