***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, December 9, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, November 11, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, October 14, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

YORK REGION LABOUR AWARDS

The Toronto & York Region Labour Council is presenting a series of awards recognizing the efforts of unions and union activists in York Region.  Come out and celebrate with us:

DATE:  Thursday, October 11th, 2012

TIME:  7:00 p.m.

LOCATION:  Carpenters Local 27 Hall, 222 Rowntree Dairy Rd. (Weston Rd., south of Hwy. 7)

Awards to be presented for:

·          United Way Activist

·          Julius Deutsch Veteran Award

·          Community Leader

·          Equity Leadership

·          Health & Safety Activist

·          Best Newsletter

·          Best Website/Social Media

·          Newly organized workplaces

There will be a tour of the Carpenters Training Centre at 6:00 p.m.

Please contact Ana Fonseca at 416.441.3663 x221, or by email to afonseca@labourcouncil.ca to confirm attendance.

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, September 9, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

LABOUR DAY PARADE

*REMINDER*

Sister and Brothers,

On Monday, September 3^th, working men and women will be taking to the streets in Toronto to celebrate their achievements.

Our Local will be taking part in this event and will be meeting at approximately 8:30 am in the parking lot on the west side of Chestnut Street just south of Dundas Street West.  We will join in the parade on the east (curb) side of University Avenue just north of Queen Street.  The parade will start at 9:30 am sharp.

Those participating in the Labour Day Parade will receive a wristband granting them FREE entry into the CNE after the parade.

- REMINDER -

Labour Day Parade

Monday, September 3, 2011

(detail to be posted as the date approaches)

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, June 10, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, May 6, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, April 15, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

OFL Labour Honour Roll Scholarship

The Ontario Federation of Labour is pleased to call for applications for its annual Labour Honour Roll Scholarships.

The OFL will award two scholarships worth $2,000 each to a member or the child of a member of a local union affiliated to the OFL.  The scholarships are awarded in honour of distinguished trade union activists selected by OFL Affiliates.

Eligible scholarship recipients must be entering, in September 2012, the first year of a full-time course of study (leading to a diploma or certificate) at a public Ontario community college or the first year of an undergraduate program (leading to a degree) at a publicly-funded Ontario university.

Scholarships are only available to candidates who have no prior post-secondary studies.  Applicants must be either currently enrolled in secondary school or not more than 2 years out of secondary school.

The criteria for selection of the scholarship winners are the following:

1. A brief résumé outlining non-academic interests and activities, such as community or political involvement as well as goals for the future.

2. Evidence of understanding of the role and significance of the Canadian labour movement.

In order to satisfy point (2) above, applicants will be required to submit an essay of not more than 1,000 words.  This year’s topic is:

How does the battle of the Occupy Movement against corporate greed relate to the values of the labour movement in Canada?  In your opinion is Occupy the template for political action in the future?

The deadline for receipt of applications is May 4, 2012.

Click here to download the Application Form

The winners will be announced by late June, 2012.

The OFL is very proud to contribute to the education and development of current trade unionists, as well as investing in the next generation of labour activists.  While we fight together for post-secondary education that is accessible to all, we hope this financial assistance can provide support for our members and their children.

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, March 11, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

***MEETING REMINDER***

General Meeting

Sunday, February 12, 2012

10:00 a.m.

Ontario Federation of Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Don Mills

Miller workers ratify new contract by 80%

The 250 workers at Miller Transit in York Region ended their strike that began last October 24 by ratifying a settlement reached Thursday by a vote of 160 to 40.

The five-year pact calls for annual wage increases totalling 16.55%. By April 2016, a top-rated bus operator will be making just over $26 an hour.

"We recommended this settlement to the members because we felt we were exactly where we would have been if we had taken this dispute to arbitration last November," said ATU Local 1587 President Ray Doyle.

"We fought for what we believed in and we won," said Doyle to a cheering room of Miller workers when he announced the vote result.

"Every day of this strike beyond November 2nd, when we first proposed arbitration, is due to York Region Chairman Bill Fisch's vindictive rejection of a rational solution, which was neutral arbitration. He wanted to punish workers who had the temerity to question his view of what transit workers should be paid."

Fisch, who is Canada's highest-paid municipal politician, at over $250,000 a year in salary and benefits, repeatedly refused to consider neutral arbitration as a means to settle the strike. He falsely claimed throughout the strike that the union had been seeking wage parity with transit workers in the rest of the GTA, who make about seven dollars an hour more than York Region Transit workers.

"We were always very clear that we were not seeking parity with the rest of the GTA," said Doyle. "We simply wanted to keep our heads above water but apparently that was too much for Fisch."

A major remaining issue in the dispute is the fate of 92 striking workers at First Student, which lost the contract with York Region less than two weeks ago. Local 1587 will be taking legal steps to have the new contractor, Tokmajian-Can-Ar, hire the former First Student workers.

"We are brothers and sisters.  We do not leave our wounded on the battlefield."

43% PAY INCREASE for YORK REGION COUNCILLOR

York Region transit workers condemn Regional Councillor Emmerson for "unbelievable hypocrisy" on his 43% pay raise; predict Chairman Fisch will say nothing to avoid examination of his own $200,000 salary.

The unions representing 600 striking York Region transit workers have responded with anger to a York Regional councillor's claim that he is entitled to a 43 per cent pay raise because he now earns less than he would in surrounding vicinities.

Whitchurch-Stouffville's part-time mayor Wayne Emmerson  has said he will vote next Tuesday to raise his annual salary from $42,149 to $62,148. Emmerson also receives an undisclosed additional salary as a member of York Region council.

ATU Local 1587 President Ray Doyle and ATU Local 113 President Bob Kinnear have condemned Emmerson's position in view of his position on the wages of striking York Region transit workers, who are paid 30 per cent less than transit workers in Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto.

"Mayor Emmerson has said that he does not believe the wages of York Region transit workers should be compared to those paid to transit workers in surrounding communities who are doing essentially the same work," said Doyle and Kinnear. "Yet he claims that his salary should match those of other part-time mayors in neighbouring communities."

"What makes this particularly offensive is that York Region transit workers are not even asking for parity with nearby transit workers," the union leaders said.  "The so-called 'offers' from the private contractors would actually increase the 30 per cent wage gap between here and the rest of the GTA transit sector.  We're just trying to hold our heads above water while the contractors are trying to push us under."

"Emmerson's stance is unbelievable hypocrisy that even York Region Chairman Bill Fisch should condemn.  Fisch has publicly scoffed at the very idea that York Region transit workers should compare themselves to nearby transit workers. Let's see what he has to say about Emmerson. We predict Fisch will be silent because he does not want public examination of his own salary."

According to the Ontario Public Sector Salary Disclosure website, Fisch was paid just under $200,000 a year in 2009, making him the highest-paid municipal leader in Canada.  But because he is not directly elected by the residents of York Region, his salary is never reported with those of elected mayors.

"Why York Region residents put up with these hypocrites, who will not even allow the transit strike to end through a neutral arbitration process, is a mystery that may be resolved in the next municipal election.  Except of course for the chief hypocrite Fisch, who holds power without being elected."

YORK REGION TRANSIT STRIKE UPDATE

Miller Transit workers accept invitation to resume bargaining.

The union representing 250 striking workers at Miller Transit in York Region has responded to an invitation by the Provincial Mediator to return to the bargaining table on Friday in an effort to end the strike that began on October 24.

The workers turned down Miller's last offer by nearly 84 per cent in a labour board-supervised vote on January 6.

"The record is clear that we have always been willing to negotiate, despite York Region Chairman Bill Fisch's claims to the contrary," said Ray Doyle, president of ATU Local 1587.

"Our members sent a very clear message to this private contractor that their last offer fell very wide of the mark to get a settlement.

"We will listen to what they have to say tomorrow. Our members want to get back to work but it has to be on terms that recognize and respect the value of the work they do."

Doyle reiterated the union's proposal, first advanced in early November, to end the strike immediately through binding arbitration.

"York Region residents have to know that every day of this strike past November 2 has been due to Bill Fisch's inexplicable opposition to a fair process of neutral arbitration."