AMERICAN LABOUR:

BETTER CONDITIONS FOR US GUESTWORKERS:

All across the "developed" world temporary workers, often referred to as "guestworkers" are employed usually at much lower wages and longer hours than workers in the country they are "imported to". Here's an item from the Jobs With Justice group asking all US citizens to support legislation that would extend equal labour rights to 'guestworkers' in that country.

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Support Collective Bargaining Rights for ALL workers‏

Every year, thousands of workers come to the United States via the H-2B guestworker visa program. Under this program, a workers' visa is tied to his or her employer, giving their bosses a great deal of control over their lives. All too often, workers in the US on the H-2B visa find themselves in unfair, unsafe, or even illegal work situations, but because their immigration status is tied to their employer, it is very difficult to organize for better working conditions. You may remember the story of Hilario Jimenez, a guestworker who escaped company housing to expose his employers for using taxpayer money to exploit migrant workers while excluding local workers from jobs.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. On March 17, 2011, the National Guestworker Alliance won a major victory and a vindication of five years of organizing, advocacy, and litigation as the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed new regulations of the H-2B non-agricultural visa program. The proposed regulations would ensure that workers in the U.S. through this program are not trapped in debt to recruiters and do not face retaliation for organizing to become members of workers’ centers or unions. The new regulations would also ensure that employers keep their promises to workers about the type of work, working conditions, and hours they will have, and that if they break the rules they are punished.

Big businesses are gearing up to fight these new rules that would protect workers’ rights.

Support the rights of ALL workers to organize! The DOL is accepting comments on the new regulations until May 17th.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR COMMENTS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

Please personalize the sample comments below.

I believe in dignified work, just migration, and equality for all workers. [ Include your personal experience/ opinion on why these rights are important for guestworkers and U.S. workers].

The current H-2B program does not protect workers. Under the current rules, debt, retaliation, and a lack of enforcement block workers from organizing and defending their rights. Any time a worker’s visa is tied to his employer, the employer has a lot of control.

I support DOL’s new proposed rules for the H-2B program because I believe:

1) Workers should not be trapped in Debt. Employers should pay the costs of a workers’ travel, visa, and recruitment for an H-2B job. U.S. employers should be responsible for actions by their agents and recruiters.

2) Employers should keep with their promises about the job. Employers should have to comply with their promises about the type of work, working conditions, and hours. Job contractors should not be allowed to bring in H-2B workers. Workers should receive copies of the paperwork filed with the government describing their job so they can defend their rights.

3) Workers should not face retaliation for organizing. Employers should not retaliate against workers who organize and become members of Workers’ Centers or unions. DOL should protect a worker’s right to continue working and not face deportation if the employer retaliates against him.

4) Employers who break the rules should be punished. They should have to pay the workers what they are owed. If they break the rules, they should not be able to bring in more H-2B workers. Workers should be able to participate in the administrative processes to make sure this happens. Workers are experts on their workplace and have the information to help make sure employers cannot continue to break the rules and exploit future workers.

I support the more detailed comments of the National Guestworker Alliance. They are a membership organization of guestworkers, and they know the solutions to make this program more fair for the workers and their families.

CANADIAN LABOUR BRITISH COLUMBIA:

MIGRANT WORKERS LAUNCH LAWSUIT AGAINST DENNY'S FOR WAGE THEFT:

The service industry has traditionally been both penny pinching and outright dishonest when it comes to their employees. This has been exasperated by a recent trend across the western world of hiring migrant labour, many of whom don't know their rights (and bosses are certainly not going to inform them out of the kindness of their overflowing hearts) or who are intimidated by their status in the country that they have emigrated to. One example in the USA, the workers at Chipotle, was recently mentioned on this blog. Here's another from Canada, out BC way. Seems that Filipino workers at the Denny's restaurants in that province have gotten together to demand their rights. Here's how the story is seen by the BC Federation of Labour.

TWTWTWTWTW
BC Fed in the News:

Fillipino Denny's workers launch class action
January 13, 2011
Fifty temporary foreign workers from the Phillipines have launched a class action lawsuit against Denny's restaurant. The workers allege Denny's has not paid them in full and say the restaurant has not reimbursed them for recruitment and processing fees they paid in order to come to Canada.

The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling for a moratorium on the recruitment of workers under the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program until all alleged abuses are investigated and the program is cleaned up.

To see the CBC Television story on the class action lawsuit against Denny's click here.
TWTWTWTWTW
And here is how the story is seen by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
TWTWTWTWTW
Migrant Workers File $10 Million Lawsuit against Denny’s in British Columbia
More than 50 Filipino migrant workers recruited to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) program have filed a $10 million class action suit against Denny’s restaurants in British Columbia, charging the company did not live up to the employment contract the workers signed before they arrived from the Philippines. The suit was filed in the B.C. Supreme Court on January 7, on behalf of the Filipino migrant workers employed at Denny’s from 2006 until the present.

One of the lawyers representing the workers, Charles Gordon, alleges that “the workers came to Canada, mainly as cooks and servers, to take jobs at Denny’s Restaurants in B.C. but were required to pay approximately $6,000 each to an agency that was recruiting employees for the Defendants, and the workers have not received the hours of work, overtime pay, air travel and other conditions they were promised.”

“These workers were encouraged to come to Canada with a set of promises that have never been met – they have done their part but the Denny’s has not lived up to their end of the deal,” says Christopher Foy, another member of the legal team.

“The federal government’s Temporary Foreign Workers program continues to be a shameful treadmill that lures workers to Canada, and then leaves them defenseless and vulnerable,” says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “The fact that the Denny’s workers have been forced to go to court is yet another blatant example of how the exploitative TFW program turns a blind eye to what happens to migrant workers once they arrive in Canada.”

CANADIAN LABOUR MANITOBA:

LET THE "THREE AMIGOS" STAY:

Three Filipino workers are now awaiting a deportation hearing here in Winnipeg. The decision about whether they can stay has been set for December 23, 2 days before Christmas. As the following article in the Winnipeg Free Press makes plain they have been the victims of unscrupulous immigration agents and a negligent employer. As we type these words a fund raising dinner for the trio is being held at the Legion Hall on Logan Avenue.

The case of the three men has been taken up by Damayan Manitoba, affiliated with the national organization Migrante Canada. Both organizations advocate for the rights of "temporary workers" here in Canada who are far too often the victims of crooked recruitment agents, lawyers and employers. Here's the story, and I hope you will join Molly in wishing the three men well. This story has special relevance here in Manitoba with our large Filipino community.

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Foreign dads fear deportation
Were working with expired permits to support families in Philippines
By: Carol Sanders


Three dads trying to support their families in the Philippines hope they won't be home for Christmas.

The temporary workers face an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing Dec. 23 after working in a gas bar in Thompson with invalid work permits.

"I hope they let us stay and work," said Ermie Zotomayor, 45. "It's the only means we have to support our families," said the man with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. He and his two educated co-workers -- Antonio Laroya, 45, and Arnisito Gaviola, 42 -- each paid $3,000 to a recruiter in 2007 to find them service jobs in Canada. They shared a trailer in High Prairie, Alta., and worked at a gas station and a restaurant, sending money home to their wives and children in the Philippines. Following a local downturn in the economy, they were offered similar jobs in Manitoba.

The men said their prospective Thompson employer was supposed to take care of their work permits and needed them to start work right away. They went to work in February for $10 an hour, sharing an apartment in the northern city and sending the bulk of their pay home.

"We were caught in a situation where we have to do what we have to do," said Zotomayor, who's been advised not to identify the employer. "We don't want to be a burden."

On June 24, the men were arrested at their Thompson apartment by the Canada Border Services Agency and held at the RCMP detachment for eight hours.

"We were scared," Laroya said. They paid another $1,500 to an immigration consultant in Calgary to help them, not knowing they cannot work while awaiting their Dec. 23 admissibility hearing.

All three have jobs lined up in Thompson with another employer, but can't take them.

"Filipino friends in Thompson have been helping us out... giving us food (and shelter)," Zotomayor said. Now they're in Winnipeg sleeping on the floor of a friend's apartment awaiting their hearing two days before Christmas.

A fundraising dinner and dance is being held this evening at the Royal Canadian Legion on Logan Avenue for the "three amigos" as they're known in the community, said Diwa Marcelino with Bayan Manitoba. It's part of Migrante Canada, a national organization of 16 groups advocating for the rights of Filipino temporary workers.

The three amigos' case is far too common, Marcelino said.

"They were duped by employers and criminalized for trying to work and survive," he said. "Their only crime is working to provide a better life for their family."

Employers benefit from cheap, reliable labour and the workers end up losing their livelihood and being sent home, he said.

If the adjudicator decides Dec. 23 the three men have to leave Canada, they have no right to appeal, said a government spokeswoman in Vancouver.

That doesn't seem fair to Jomay Amora-Mercado, the Manitoba representative for Migrante Canada.

"They've contributed to the economy of Canada." The national body is pushing for temporary workers to have the right to apply for permanent resident status, she said.

The former temporary worker was a "Timmy's girl" at a Tim Hortons in Sherwood Park, Alta., who paid $5,000 to a recruiter for the privilege. Migrante Canada wants the federal government to change the way it issues temporary work permits so workers aren't at the mercy of a single employer, she said.

"It should be work-specific, not employer-specific," she said. When a labour market opinion proves there's a demand for workers, the worker issued the permit shouldn't be chained to a single employer in that market, Jomay said.

For information or fundraiser tickets, call 218-7100 or 414-5902.

CANADIAN POLITICS VANCOUVER:

MARCH TO SCRAP BILL C-49:

Bill C-49 is a federal government piece of legislation which purports to be against "human trafficking" but is actually a not so thinly disguised anti-refugee bill made up in response to the arrival of the Tamil "boat people" on the west coast. Extensive information on what the bill means and contains can be seen at the website of the Vancouver No One Is Illegal group. This same group is calling for a demonstration this Saturday to demand that the bill be dropped. Here is the call.

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Sat Nov 27:

Vancouver March to Scrap Bill C49!

Release Detained Refugees!
3 Months Too Long:

Free Detained Tamil Refugees!

Let them Stay!

Scrap Bill C49!

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Saturday November 27th @ 1pm
Vancouver Public Library (Corner of Georgia and Homer)

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Join No One is Illegal in a rally and march to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers, and an end to racist and restrictive refugee policies, including the recently tabled Bill C-49.

Surviving a dangerous journey, 492 Tamil refugees, including women and children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka. Three months later, the vast majority of the refugees remain in jails, facing endless hearings that have revealed the clear incompetency, deliberate negligence, and racism of the system.

Canadian government officials and media outlets continue to perpetuate false and dehumanizing stereotypes of 'illegals', 'terrorists', and so-called queue-jumpers. This fear-mongering is just another tactic used to disguise the racist policies that define Canada’s immigration and refugee system.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney, have recently introduced Bill C49 under the banner of combating “human smuggling” and deterring the arrival of future boats. Bill C49 would give the Minister the power to single out for special punishment refugees who are suspected of having fled their country by means of smugglers. These punishments are harsh and inhumane. Asylum seekers suspected of using a smuggler will be subject to mandatory detention for the first year after arrival, with no chance of review, including for children. They also will not have the right to appeal a negative refugee decision. In addition, they will be prohibited from obtaining permanent residency for a period of five years after obtaining refugee status. This means these refugees will be held in limbo, not be allowed to leave the country nor sponsor their family members, effectively separating them from their families for a period of time well beyond those five years.

This is a shameful piece of legislation. Refugees are forced from their homes in emergency situations due to human rights abuses committed during wars, military occupations, or persecution against a minority group. We cannot expect refugees to wait for Canada to select them from overseas. We must understand that they undertake long and dangerous journeys to protect their lives and the lives of their families. According to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, to which Canada is a party, there are no penalties on refugees who arrive without pre-authorization and irregularly.

No One is Illegal-Vancouver asserts the basic human right to safety, mobility, and protection. It is well known that Tamils in Sri Lanka are fleeing military atrocities and mass displacement. The only crime the migrants have committed is transgressing this imposed settler-colonial border. We encourage you to join us in rejecting repressive, racist, and exclusionary ideologies and policies, and instead encourage compassion, solidarity, respect for life, and justice for all refugees.

Release Detained Asylum-Seekers! Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!

Right to Stay, Freedom to Move, Right to Return!
http://www.facebook.com/l/a762eKw8ztehdP2V5GkFfB_Gtxg;www.nooneisillegal.org

CANADIAN LABOUR ONTARIO:

MIGRANT WORKERS WILDCAT FOR UNPAID WAGES:

Speaking of wildcat strikes, here's another one, this time from Ontario. According to the Justice For Migrant Workers site ( see also their Facebook page )migrant farm workers in Ontario have gone on a wildcat strike to demand unpaid wages. Like true criminals the employers have invoked the law to deport the workers rather than paying what is owed. Here's the story.

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Simcoe, ON-Migrant farm workers stage wildcat strike.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Migrant farm workers stage wildcat strike to demand thousands of dollars in unpaid wages: Employer responds with deportation

November 23, 2010

(Simcoe, Ontario) Over a 100 migrant farm workers employed at Ghesquiere Plants Ltd. are facing imminent repatriation (deportation) after staging a wildcat strike to demanding thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

The migrant workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados came together across racial, linguistic and ethnic lines to organize this wild cat strike and strengthen their collective power. The workers employed by this farm described numerous rights violations and complaints about their living conditions including the following:

• Workers are each owed from $1000 to $6000 in unpaid wages
• Workers are to be evicted and will be homeless as of Thursday, November 25th, 2010
• Most of the Mexican and Trinidadian workers will be repatriated by this Thursday. All Jamaican
workers have been repatriated.
• Electricity and heat has been cut off in one bunk
• Deplorable and very crowed living conditions

Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW), a grassroots advocacy migrant rights organization, calls for the immediate payment of all wages owing to workers. Migrant workers employed at Ghesquiere Plant Ltd. are being forced to return home and cannot provide for their families. Repatriation denies them access to pursue legal avenues under federal and provincial laws, basic protections accorded to permanent residents in Canada thus J4MW calls on both levels of government to intervene to protect migrants and prosecute employers who denied these workers basic rights. J4MW stresses that Temporary Foreign Worker Programs such as the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program denies migrant workers the ability to exert their rights and are in need of an urgent and complete overhaul.

J4MW Contacts

Chris Ramsaroop 1-647-834-4932 or ramsaroopchris@gmail.com
Carolina Alvarado Zuniga 1-647-296-6753

Justicia for Migrant Workers
c/o Workers’ Action Centre
720 Spadina Avenue, Suite 223
Toronto ON M5S 2T9
www.justicia4migrantworkers.org
www.twitter.com/j4mw

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
TWO EVENTS YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS:


Here from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) are two upcoming events in Toronto that you really don't want to miss.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.


Taxi Workshop Wednesday, Rob Ford Inauguration December 1st...‏



Two upcoming events: 1) Too much work, not enough justice:A Special Legal Workshop for Taxi Drivers (and anyone interested)Wednesday, November 24th, 1pm - 3pm(more details below)
2)Give Rob Ford the Welcome He Deserves!Rally: Wednesday, December 1st, 12noon(details below)
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1) Too much work, not enough justice: A Special Legal Workshop
Wednesday, November 24th, 1pm - 3pm
Free Legal Workshop for Taxi Drivers and anyone interested who have been victims of violent crime: Talk to an experienced legal worker about applying for compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board is a provincial body that awards up to $25 000 to victims of violent crime, or witnesses who experience “nervous shock”. As long as the incident happened in Ontario within the last two years, you are eligible. In some cases, older incidents may also be eligible for compensation. The process is relatively straightforward, you don’t have to get a lawyer, and you can get compensation regardless of your immigration status or whether you receive OW or ODSP.
Find out more!
Come out and get started on your claim!!
A SOLIDARITY WORKSHOP BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ONTARIO COALITION AGAINST POVERTY
REGISTER BY CALLING US AT (416) 925-6939
_______________________________
2) Rally to give Rob Ford and his New Council the Welcome they Deserve
Nathan Philips Square (City Hall),
Wednesday December 1, Noon
*Meal Served in the Square

OCAP, No One is Illegal and a range of other organizations will hold a rally on December 1 to mark the swearing in of the new Mayor and the rest of City Council. The new Council are taking office at a time when, across the world, austerity measures are being imposed on working people and the poor.

Rob Ford is more than ready to play his part in this vicious process. Ford ran for office by posing as an opponent of the 'Gravy Train'. He takes a selective view in these matters. Ford personally complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons to try and prevent Dr. Roland Wong providing the Special Diet to people in poverty. The basic needs of poor people in this city forced to try to survive on inadequate OW/ODSP rates were are unaffordable in his eyes.

However, the cops can expect a whole reservoir of gravy from Rob Ford, just as the Pan Am Games will get a million gallons of the stuff. On December 1, OCAP will be joining community allies preparing for the fights that lie ahead on the needs of communities under attack. We will present to the new Council a demand that City welfare offices stop their ongoing drive to deny people in need the Special Diet and other vital benefits.

This is a Council that will be at war with poor and working people in this City. December 1 will be the start of our war on them. Come out and join us.
----
***Please Forward
Mayor Ford: Respect People!
Counter-Inaugural
Wednesday Dec. 1st 12pm
Toronto City Hall

On December 1, Rob Ford becomes Mayor of Toronto. In his campaign speeches and his public statements, Ford has called for cuts to fair wages, dismantling of the already inaccessible public transit system, supported Toronto's police brutality during the G20, and repeatedly expressed racist anti-immigrant sentiments and outright hatred for poor people. While claiming to speak on behalf of the 'majority', Ford actually believes in a Toronto for the few. He believes in a Toronto divided into suburbs and the downtown. A Toronto divided into streetcar riders, bikers and drivers. A Toronto divided into immigrants, refugees and citizens. A Toronto where the homeless are driven out of sight as social housing is sold off to developers. A Toronto where police budgets grow and cops act with impunity. A Toronto that is open for business, but closed for the public.

This is not our Toronto. Our Toronto is about justice, dignity, and respect for immigrants, precarious workers, poor people and unions. On December 1, at 12 noon, a public, family friendly demonstration is being called outside City Hall as Rob Ford becomes Mayor to remind him what the people of this city need, expect and demand.

Keep checking http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/ and http://www.ocap.ca/ for more info

CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
NO MORE WORKPLACE DEATHS:

Following the recent deaths of two migrant agricultural workers in Ontario people are organizing to demand an end to such tragedies. Tonight there will be a public meeting in Toronto to educate and organize opposition to unsafe workplaces. Here's the info from No One Is Illegal Toronto.
WDWDWDWDWD

No More Deaths: People's Resistance to Undocumented and Precarious Work
Start: Nov/04/2010 - 6:00 pm
End: Nov/04/2010 - 8:00 pm
please participate in a Community-Labour discussion hosted by No One Is Illegal – Toronto

November 4, 2010
6:00pm – 8:00pm
OPSEU Union Hall, 31 Wellesley Street
(across from Wellesley Subway Station)

supported by: Justicia for Migrant Workers, Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario, OPSEU Workers of Color, Caregiver Action Centre, Labor Education Centre, Workers Action Centre, Health for All, Latin American Trade Unionist Coalition

speakers:

FRANCA IACOVETTA is Professor of History and author of “Such Hardworking People: Italian Immigrants in Postwar Toronto” that focused on the Hoggs Hollow disaster.

TZAZNA MIRANDA LEAL is an organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers

MOHAN MISHRA is an organizer with No One Is Illegal – Toronto

also remarks by Cosmo Mannella (Director of The Labourers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Canadian Tri-Fund); Elizabeth Ha (OPSEU Workers of Colour & OFL VP Workers of Colour); Jessica Ponting (Community legal worker with Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario); Pura Velasco (Caregiver Action Centre); Jojo Geronimo (Executive Director, Labor Education Centre) and members of the Workers Action Centre

on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159718884061029

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On September 10, 2010 two migrant workers Ralston White and Paul Roach died after inhaling toxic fumes at Filsinger's Organic Foods appleorchard and processing facility near Owen Sound, Ontario. On December 24, 2009, Alexander Bondorev, Aleksey Blumberg, Fayzullo Fazilov, Vladimir Korostin, migrant workers without full status, fell to their deaths when the scaffolding they were working on collapsed in half. Though these deaths made the mainstream news, migrant workers and undocumented workers continue to be hurt, to get ill and to die both in Canada or upon being deported to countries they have citizenship in. This injustice must end.

50 years ago, five Italian construction workers, Pasquale Allegrezza, Giovanni Correglio, Giovanni Fusillo, and Alessandro and Guido Mantella, died while working in a dangerous tunnel near Yonge Street in Toronto, remembered as the Hoggs Hollow disaster. Knowing
that workers without full status were facing flagrant workplace violations, negligent employers and little legislative protection from occupational hazards, workers across the city rose up, and carried out a series of actions and strikes in a fight to organize the
building trades.

Today as migrant workers continue to die, labour activists and community groups must gather together, to reignite a new fight. A fight that creates far-reaching changes and challenges the very root of people's inability to access real safety – immigration status and racism.

Join community groups and labour activist to discuss and demand:

** Moratorium on deportations for all workers with WSIB claims and MOL complaints
** Access to Health and Safety without Fear
** Status for injured workers and their families
** Status for All!

Please email nooneisillegal@riseup.net to endorse.

============
============

For background

** Criminal charges not enough, more needs to be done to ensure migrant workers come home alive, say community organizations:
http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/490 (Oct 19, 2010)

** Stop the killing of migrant workers, end exploitative temporary work programs: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/483 (Sep 16, 2010)

** Hundreds mourn migrant worker deaths: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/391 (Jan 8, 2010)

** Justice for migrant workers killed at work: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/397 (Jan 7, 2010)

CANADIAN POLITICS MONTRÉAL:

SOLIDARITY WITHOUT BORDERS OPEN MEETING:

The following notice of an open meeting with Solidarity Without Borders next Monday in Montréal comes from No One Is Illegal/Personne n'est pas illégal Montréal.

◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘
Solidarité sans frontières: Réunion Ouverte/Open Meeting/Encuentro Abierto
Time

Monday, November 8 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm

--------------------------

Location

1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, #204
Montreal, QC

-------------------------
Created By No One Is Illegal Personne n'est illégal MONTRÉAL

------------------------

More Info

Solidarité sans frontières - Réunion Ouverte
Solidarity Across Borders - Open Meeting
Solidaridad sin Fronteras – Encuentro Abierto

[English below / español abajo]
...
Lundi 8 novembre 2010
18h30 à 20h30
1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, #204
(métro Guy-Concordia)

Vous êtes invitées à venir découvrir Solidarité Sans Frontières et comment vous impliquer dans les luttes en faveur de la justice pour les immigrantes à Montréal

-> Léger goûter et rafraichissements seront servis
-> Service de garde disponible (S.V.P., confirmer 24 heures d'avance)
-> Traduction vers le français et l'espagnol offerte
-> Accessible aux fauteuils roulants

Depuis 2004, Solidarité Sans Frontières lutte pour la justice et la dignité des immigrantes arrivant et vivant au Canada. Nous revendiquons activement la fin des déportations, l'arrêt des détentions, et la régularisation de toutes et tous les immigrantes sans-papiers. Venez découvrir et participer aux différentes campagnes et autres projets qui nous unissent :

* Cité Sans Frontières (une campagne pour assurer un accès sécuritaire à tous les services publics, incluant le système de santé, l'éducation et la possibilité de gagner sa vie en dignité, pour tous et toutes les sans statut)
* Travail de soutien individuel pour personnes sans statut
* Actions exigeant un «Statut pour Toutes et Tous» couronnées par la marche annuelle de Solidarité Sans Frontières en mai 2011
* Les luttes que nous supportons, en autre, la lutte contre la brutalité policière, la lutte contre le profilage racial, la lutte contre les certificats de sécurités et mesures de « sécurité » en matière d'immigration.

Si vous avez des questions ou désirez plus d'information, S.V.P. contacter : 514-848-7583 or solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com

À propos de Solidarité Sans Frontières:
Solidarité Sans Frontières est un réseau et un collectif montréalais luttant pour la justice et la dignité des immigrantes et des réfugiées. Nous sommes des émigrantes, immigrantes, réfugiées et alliées combattant sans cese les lois discriminatoires et inhumaines des gouvernments pour exiger: un Statut pour Toutes et Tous!, la fin des déportation et l'arrêt des détentions. Certaines d'entre nous portent enocre les cicatrices de ce système d'immigration raciste; d'autres encore sont issuEs de familles d'immigrantes. Nous luttons collectivement pour la justice et la dignité. Pour nous, il n'y a pas de personnes « illégales », seulement des lois injustes et des gouvernements illégitimes. Nous n'organisons pas cela par charité ou par pitié, mais pour l'entraide mutuelle et la solidarité.

Solidarité sans frontières est un groupe de travail du GRIPQ à Concordia.
www.solidaritesansfrontieres.org


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Solidarity Across Borders - Open Meeting
Monday, November 8th 2010
6:30-8:30pm
1500 de Maisonneuve ouest, #204
(métro Guy-Concordia)

Come find out about Solidarity Across Borders and how to get involved in migrant justice organizing in Montreal

-> Light food and beverages provided
-> Childcare available (Please confirm 24 hours in advance)
-> Translation available in French and Spanish
-> Wheelchair accessible

Since 2004, Solidarity Across Borders has been organizing for justice and dignity for migrant people living in Canada. Our main demands are: An end to deportations and detentions, and status for all undocumented migrants. Come find out about the campaigns and work we do, including:

* Solidarity City (A campaign to ensure safe access for non-status people to work, education, and services, while building networks of mutual aid and solidarity)
* Individual support work for non-status people
* Status for All actions in May 2011
* Struggles that we support, such as issues around police brutality, racial profiling, security certificates, and "immigration security" measures

For questions and other information, please get in touch:
514-848-7583 or solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com

About Solidarity Across Borders:
Solidarity Across Borders is a Montreal-based network engaged in the struggle for justice and dignity of immigrants and refugees. We are comprised of migrants, immigrants, refugees and allies, and come together in support of our main demands: the regularization of all non-status people (Status for All!), an end to deportations and detentions. Some of us have direct experiences with the immigration and refugee system; some of us come from immigrant backgrounds; all of us organize as part of a collective struggle for justice and dignity. For us, there is no such thing as “illegal” human beings, only unjust laws and illegitimate governments. We organize not on the basis of pity or charity, but rather solidarity and mutual aid.

Solidarity Across Borders is a working group of QPIRG Concordia.
www.solidarityacrossborders.org


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Solidaridad sin Fronteras – Encuentro Abierto
Lunes, el 8 de Noviembre 2010
De 6:30 a 8:30 de la tarde
1500 de Maisonneuve oeste, #204
(métro Guy-Concordia)

Estan invitadas a un encuentro abierto de Solidaridad sin Fronteras, aquí podrán enterarse sobre cómo involucarse en la lucha por la justicia de las migrantes montrealenses.

-> Comida y bebidas para todas
-> Guardería disponible (por favor confirmar 24 horas antes)
-> Traducción disponible al francés, ingles y español.

Desde el 2004, Solidaridad sin Fronteras ha estado luchando por la justicia y dignidad de las personas migrantes que viven en Canadá. Nuestras demandas principales son: el fin a las deportaciones y las detenciones, y el estatus para todos los que están sin papeles. Vengan a entérese de las campañas y trabajo que hacemos, lo cual incluye:

* La Ciudad Solidaria (une campaña para asegurar el acceso a todos los servicios públicos incluyendo la salud, la educación, y el trabajo digno para todas las personas sin documentos).
* Trabajo de apoyo para las personas sin documentos.
* Acciones llamando el Papeles para Todas en mayo del 2011.
* El trabajo que apoyamos, como la lucha contra la violencia policiaca, el racismo, y las medidas de "seguridad de inmigración".

Por cualquier duda u otra información, comuníquese al :
514-848-7583 o solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com

Acerca de Solidaridad sin Fronteras:
Solidaridad sin Fronteras es una red Montrealense que lucha por la justicia y la dignidad de las inmigrantes y las refugiadas. Somos un grupo de emigrantes, inmigrantes, refugiadas y aliadas que se reúnen bajo las demandas: la regularización de todas las personas sin papeles (¡Papeles para Todas!), y el fin a las deportaciones y las detenciones. Algunas de nosostras tenemos experiencias directas con el sistema de inmigración y refugio; algunas venimos de familias inmigrantes; todas organizamos la lucha colectiva para la justicia y la dignidad. Nosotras creemos que no hay seres humanos "ilegales", las leyes son injustas y los gobiernos ilegítimos. Nosotras organizamos por la solidaridad y el apoyo mutuo, y no por la compasión ni la caridad.


www.solidarityacrossborders.org
514-848-7583
solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com

CANADIAN POLITICS MONTRÉAL:
MARCHE POUR LES VICTIMES DE BAVURES POLICIÈRES/MARCH FOR THE VICTIMS OF POLICE BRUTALITY:

À Samedi Octobre 22 à Montréal. On Saturday, October 22 in Montréal.
PBPBPBPBPB



MARCHE COMMÉMORATIVE: Justice pour les victimes de bavures policières!
Time Saturday, October 23 · 12:30pm - 2:30pm

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Location Guy & de Maisonneuve (métro Guy-Concordia)
Montreal, QC

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Created By No One Is Illegal Personne n'est illégal MONTRÉAL

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More Info [English below]

Justice pour les victimes de bavures policières!

MARCHE COMMÉMORATIVE
...SAMEDI 23 octobre, 12h30
Rassemblement: Guy & de Maisonneuve
(métro Guy-Concordia, sortie Guy)

Nous commémorerons le souvenir de Anas Bennis, Claudio Castagnetta, Ben Matson, Quilem Registre, Gladys Tolley, Fredy Villanueva et de toutes les autres victimes.

JOIGNEZ-VOUS à nous pour la Journée nord-américaine demandant l’arrêt de la brutalité policière. Montrez votre soutien et votre solidarité avec toutes les victimes de bavures policières. Avec les familles des victimes et leurs alliés, demandons vérité, dignité et justice.

Évènements familiaux – Bienvenu à tous et toutes !
INFO: 514-848-7583 – 22oct.mtl@gmail.com -- http://www.22octobre.net
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Les familles de personnes tuées par la police, leurs amis et leurs alliés organisent une vigile et une marche à la mémoire des victimes. Ces familles, qui doivent se battre pour connaître la vérité et pour obtenir justice pour les êtres qui leurs étaient chers, ont besoin de notre soutien.

Le vendredi 22 octobre, une vigile aura lieu en compagnie de certaines des familles devant la Fraternité des policiers et des policières (480, rue Gilford, sortie St-Joseph du métro Laurier) entre 16 h et 18 h. À la fin de la vigile nous allumerons des bougies en mémoire des victimes de brutalité policière.

Le samedi 23 octobre, une marche contre l’impunité systématique dans les cas de bavures ou de violence policière aura lieu. La marche commencera à 12h30 au coin des rues Guy et de Maisonneuve, ce sera un évènement à caractère familial. Descendez nombreux dans la rue pour montrer votre soutien aux familles. Le nombre fait la force!

Ce que nous recherchons, c’est LA DIGNITÉ, LA JUSTICE ET LA VÉRITÉ.

Le but principal de la marche est de :
- COMMÉMORER les personnes victimes de bavures policières
- SOUTENIR leurs familles par tous les moyens

Nous soutenons les revendications des familles Bennis, Castagnetta, Matson, Registre, Tolley et Villanueva. Leurs revendications incluent:
- LA FIN de la brutalité policière
- LA FIN de l’impunité policière
- LA FIN du profilage racial, social et politique
- L’ACCÈS rapide à toute l’information
- DES ACCUSATIONS CRIMINELLES contre les policiers ayant tué une personne
- LA TENUE d’enquêtes indépendantes quand une personne est tuée par la police
- L’APPLICATION des recommandations du coroner
- LA FIN de l’utilisation du Taser

Cette initiative est née suite au Forum contre la Violence Policière et l’Impunité qui a eu lieu de janvier 2010 à Montréal, durant lequel des familles ont exprimé leur désir de se réunir pour commémorer leurs proches et renforcer leurs luttes pour la dignité, la justice et la vérité. La date symbolique du 22 octobre a ensuite été choisie pour organiser des événements familiaux pour commémorer les victimes de bavures policières car cette date est la Journée Nationale de Protestation aux États-Unis, organisée par la Coalition du 22 octobre pour arrêter la brutalité policière, la répression et la criminalisation d’une génération depuis 1996.

Nous demandons le soutien d’autres groupes. Pour endosser nos revendications et participer, communiquez avec nous au (514) 848-7583 ou écrivez à 22oct-mtl@gmail.com . Vous pouvez passer prendre des dépliants et des affiches au GRIP Concordia (1500, de Maisonneuve, 2e étage).

Évènements familiaux – Bienvenu à tous et toutes !
INFO: 514-848-7583 – 22oct.mtl@gmail.com -- www.22octobre.net


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Justice for Victims of Police Killings!

COMMEMORATIVE MARCH
SATURDAY, October 23, 12:30pm
Gathering at the corner of Guy & de Maisonneuve
(métro Guy-Concordia, Guy exit)
facebook event:

We remember: Anas Bennis, Claudio Castagnetta, Ben Matson, Quilem Registre, Gladys Tolley, Fredy Villanueva and all the other victims of police killings.

JOIN US on the North American Day to Stop Police Brutality & Repression to show your support and solidarity with all victims of police killings. Together with the families and supporters of police victims, we demand truth, justice and dignity.

Family friendly - Welcome to all!
INFO: 514-848-7583 – 22oct.mtl@gmail.com -- www.22octobre.net
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The families of people killed by the police, their friends and their allies are organizing a commemorative vigil and march to remember victims. These families, who face an uphill battle in uncovering the truth and obtaining justice for their loved ones, need our support.

Friday, October 22: There will be a family-led vigil in front of the Police Brotherhood (480 Gilford St., Laurier metro, St-Joseph exit) between 4 and 6 p.m. We will end the vigil by lighting candles in memory of the victims of police killings.

Saturday, October 23: There will be a family-led, family-friendly march against the systemic impunity in the face of police killings and police violence. The march will begin at 12:30 p.m. on the corner of Guy St. and de Maisonneuve. We strongly encourage as many supporters as possible to come out on the streets and show our support for the families. There is power in numbers!

What we are seeking is DIGNITY, JUSTICE and TRUTH.

The main purpose of the march is to:
- REMEMBER the victims who lost their lives to police violence and abuse and;
- SUPPORT their families in any way we can

We support the list of demands of the Bennis, Castagnetta, Matson, Registre, Tolley and Villanueva families. Their demands include:
- END police brutality
- END police impunity
- END racial, social and political profiling
- ACCESS all information in a prompt manner
- LAY criminal charges in police killings
- HOLD public independent inquiries in police killings
- APPLY the recommendations of the coroner
- STOP the use of tasers

This initiative came out of the Forum Against Police Violence and Impunity in January of 2010, during which the families expressed their desire to come together to remember their loved ones and strengthen their respective struggles for dignity, justice and the truth. The symbolic date of October 22 was subsequently chosen for a family-friendly march to commemorate the victims of police killings to coincide with the National Day of Protest in the United States organized by the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, which has been mobilizing every year since 1996.

We ask for your group’s endorsement. To get involved contact us at (514) 848-7583 or at 22oct-mtl@gmail.com . You can pick up flyers and posters for the event at QPIRG Concordia (1500 de Maisonneuve St. W 2nd floor).

Family friendly - Welcome to all!
INFO: 514-848-7583 – 22oct.mtl@gmail.com -- www.22octobre.net