CONTENTS
CALLS TO ACTION
Tell NIKE to #PayYourWorkers
In Cambodia, over 1,200 garment workers lost their jobs in July 2020 when the Violet Apparel factory, owned by Ramatex, suddenly closed. In response, the workers demanded compensation, as well as their legally owed bonuses and unpaid wages. Nike is one of the companies linked to the factory but claims to have ended its relationship there in 2006. Photos and workers’ testimonies tell a different story – the factory was producing Nike clothes as a subcontracted supplier for many years, including the year the factory closed. Nike (the largest buyer from Ramatex Group) has thus far failed to take responsibility.Approximately 1,200 workers from the factory have been waiting two years for for over $1-million (US) in compensation. Help keep up the pressure on International Women’s Day! Join the Clean Clothes Campaign in urging Nike to ensure the workers are paid.
maquilasolidarity.org
EVENTS
Cannibas Capitalism
When: March 17th, 2pm“Cannabis Capitalism: Race, Labour and Resistance in the era of Legalization” with very special guests Oniel Robinson (Migrant cannabis worker), Dr. Kevin Edmonds (Caribbean Studies, University of Toronto), Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Toronto Star) Vanmala Subramaniam (Globe and Mail) and Dr. Dawn Pailey (Author and columnist La Jornada).
newcollege.utoronto.ca
Russia’s war on Ukraine: What’s happening and what can leftists in Winnipeg do?
When: March 19th, 3pmA public discussion sponsored by Solidarity Winnipeg.
E-mail info@solidaritywinnipeg.ca to register and we’ll send you the Zoom link in advance.
Facebook event
Unite Against Racism! Status for All!
When: March 20th, 1:30pmWhere: 361 University Ave. (Toronto Courthouse – west of City Hall)
When: March 20th, 2pm
Where: 100 Queen West (City Hall)
March 20th is the day before the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD).
Whether its hate speech mixed in with the “Freedom Convoy”; or Black and people of colour refugees and migrants fleeing Ukraine facing abuse – racism is rising. We know that racism is a strategy to divide us to push an anti-people agenda that hurts our climate and our communities in the interests of the richest few. Rising racism means that it is racialized migrants that are scapegoated and excluded. We must take action now.
migrantrights.ca
Ride for Bike Lanes on Bloor
When: Sunday March 20th, 1pmWhere: Leaving from Runnymede subway station
The original vision of the Take the Tooker campaign (started in 2005 as a legacy project to Tooker Gomberg) was a bike lane from Mississauga to Scarborough along Bloor Street. Little by little, chunks are being put in place. In Mississauga, there has been some opposition by residents to the plan. This bike ride is to build support for the lane in Mississauga. Toronto cyclists will meet Mississauga cyclists at the Toronto/Mississauga border for a rally. Join us!
Facebook event
Defund, Demilitarize and Abolish Police, Prisons, and All Forms of Carcerality
When: March 21st-23rdTwo days of teach-ins by scholars, activists and students, followed by a Day of Action!
Scholars Strike Canada (SSC) is hosting its second major labour action on March 21st – 23rd, 2022 to Defund, Demilitarize, and Abolish Police, Prisons, and all forms of Carcerality. This will be a three-day labour action that includes two days of virtual teach-ins by scholars, activists, and students and a day of action (TBA). March 21st is the International Day for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination and Racism as designated by the United Nations. It commemorates the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 — when South African police opened fire on women, children, and men killing 69 people and injuring 180 as they protested Apartheid and its “Pass Laws.”
scholarstrikecanada.ca
Ending White Supremacy: “I can’t shut up”
When: Monday March 21st, 7pmThe Urban Alliance on Race Relations, the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, and Labour Community Services have teamed up to host an event to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Join us as we hear from a panel of speakers from different fields such as education, health, labour, and the non-profit sector. The panel will be followed by a Q & A session and we will conclude with our toolkit and resources.
eventbrite.com
An Evening to Honour Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge
When: Tuesday March 22nd, 7pmThe Canada Council has announced that Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge will receive one of this year’s prestigious Governor General’s Artistic Achievement Awards. This is great honour for two artists who took the unconventional path of working with labour and community groups for more than 45 years. They have produced a huge body of stunning photographic art that highlights struggles for labour rights, health, the environment, and other social and political issues. Several groups have also marched beneath the glorious banners they created. They inspired many others in the arts and spearheaded the creation of a labour arts community in Canada, including the annual Mayworks Festival and the Workers’ Arts and Heritage Centre.
mailchi.mp
Reclaim!
When: March 23rd, 12pmWhere: Gould and Bond Streets
This will be a guided tour of historic sites of resistance downtown Toronto. Gathering together and marching toward 4-5 sites, participants can expect to hear from speakers across our shared struggle, including No Pride in Policing Coalition, Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project, No More Silence, and more. We will end with a feast of corn soup.
Traditional medicines, first-aid, and masks will be available.
scholarstrikecanada.ca
Radical Housewives: Price Wars and Food Politics
When: March 24th, 7pmJulie Guard, the author of Radical Housewives: Price Wars and Food Politics in Mid-Twentieth-Century Canada and an Associate Professor of Labour Studies at the University of Manitoba will be joining us and leading the discussion, as will Craig Heron, president of the TWHP and also a well-known labour historian, who will tell us how this important piece of women’s history is to be celebrated in a play premiering at this year’s Toronto Mayworks Festival.
zoom.us
ARTICLES
International Women’s Day 2022: What is Canadian Feminism?
By Joan SangsterFeminism has been categorized variously as theory, ideas, organizations, movements, sensibilities, feelings, even a way of living. It can be some and all of those. However, if we define it too expansively, it can dissolve into an amorphous description of all women’s empowering political activity. Feminism is more specific: it questions, challenges, and hopes to alter women’s subordination; it encompasses women’s efforts to secure equality, autonomy, and dignity. Can we apply a “feminist” label to women in the past despite their seeming refusal of the term? If we redefine feminism, I think we can.
Source: The Bullet No. 2576
The Impact of the German Energy Shift on Canada
By Pierre Dubuc“Putin was amazed at Germany’s reaction,” French President Emmanuel Macron told his aides, after a telephone interview with the Russian president. So reports Le Canard Enchaîné in its March 2, 2022 edition. In all likelihood, Putin expected Germany, given its dependence on Russian gas, to oppose sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. If Putin’s bet was to split NATO, he lost it.
Source: The Bullet No. 2577
Financialization, Inequality and the University
The university sector in Britain has been hit be a momentous series of inter-linked strikes since 2018. Led by the University and College Union (UCU), representing some 110,000 staff, the issues have been centred on pensions and the ‘four fights’ of pay levels, pay equity, casualization and workload. In the context of mental and physical exhaustion from online teaching, the latest round of strikes began in December 2021, with further strike actions occurring from mid February 2022 to early March, and additional walkouts planned for the end of March into April. The National Union of Students (NUS) has also led walkout most recently on March 2 in support of UCU staff; and UNISON, another campus union, has also struck some campuses in late February.Source: The Bullet No. 2578
Resisting Amazon Capitalism
By Jake Alimahomed-Wilson and Ellen ReeseIn mid-2021, Amazon’s new Africa headquarters in Cape Town drew scores of indigenous protesters over the construction of a $291-million (US) mixed-use corporate site. Over 50,000 people – including indigenous, social justice, and environmental groups – submitted complaints about the project’s economic, cultural, and environmental impact on an indigenous heritage site. As reported in Bloomberg (2021), Tauriq Jenkins of the Goringhaicona Khoena Council likened Amazon’s encroachment into Africa as a modern form of settler colonialism. “Amazon has the wealth and power of the Dutch East India Company back in the Day.” Indeed, all over the world, ordinary people, workers, and communities are fighting back against Amazon.
Source: The Bullet No. 2579
The War in Ukraine: Truth is the Whole
By David MandelTwo maxims come to mind as I sit to write about the war in Ukraine: ‘Truth is in the whole’ and ‘Truth is the first victim of war.’ The picture from the Canadian government and the major western media is one of a deranged Russian dictator who has invaded a neighbouring democratic country that wants only to be part of our peace-loving alliance of democratic states. This is a patently false picture that prevents us from developing an informed position.
Source: The Bullet No. 2580