Approximately 40 people attended the Young Workers Forum on Wednesday night.  Executive VP Terry Downey opened the forum by congratulating newly-elected Youth VP Matt Dumas from COPE and alternate Krista Maracle (OPSEU).  Terry then turned the chair over to CLC Youth rep Erin Harrison.  The first speaker on the panel was NDP MP for Churchill Niki Ashton.  Niki is the NDP Critic for Youth and Post-Secondary Education, among other things. She spoke about the consultations the NDP has been doing around the recession, and how young people have borne the brunt of the economic down-turn.

Effie Vlachoyannacos, from the Youth Union Movement, spoke about the Good Jobs coalition and how over 40 organizations are working together to build an agenda to work for good jobs for everyone. The youth workshop at their recent conference had over 200 participants, discussing how young people want and need to be in leadership roles as we try to build a culture of validating sustainability and green jobs.

David Scrivener, Outreach Organizer for the CFS, spoke about the importance of unions and students working together to resist the pressure on governments to axe social programs.  The Liberal government has allowed tuition fees to rise 4 – 8% while student aide programs are cut and youth unemployment is at a record high.

Patricia Chong, from the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, closed out the panel by engaging participants in a quiz that helped look at the effects of the recession through an equity lens.  Her solutions included a renewed push for Employment Equity and making more women and young people eligible for EI.

ofl2009.ca has been a first for the Ontario Federation of Labour.  For us it has been an experiment, a learning experince and a labour of love.  Web presence and social media are not just important for getting our message out, they can also contribute to debate and ultimately to the democratic traditions of the labour movement.

There are many things we are pleased with, and a great many things we’d do differently.

Give us your feedback, we’d love to keep on learning!

communications@ofl.ca

I had never had the opportunity to attend one of the OFL’s Aboriginal Circles before.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  I’ve been to many lots of conventions, and I’ve had the opportunity, but I never made it a priority seek it out the Circle.  Odds are you haven’t either.

This time I did, and next convention so should you.

At the outset of the circle, each of the participants was offered the opportunity to “smudge”  with sacred sage smoke by the firekeeper Ken “Two Dogs” Frazier, allowing us to cleanse our minds and our hearts so we could  come together with a good mind, and a good heart, and in a good way with one another.

Tim explained that although the circle followed the same constitutional democratic standards as all caucuses are bound to, it is traditionally the practice to avoid having a formal vote when possible.  When there are choices to be made among different candidates, the circle would talk about those choices until consensus is reached.

Tim described how each member of the circle would be offered the opportunity in turn to say anything they wanted (or nothing at all), when they were passed a feather.  Those who were experiencing a burden or a pain were invited to share it with the group.

Tim explained how the circle allowed each of us to share the burden of the others, making the load lighter for all of us.

Most chose to speak: about themselves; their lives; their jobs; their concerns and worries; their interests and their passions.  A couple did choose to share their burdens and their pains, and I genuinely had the feeling that as part of the circle, I was indeed part of lightening their burden, if only temporarily.

Although it was mentioned more than once that the Circle is not “political”, discussion didn’t shy away from issues that could rightly be called political.

Tim explained why, although they frequently addressed others as Brother and Sister throughout the convention, participants generally refrained from addressing each other that way during the circle.  Just one more tragic legacy of the residential school system is the pain that can still be evoked, when you were abused by someone called Brother or Sister.

Interspersed along the way were Tim’s teachings, traditional stories that reveal simple truths which often remain hidden.

The circle also adjourns a little differently than any other other union meeting you’ve ever been to.  After everyone had the opportunity to say everything they needed to say, Tim proceeded around the circle hugging each member in turn.  Once we had received their hug from Tim, each of us in turn joined in behind him and moved around the circle twice, until we had all both given and received a hug from each other.

Tim explained that the First Nations are a communal people who recognize the need for physical contact.  When we hug, we offer the centre of ourselves to each other, and nothing will ever come between those who have shared together in the circle.

Tim also warned that the hugging was contagious, and that we should be shouldn’t be surprised if we receive a spontaneous hug when we met again throughout the convention.

Over the past day or two I have run into several delegates who I met at the circle.  Some had been many times to the circle, some, like myself, were there for the first time.

We don’t always hug (although I actually did get one or two), but we greeted each other warmly and talked about the circle and many other things.  I’ve sensed a common acknowledgement that we had shared a special experience.

It may not be like any other union meeting you’ve ever been to, but to I saw clearly one of the teachings the Aboriginal circle is offering to the rest of the labour movement:

Often, solidarity in the labour movement means standing together at a rally, or standing together at a picket line, or standing together on a campaign.  At the circle, we were taught the very powerful solidarity of simply sitting together with each other and sharing ourselves.

I’m not sure I heard the word solidarity being used even once during the Circle, but I know I felt it in a very new, and very real way.

And Tim Brown’s “re-election campaign”?  Let’s just say that the Circle was able to reach consensus.

Let’s show them that we’re behind Vale Inco workers and the CF-61.

Let’s show them that we’re behind all the working people of this province.

We’ve talked about it all week, now let’s show them in the streets.

TD Centre Friday morning at 7:30 am

166 Wellington Click for Map

“We’re in the midst of an economic crisis, and of course immediately, out comes the traditional rhetoric and the old lines of attack that this is the time to cut back on public services,” he said, “and it’s the time to cut back on any type of compensation. It’s time for all kinds of austerity and restraint.”

“Now, however, is not the time to cut because in an economic crisis you need your public services more than ever for a whole bunch of reasons. One is this is the sector that’s keeping things going while other parts of the economy are shrinking. The public service is vital to our economic recovery and it’s time that all levels of government recognize this!”

“The solution is the implementation of a ‘Buy Canadian’ policy to put Canadians back to work in the devastated manufacturing sector and a commitment to creating green jobs in areas like wind generation.”

Regarding the economic recovery, Layton put it this way: “We don’t say the recession is over until people are back at work.”

OFL leadership team and NDP leader Jack Layton: from left, VP Terry Downey, Layton, president-elect Sid Ryan, and secretary-treasurer Marie Kelly.

As you might imagine though, there are often long discussions and tough decisions about which target will be selected.  After all, there are no shortage of injustices to be put in the spotlight.

At OFL2009, the decision was made easier because two of the worst employers in the province, Vale Inco and Cadillac Fairview, just happen to be located right across the street from each other here in downtown Toronto.

So today over a thousand activists marched together and rallied on Wellington street in support of  CEP members  locked out and terminated by Cadillac Fairview and USW members in Sudbury, Port Colborne and Newfoundland and Labrador who are on strike against Vale Inco.

None of these workers are asking for anything unreasonable – they just want to keep what they have.

And we will stand beside them until they win their fights.

To learn more about Vale Inco

To learn more about Cadillac Fairview

Video to come

Government has a decisive role to play in using investment dollars for good jobs, green jobs, and Ontario- and Canadian-made products, she said. Despite “playing by the rules”, Canadian families are falling behind with four out of five of them living on less money than they had a generation ago.

Governments have abandoned the middle class and encouraged a growing gap between “the fortunate few” and working women and men, she said.

Economic recovery must include good jobs and other supports, including pension security, training and education, and employment insurance that “really covers you from job to job”.

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath enters convention hall to address delegates.