CANADIAN LABOUR HAMILTON:

TEN THOUSAND PROTEST AGAINST LOCKOUT AT US STEEL IN HAMILTON:

The other day ten thousand people gathered in Hamilton Ontario to protest the ongoing lockout at US Steel in that city. Supported by a broad coalition of Ontario labour and social groups the people gathered to show support for 900 workers who have been locked out for almost three months over a dispute concerning pensions. Like elsewhere in the world the employer is attempting to renege on previous pension commitments. The difference here is that the Canadian government allowed the US purchase of the plant three years ago under the express provision that existing pension plans be protected. The government has chosen, not unexpectedly, to stand idly by as US Steel goes back on their word. Here's how the event was seen by the Toronto Sun.

HDHDHDHDHD

10,000 join union protest in Hamilton
By TERRY DAVIDSON, Toronto Sun

Last Updated: January 29, 2011 7:50pm

Legeare is one of the 900 workers from the Hamilton-based U.S. Steel — formerly Stelco — who have been locked out since Nov. 7 in the wake of U.S. Steel’s demands for pension concessions.

“Everybody deserves to retire with dignity and not have to work until they are 85 or 90 years old,” Legeare said.

He was also one of the more than 10,000 unionized workers who clogged the streets of downtown Hamilton on Saturday to show solidarity, protest the pension demands and criticize Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government for letting the dispute happen in the first place.

“We’ve been locked out because we won’t give up our pensions,” said Legeare, who has been with the company 11 years.

“The pensions the company wants to take away after stating three years ago when they bought (Stelco) that they were going to honour our pensions.”

Legeare and his co-workers had lots of support on Steeltown’s streets. Other unionized workers — “brothers and sisters” — came from as far away as Sudbury to show solidarity.

“It’s time for workers to stand up and stop this,” said Rick Bertrand, a steelworker from Sudbury.

“We know what’s going on. We just went through the same thing in Sudbury.”

“The manufacturing base in this country is being destroyed,” said Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan.

“Hamilton is being reflected in communities all over Canada,” he said.

“Canadians are furious at Harper’s disregard for our income security and will make this a major election issue,” Ryan said.

“Harper’s vision for Canada’s future is a low-wage economy where retirees are forced to gamble with their income security on the stock market.”

According to the OFL, 2,200 employees have lost their jobs since U.S. Steel took over Stelco.

terry.davidson@sunmedia.ca
HDHDHDHDHD
Here's how the event was reported in the Hamilton Spectator. More on the situation of the pensions here.
HDHDHDHDHD
Thousands protest U.S. Steel
Thousands of union members jammed the core of Hamilton Saturday to denounce U. S. Steel and Prime Minister Stephen Harper for not protecting worker pensions.

The rally, in support of 900 locked-out Hamilton members of the United Steelworkers, attacked the American company for demanding drastic changes to the pension plan and the end of indexing for 9,000 retirees.

Union banners and flags showed the local crowd was swelled by members of the Canadian Auto Workers, Service Employees International Union, McMaster University students, Communication Energy and Paperworkers union, and public sector unions including the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The marchers were exhorted by the presidents of the United Steelworkers, the Canadian Labour Congress, Ontario Federation of Labour and Hamilton and District Labour Council and area NDP members of federal and provincial Parliament.

Speaker after speaker denounced the company’s pension demands as evidence of corporate greed by U.S. Steel and a clear example of the Harper government’s failure to protect workers.

“These fights are happening across the country now,” said USW international president Leo Gerard. “Everywhere on earth, these corporate bastards are trying to pick our pockets.

“I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and let them take our pensions,” he added. “We have to demand that Harper stand up for Canada.”

U.S. Steel was given federal government approval to buy the former Stelco in 2007. To get that approval it promised a “net benefit” to Canada by maintaining jobs and production for three years. Within two years, however, the company’s Hamilton plants had been shut down twice and their work transferred to American mills.

Now it is demanding the current defined-benefit pension plan be closed to new members in favour of a defined-contribution system. It also wants an end to annual increases for current retirees.

Rolf Gerstenberger, president of USW Local 1005, said Saturday’s protest is only the latest in an ongoing round of efforts to draw attention to the concerns of both his members and Canadian industry.

“This is a historic gathering that makes a historic statement,” he said. “We are in a crisis and that crisis has to be resolved in favour of the people, not the rich.

“This is a struggle for a sovereign Canada and a diverse economy that includes manufacturing,” he added.

The next round will be staged May 1 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Leaders had predicted as many as 6,000 people would turn out for the rally. The parade they staged took 20 minutes to pass any given point on its route.

See Monday’s Hamilton Spectator for complete coverage.

sarnold@thespec.com

905-526-3496

CANADIAN POLITICS:

OLYMPIC RESISTANCE SPREADS ACROSS CANADA:

The following is a press release from the Olympic Resistance Network dated yesterday, December 21. It is a summary of some of the protests that have met the Olympic flame in its course across the country.

@@@@@@@@@@

Press Release: Olympic Torch being Disrupted across Canada, Protests today at Six Nations as Olympic Torch shamed:
OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY BEING DISRUPTED ACROSS CANADA!

==> Anti-Olympic Protesters bring their message of resistance across Canada; Olympic Torch shamed.

==> Six Nations community members declare Olympic Torch will not pass through their territory.

Monday, December 21 2009, Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories-Protesters are bringing their anti-Olympic message with chants of “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”, “Get your torch off our land, we don’t want your Olympic scam” and “2010 Homes not 2010 Games” across Canada. In many instances, activists have successfully disrupted the Torch Relay, forcing delays and route cancellations, with at least four arrests associated with anti-Torch related actions.

Today, Six Nations community members have declared that the Olympic Torch will not pass through their territory. A Declaration by the Onkwehonwe (people) of the Grand River Territory states “This land is not conquered. We are not Canadian… We hereby affirm our peaceful opposition to the entry and progression of the 2010 Olympic torch into and through our territory.” (Visit: http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/ or No2010@peaceculture.org for media interviews). In the coming weeks, dissenters are also expected to converge in Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Stratford, and Guelph.

In Toronto over 250 people took to the streets on December 17, blocking major intersections and forcing the cancellation of the Torch in parts of downtown Toronto. A banner dropped directly across the stage read “Gego Olympics Da-Te-Snoon Nishnaabe-Giing Ga-Gmooding” (“No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” in Anishinaabemowin). (Visit http://torontotorch.blogspot.com/or email torchblock@gmail.com ).

At least four communities in the province of Quebec have opposed the Torch Relay: Sept-Iles, Montreal, Kanahwake First Nations, and Quebec City. In Montreal, over 200 people converged and delayed the relay as well as the main ceremonies and concert. (Visit: http://www.amp-montreal.net/).

On October 30, over 400 people gathered to oppose the Torch Relay launch in Victoria. An Anti-Olympics Festival and Zombie March succeeded in disrupting the relay. Security personnel were forced to extinguish the torch, load it in a van, and reroute it. (Visit http://no2010victoria.net/or no2010victoria@gmail.com ).

Actions have also occurred in cities as diverse as Comox Valley, Kingston, Halifax, Ottawa, and St. John's. With the number of protesters equaling or exceeding spectators, dissatisfaction with the 2010 Winter Olympics is growing across Canada. According to a November 2009 Angus-Reid poll, over 30% of B.C. residents feel the Olympics will have a negative impact and almost 40% of residents support protesters. (sorry, but ????-Molly )

Protesters note that the Olympics are not simply about the athletes; rather the corporate Games are leaving a legacy of displacement, militarization, and repression. Public funds invested by all levels of government are nearing $7 billion. According to the Olympic Resistance Network, “While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out, Indigenous lands are being stolen, people are becoming homeless, thousands are losing their jobs and access to public services, the environment is being destroyed, and civil liberties are being eroded with almost a billion dollars sunk into surveillance. The negative Olympic legacy is turning into an anti-Olympic legacy of resistance across the country.” Social justice activists also believe that the Olympic Torch is a $25 million propaganda tool for corporate sponsors who have some of the worst social and environmental practices. The Royal Bank of Canada has been under fire for its financing of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands, while Coca Cola has been responsible for massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution in India.

– 30 –

For media quotes visit: http://olympicresistance.net/content/media

@@@@@@@@@@

Here, according to the Hamilton Spectator, is what happened on the Six Nations Reserve yesterday.

@@@@@@@@@@

Six Nations protesters detour the Olympic flame:
Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator

Change of venue a 'small victory'
December 22, 2009 Danielle Wong

The Hamilton Spectator(Dec 22, 2009)
A last-minute detour in the Olympic flame's passage through Six Nations yesterday appeased protesters, but left participants with mixed feelings.

The initial plan to have the 25 torchbearers run through the heart of the reserve had upset some Six Nations people.

They argued the torch represented Ottawa's mistreatment of natives and the environmental destruction caused by Olympic preparations near Vancouver.

Torchbearers and spectators learned yesterday morning the relay would instead be held at the Six Nations bingo hall at Highway 54 and Chiefswood Road, on the reserve's outskirts.

Protesters had positioned themselves to block the torch from coming on to Six Nations land on Highway 54, but backed off when they saw the Olympic caravan take a different route to the hall.

"All the demands were met in not bringing the caravan through (Six Nations) and that's why there was no big demonstration," said protester Skye Williams, 26.

Torchbearer Robert Henry said he would have liked to have carried the torch through Ohsweken, but the event was still positive.

"It's unfortunate we can't go that way, but I think this will still ... be part of history," said the 36-year-old.

The relay began shortly after 5 p.m. outside the bingo hall. More than 200 people gathered outside to watch smoke dances and the First Nations youth choir before cheering on the torchbearers.

Torchbearer Jason Johnson said last night's event was an opportunity to encourage young people and he was shocked when he got the call that he would be running.

"Big events like these don't often make their way this far," he said.

There was a different atmosphere earlier when a small group of protesters showed up at the Six Nations Community Centre on Fourth Line after a press conference.

They held signs saying "No Olympics on stolen native land" and "No torch means no trespassing."

There was no consensus among the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to bring the Olympic torch to their land, said the demonstration's spokesperson Melissa Elliott, 19.

The change in venue was a "small victory" for those protesting the Olympics, she said.

But Lana Isaacs, who came out to support the torchbearers, said she would have liked to see the torch go through the reserve.

"We have elders at the Iroquoia lodge who could see (the relay) out the window," she said, adding there were others who could not get to the bingo hall.

"They're missing it and it is sad. And it is too bad."

Band council chief Bill Montour said they switched routes because the bingo hall was more "central" and the initial plan was "becoming a logistic nightmare."

"This event is not a political event.

"It's for this community."

CANADIAN LABOUR-HAMILTON:

MULTISERV WORKERS PICKET US STEEL PLANT:

The following article from the Hamilton Spectator came to Molly's attention via the website of USW Local 8782. The Steelworkers Union is involved in a number of bitter disputes across the country, all at once. Aside from the strike at Vale Inco, many of these-in Pine Falls, Hamilton and Nanticoke-seem to involve lockouts. Looks like the bosses are in a particularly nasty mood. Either that or they hope to take advantage of the present hard times to 'stick it to' unions before an economic upturn. In the following case the opponent, MultiServ, is something of a subcontractor within plants owned by other companies. Makes it hard to build solidarity when the majority of the workers at a plant are not involved in the dispute. To say the least this the sort of thing that would be remedied by 'industrial unionism', where all the workers at an enterprise would be part of one union and not divided up. It seems, moreover, that MultiServ has gone beyond the tradition limits of trying to operate with salaried personnel and is in the process of bringing in scabs, just as Vale Inco wants to do elsewhere. Members of Local 8782 have reacted to this affront. See below.

CLCLCLCLCLCLCL

Tensions rise on MultiServ picket line:
Lisa Grace Marr

The Hamilton Spectator(Sep 28, 2009)
Tensions are escalating in the ongoing dispute between MultiServ and its locked-out employees.

Early Saturday about two dozen employees formed a picket line at U.S. Steel's Hamilton plant. MultiServ runs its operations within U.S. Steel's gates.

The employees were protesting the use of replacement workers, some of whom were former union members who had received retirement packages.

About 110 employees of the firm, which provides slag recycling services to U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal Dofasco, have been locked out for nearly 11 weeks.

The company has been using salaried, non-union staff to run the plant.

Talks broke off last Tuesday without resolution.

Pennsylvania-based Harsco Corp., owner of MultiServ, is seeking a 15 per cent wage cut in addition to other concessions.

Darren Kerr, plant chair and financial officer for the United Steelworkers, Local 7577, at MultiServ's locations at U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal Dofasco and Cambridge, said the company is now offering lucrative contracts to former employees, undercutting the union's bargaining ability.

He said so far, about 14 employees have taken the package, but it's unknown just how many have returned to work.

"One employee who's now (returned to work at MultiServ) was at our action centre and our staff helped him get his Class D licence ... more education and that's how he repaid us," Kerr said.
But on Saturday, Ken Julian, communications director for MultiServ, said the company and the union would head back to the table Thursday for negotiations.

"Our first priority is to our customers," Julian said. ( I seriously doubt that statement-Molly )