CSJ Newsletter

August 4, 2022

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CALLS TO ACTION

Permanent residency

Because of migrant organizing, Parliament has unanimously called for a plan to be tabled by September 8, 2022, to “allow workers of all skill levels permanent residency.” In parallel, Prime Minister Trudeau has instructed the Minister of Immigration to move ahead with “regularizing” (giving Permanent Resident status) status for undocumented people. This has finally opened the door to citizenship for all migrants including undocumented people. Add your name to the petition to insist that no one should be left behind.

migrantrights.ca

EVENTS

Strike Support

When: August 4th, 10am
Where: 777 Bay St

When: August 5th, 12:30pm
Where: 10801 McCowan Rd. Markham

TSSA Safety Inspectors from OPSEU/SEFPO Local 546 have been on #StrikeforSafety since July 21 after their employer stonewalled them at the bargaining table and then walked away. We need more safety inspectors, regular inspections, and more accountability! Join in solidarity on the picket line this week!

opseu.org

Farmworker Voices

When: Thursday August 4th, 4pm

Join this webinar to learn more about the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and why grassroots farmworker groups are opposing it. Hear about their alternate vision of workers rights and citizenship for all farmworkers and how you can take action!

Speakers:
– Edgar Franks, Familias Unidas por la Justicia
– Gabriel Allahdua and Tracey Ann Hines, J4MW
– Luis Jimenez, Alianza Agricola

Organized by the Farmworker Sector Committee of the Food Chain Workers Alliance | zoom.us

Film screening: The Day After

When: Saturday August 6th, 12noon

The Day After is an American post-apocalyptic film that first aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABC television network. A record-setting 100 million people watched it in the US – and 200 million on Russian TV during its initial broadcast.

The film postulates a fictional war between NATO forces and the Warsaw Pact countries over Germany that rapidly escalates into a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. The action focuses on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, and of several family farms near nuclear missile silos.

actionnetwork.org

Scarborough Folk Festival

When: August 7th, 1pm
Where: Thompson Memorial Park (take 21A/C Brimley to Lawrence Avenue East, 16 McCowan to Benleigh Drive, or 54 Lawrence East to Brimley Road)

Join TTCriders at the Scarborough Folk Fest (Thompson Memorial Park) from 1PM to 25PM to push for better transit service and more bus lanes in Toronto! We will be canvassing for 4 hours. This counts for high school volunteer hours!

ttcriders.ca

Join OFL’s Listen Up! rally

When: August 8th, 12pm
Where: Queen’s Park

On August 8, the Ontario Legislature will be back in session. That means the Doug Ford government will be setting their priorities for the months ahead. We know what the priorities should be. We need a government that will take a serious look at affordability and re-building public services.

Join OFL’s Listen Up! rally to tell Ford that we didn’t vote for privatization of health care, cuts to education or handouts to developers. Join us to make sure the Conservatives hear us loud and clear: “We are the majority. We demand more!”

ofl.ca | justice4workers.org

ARTICLES

Can Ontario Unions Turn Things Around?

By Doug Allan

Only halfway through 2022 and we already are soon going to set a new high for strike days lost for at least the last 13 years in Ontario, with over 800,000 strike days through the first half of the year. We are currently running at about three times the rate of other years and almost twice the highest rate in the previous 12 years. Key here is that 88% of the strikes (22 out of 25) and 99.3% of the strike days (797,280 out of 802,280) were in the private sector.

Source: The Bullet No. 2661

The Left, Inflation and Monetary Policy

By Andrew Jackson

The return of high inflation after the global pandemic poses a major political and analytical challenge for labour and the left. On top of cuts to real wages resulting from the wide gap between inflation and pay, high and rising inflation has led central banks, including the Bank of Canada, to hike interest rates sharply. This is raising the debt servicing costs of households, businesses and governments and making new borrowing more expensive.

Source: The Bullet No. 2662

Climate Collapse and the Responsibility of the Military

By Ria Verjauw

Everything is interconnected: armed conflicts – human rights violations – environmental pollution – climate change – social injustice… Climate change and environmental pollution are inescapably part of modern warfare. The role of the military in climate change is enormous. Oil is indispensable for war. Militarism is the most oil-exhaustive activity on the planet. Any talk of climate change does not include the military is nothing but hot air.

Source: The Bullet No. 2663

The WTO and Vaccinations: Greed and Profits Win

By Prabir Purkayastha

The UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima had appealed before the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva that the world would face a grim future if patent waivers did not take place. At a press conference, Byanyima had said, “In a pandemic, sharing technology is life or death, and we are choosing death.” During the 12th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which took place from June 12 to 17, the rich countries did precisely that. They blocked almost all possibilities of providing cheap vaccines, antiviral drugs and diagnostics to the world.

Source: The Bullet No. 2664

It’s Time for Salting to Make a Comeback

By Peter Olney and Rand Wilson

Building a viable socialist movement in the United States relies on building the power of the working class through unions. At this moment, with union membership in the private sector hovering around 6 percent, there is no more important task than organizing the vast masses of unorganized workers into unions. Further, revitalization of our existing unions also requires a massive infusion of new members who bring with them the energy, effervescence, and clarity that comes through struggle to build workplace unity and overcome employer opposition. Thankfully, the present moment holds out this possibility.

Source: The Bullet No. 2665
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