“The tireless efforts of UFCW Canada and the AWA on behalf of agriculture workers is the amazing and untold story of the Ontario labour movement,” said OFL President Wayne Samuelson in presenting the Borch Award to Wayne Hanley, who serves both organizations as national president, on the third day of the provincial labour federation’s 2009 convention.

“This is a group of workers that play a fundamental role in our lives as food producers and most Ontarians don’t even know they exist. UFCW Canada and the AWA are the organizations that are finding the resources to fight for the respect and dignity of one our province’s most important and exploited labour forces,” said Samuelson.

Of the 100,000-plus agriculture workers in Ontario, 30,000 are migrant labourers who come to Ontario every season as part of a difficult and lonely effort to earn a living for themselves and their families. Because of their precarious status, migrant farm workers often find themselves exploited by unscrupulous employers. In cooperation with the AWA, UFCW Canada operates four support centres in Ontario to help migrant workers face the enormous cultural and systemic challenges waiting for them in Canada.

“It’s an honour to accept this award on behalf of all the people who have given so much of themselves to this campaign over the past 15 years,” said Hanley, flanked by several long-time activists who have helped to make the support centre program possible.

“Because of their commitment to doing the right thing for the right reasons, health and safety protections for farm workers are now guaranteed under the law, and the days of Ontario denying the basic labour rights of agriculture workers are rapidly becoming part of a very shameful past.

“What we need are over 30,000 of these awards — one for every migrant farm worker who comes to Canada every year. They part with their loved ones each year to work in our fields and produce our food. They are the real heroes, their courage inspires our efforts, and this award belongs to all of them.”

OFL secretary-treasurer Irene Harris made solemn reference to the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, when gunman Marc Lepine murdered 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnique. Two of the women worked there and were members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

In the 20 years since the Montreal massacre on Dec. 6, 1989, spousal violence has claimed the lives of 486 women and children in Ontario.

The OFL and affiliated unions work with the women’s community to bring about public education, new legislation, and collective agreements to ensure that women and children are safe in their homes, workplaces, and communities.

The United Nations designated November 25 the international day to eliminate violence against women in 1999. Women’s activists have marked that day as a day against violence since 1981.

Delegates were being asked to support a resolution to put a stop to internal conflicts, and they did. It directs the OFL and leaders of affiliated unions to sign a pledge to organize the unorganized, not to take members from other unions.

Steelworker Don Fraser is president of Hamilton and District Labour Council, which submitted the resolution.

“Union members want their dues to go to organizing the 70 per cent of workers who don’t have unions, servicing existing members, and mounting political fightback,” said Fraser.

Resolution 69

Submitted by Hamilton and District Labour Council

WHEREAS union density is around 30%; and

WHEREAS there are millions of workers who want

and need to be organized;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the

Federation and the leaders of all affiliates sign a declaration

agreeing not to raid or liberate other legitimate unionized

workers and to concentrate their efforts on organizing the

unorganized.

De Angelis received the award for her initiative, enthusiasm and “never-take-no-for-an-answer” attitude, said OFL executive vice-president Terry Downey.

De Angelis was the OFL’s youth vice-president from 1997 to 2003. She has also been the UFCW’s youth coordinator.

As job losses continue to mount, and private sector workers struggle with unemployment and lost pensions, corporate leaders “are setting their sights” on the public sector.

“If they can silence us, they will have removed the first and the last lines of defense that many of our members and our community allies have,” said Byers.

She talked about the need to change the employment insurance program and pensions. Workers and communities across the country are suffering, and things are getting tougher for equity groups.

“The gains of women, workers of colour, Aboriginal workers, and workers with disabilities over the past 20 years are being wiped out by the effects of corporate greed,” she said.

Business and government leaders are blaming the crisis for fallout that’s actually caused by their own actions, and using it as an excuse for more anti-worker action, he said.

“In communities across the province, we are seeing the carnage of free trade agreements, tax cuts, privatization, and constant deregulation,” he said.

“And how does the government respond? They respond by saying we need more of what’s caused the problem in the first place.”

The labour movement has the ability and the obligation to make the economy and governments serve the needs of working people, their families, and communities, he said. He went on to say that to be as effective as possible, the labour movement has to restructure itself.

As powers have devolved from the federal government to the provinces and local governments, union membership has become more concentrated at the provincial and local levels.

“Our movement is at an incredibly important crossroad,” said Samuelson, who is stepping down after 12 years in office. “We have a structure that doesn’t recognize the changes that have taken place in this movement.

“We need to restructure this labour movement so we can be a force on the ground.”

The labour movement has led the way on critical issues that affect people’s daily lives, and must continue to do so, he said.

Key challenges include improving pensions and protecting public services, according to Samuelson.

Sixty-two per cent of people have no workplace pension plan, and many of those who do are faced with reduced pensions because their employer-controlled plans are underfunded.

Ontario’s Liberal government is threatening to attack jobs and earnings of public sector workers when it should attack its own revenue problem by doing something about corporate tax cuts and “the $5 billion they’re about to shift over to corporations in their HST scheme,” said Samuelson.

“This is a game of fear and threats,” he said, and Ontarians have to remember “the problems aren’t caused by providing health care, education, retraining and support, or long-term care for our grandparents.”

Samuelson said he’s leaving the OFL presidency with the firm belief that the OFL will continue to grow and that the affiliated unions and their members have the strength and solidarity to build on strong foundations.

“We will elect a strong team of leadership for the coming years,” he said. “We’ll collectively set a path for the years ahead.”

Spirit and strength were evident during the OFL’s Drive to Work campaign which held over 100 events in 53 communities in June.

As hard as it has been to hear the stories of job loss and devastation in communities across Ontario, Samuelson says he was heartened by the commitment of labour councils and activists who have helped people get their stories out.

The “bosses” who have so much money “can never match the passion of each and every one of you,” he said. “And the other thing we have that they’ll never have, is that there will always be a helluva lot more of us than there are of them.”