CONTENTS

1. CALLS TO ACTION
2. EVENTS
3. ARTICLES
4. EMPLOYMENT

Block the Rogers-Shaw Merger

Many of us already pay too much for our internet and cell phone bills. Now our bills could be about to get even higher — thanks to the proposed $26 billion merger of two of Canada’s biggest telecommunications providers, Rogers and Shaw.

We’ve seen it happen time and time again. The Big 3 operators — Bell, Rogers, Telus — buy up the competition to expand their profits, whilst we all get stuck paying for poor service and sky-high wireless plans.

For this deal to get the green light, the government and telecoms regulator needs to approve it. The Liberals made an election promise to make our internet and cell phone bills more affordable — together we can hold them to it.

act.leadnow.ca/rogers-shaw

Peace Prospects in the Biden Era

When: Thursday April 1st, 6:30pm

Former Canadian Senator and Ambassador for Disarmament Doug Roche will be speaking on his new book “Peace Prospects in the Biden Era”. Doug is a 92-year-old, hard-working peace activist and prolific writer.

peacequest.ca

UJPO’s Annual Third Passover Seyder

When: Saturday April 3rd, 7pm

Please join us on Saturday, April 3, for the United Jewish People’s Order/Morris Winchevsky School online community Third Seyder. Our theme is a Nayer, Frayer Velt, Olam Chadash Chofshi (עולם חדש חופשי), Un Mundo Muevo i Mas Libre — A Newer, Freer World.

A year into the pandemic and we find ourselves holding another online Seyder…and continuing to work towards a reimagined world poised to emerge from the multiple pandemics we are currently experiencing.

On April 3 all are welcome to join as we celebrate resilience, the strength of mutual care and community, and the significance of solidarity. Our celebration will include Passover favourites, much poetry, music led by wonderful musicians Marilyn Lerner and David Wall, and special guest appearances by the students of the Morris Winchevsky Shule (school).

To register, please email info@winchevskycentre.org by April 1. Facebook event.

This year’s Seyder is Pay What You Can by donation. Any donation over $10.00 will receive a charitable tax receipt. Please make a donation at canadahelps.org.

Palestine Solidarity: Why the NDP Convention Matters

When: April 5th, 7pm

Join Libby Davies, Svend Robinson, Zahia El-Masri, Hammam Farah, and David Mivasair for a discussion on the importance of Palestine solidarity in the NDP.

At the upcoming NDP convention, important resolutions have been put forward regarding Palestinian rights. This has elicited external backlash from groups and individuals and pressure to suppress debate. This discussion will address the importance of giving members the opportunity to debate and adopt two widely endorsed pro-Palestinian resolutions. One of these resolutions opposes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s anti-Palestinian working definition and examples of antisemitism, a document designed to suppress discussion of Palestinian rights. The other calls on Canada to end economic ties to illegal Israeli settlements and suspend bilateral arms trade until Palestinian rights are upheld.

zoom.us

Arnold Amber Memorial Lecture /w Jane McAlevey

When: Tuesday April 6th, 12noon

Jane McAlevey is an organizer, author, and scholar. She is currently a Senior Policy Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center, part of the Institute for Labor and Employment Relations. Her third book, A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy, argues that despite, if not because of, the withering attacks on working people from the US Supreme Court, conservative state and local governments, and the corporate class, the survival of American democracy depends on rebuilding unions. From 2010-2015, she earned a Ph.D., followed by a two-year Post Doc at the Harvard University Law School. She is a regular commentator on radio and TV.

eventbrite.com

CUPE 905: Phone Zap for Paid Sick Days

When: April 7th, 7pm

Join us on World Health Day to fight for Paid Sick Leave for all workers! Using shared slides and sample scripts we will call Conservative MPPs en masse and demand they support this important public health need.

zoom.us

The Limits of Co-ops /w Dr. Sharryn Kasmir

In a time where the Left is desperately searching for a viable alternative model to global capitalism, rather than merely critiques of it, co-ops have emerged as an easy reference to a potential future system. As the co-op model has staked a place in the popular leftists imagination, it is necessary to consider it’s short-comings, and the limits it imposes on socialist movements. To discuss these issues we are joined by Dr. Sharryn Kasmir of Hofstra University.

Source: The Scarlet Standard Episode No. 12

Capitalizing on the COVID Crisis

By Natalie Coulter

In The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein demonstrated how neoliberalism was not always advanced in society through democracy, but was instead pushed on society by powerful elites behind the public’s back in times of crisis. As Milton Friedman put it, “Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.” Recently, Klein coined the term “disaster capitalism” to describe how corporations profit from crises with help from the right-wing governments that pick up and implement the ideas that serve them.

Source: The Bullet No. 2339

Activists Block General Dynamics Armoured Vehicles Bound for Saudi Arabia

By World Beyond War

On March 26, Members of anti-war organizations World BEYOND War, Labour Against the Arms Trade, and People for Peace London blocked railway tracks near General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, a London-area company manufacturing light armoured vehicles (LAVs) for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The activists are calling on General Dynamics to end its complicity in the brutal Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen and calling on the Canadian government to end arms exports to Saudi Arabia and expand humanitarian assistance for the people of Yemen.

Source: The Bullet No. 2340

End of the Road for the AKP?

By Daniel Johnson

In Istanbul, 2021 began with hundreds of students initiating a series of protests on the campus of Bogazici University. They were demonstrating against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s January 1 appointment of a new rector via presidential decree. Melih Bulu, a business management Ph.D. and longtime Justice and Development Party (AKP) activist, was the first rector selected from outside the university since a military coup in 1980. Students chanted “Melih Bulu is not our rector” and “We don’t want a state-appointed rector.” (The song “Master of Puppets” could also be heard after Bulu gave an interview in which he claimed to be a regular guy who likes Metallica.)

Source: The Bullet No. 2341

SR 2021: The Time of Our Lives /w Bryan Palmer

For socialists, time and its meaning and organization have always been a central concern, if only because capitalism has placed such a premium on controlling time and subordinating it to its imperatives. At the current conjuncture, time has become the challenge for socialists to address, not only because it defines what does and does not constitute the working day, but because it is increasingly obvious that time and its organization defines life itself. Will time continue to be compressed into capital’s needs, or will it be reimagined as liberation, struggled through and over in ways that enhance the project of human emancipation?

Source: LeftStreamed

Organizer in membership, education and leadership training

The Workers’ Action Centre (WAC) is a membership-based organization committed to improving the lives and working conditions of people in low-wage and unstable employment. We operate a confidential hotline in multiple languages, support workers to defend their rights and organize to strengthen labour laws.

We are seeking an experienced organizer who can create engaging political and participatory curriculum, training and workshops for a multi-racial, multi-language, and diverse membership, as well as grassroots supporters. The ideal candidate will have a popular education background in developing workshops, advanced training modules and courses that can facilitate political education and leadership development.

Start date: May 2021
Salary range: $55,080 -$61,080 based on experience
Submit cover letter and resume by email to hiring@workersactioncentre.org by April 4, 2021.

workersactioncentre.org