The Labour Movement Must Mobilize

President’s Message

Shawn Haggerty

For working people, now is the time to organize.

The recent election marks an interesting direction for Ontario. We have Progressive Conservatives (PC) running Ontario for the first time in 15 years.

The Checkout mailed before the election received both praise and criticism. I’m sure there were many reactions in between too. But, the most important thing we hoped to achieve with that mailing was to start a conversation and get people to vote.

We can’t let division direct us and we can’t let a difference of opinion be the end of a conversation.

We have to choose to keep talking to each other – whether we agree or disagree. We must continue to hear the concerns of our family, friends, and co-workers. And, we must continue to stand strong for the most marginalized people.

Regardless of what colour your particular Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) wears, they still answer to you, the citizens in their own ridings.

Trish Hennesy, Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) Ontario office, put it well: “Democracy isn’t just about casting a vote at election time; democracy happens in between elections, too.”

We must build a stronger Union and a stronger Labour Movement. We must all pick up and move forward.

Clearly, Ontario wanted change. For the first time since 1987, the NDP will form the Official Opposition. This is an important step forward for working people.

And even though the Labour Movement was happy to see the improvements to workers’ rights in Bill 148, it took the Liberals 15 years of being in power to get there. So, while we wait to see what Doug Ford will do with those recent improvements and other pro-worker laws, we cannot be complacent.

The only thing that can really let the labour movement falter is our own apathy.

Engage your local MPPs, regardless of their political party, and tell them what you expect of them when it comes to workers’ rights. We must continue to press for things that make a real difference in real people’s lives every day:

• Gender and income equality;

• Laws that protect people instead of corporations;

• Better funded health care and educational systems, and;

• Making every day necessities like

child care, rent, and hydro more affordable for working people.

We cannot forget that many years of hard work and dedication by Labour activists brought some of the most basic rights to our workplaces.

We still have a long way to go. But, without the labour movement, there would be no maximum work week or minimum wage or maternity leave. There would be no mandatory vacation entitlement or pay. No worker would have Just Cause protection, and the health and safety of our workplaces would be dismal.

And, it’s not all strikes or protests blocking the streets or shouting matches across a bargaining table. A lot of quiet work goes on day to day. It’s winning a precedent-setting grievance, like the one on page 13.

So, how does the labour movement move forward? We keep fighting. We organize. We talk to each other and we listen. We hold our elected representatives accountable to serving our best interests.

I continue to be proud to represent each and every one of the Members of this Local Union. I know that together, we can help build a stronger Labour movement and achieve great things for workers.

In Solidarity, Shawn Haggerty

president@ufcw175.com