CONTENTS

1. CALLS TO ACTION
2. EVENTS
3. ARTICLES

New 12-Minute Video about Hassan’s Case

VIDEO: “Imagine a Life Like This: The Relentless Persecution of Hassan Diab”

Edited by Merna Emara, Produced by Natali Trivuncic, and Narrated by Roger Clark

The video highlights the injustices Hassan has faced for more than 14 years, and why there is no justification for a trial.

Sign petition.

Support Nurses and Health Workers

When: February 23rd, 9am to 5pm
Where: various locations in Ontario

On February 23, Ontario nurses will be picketing outside hospitals to defend public healthcare and decent work — and we want to support them every step of the way. RSVP now to let us know you’ll be there. The event will be in-person AND online and we’ll get the locations out to you as soon as we have the information.

justice4workers.org

Organizing on the Front Lines of the Class War

When: Thursday February 23rd, 5:30pm

Amidst a rekindled interest in the efforts of student radicals of the 1960s to industrialize the workers’ movement as part of a larger social transformation, Jon Melrod’s Fighting Times: Organizing on the Front Lines of the Class War could not be more timely. Fighting Times recounts the thirteen-year journey of Jon Melrod to harness working-class militancy and jump start a revolution on the shop floor of American Motors. Melrod faces termination, dodges the FBI, outwits collaborators in the UAW, and becomes a central figure in a lawsuit against the rank-and-file newsletter “Fighting Times,” as he strives to build a class-conscious workers’ movement from the bottom up.

Speakers:

– Jon Melrod is a former student radical and rank and file militant, as well as a lawyer in San Francisco representing political refugees. He is the author of Fighting Times: Organizing on the Front Lines of the Class War.

– Barry Eidlin is an associate professor of sociology at McGill University and the author of Labor and the Class Idea in the United States and Canada.

eventbrite.com

Colonial Canada and the Caribbean

When: February 23rd, 7pm

To mark Black History month, this webinar will discuss Canada’s colonial role in the Caribbean, past and present, from Canadian trade relations with the slave plantation economy to gunboat diplomacy and Canadian banking power in the late 1800s.

This event will feature discussion and Q&A with Paula Hastings (author of Dominion over Palm and Pine: A History of Canadian Aspirations in the British Caribbean) and Peter James Hudson (author of Bankers and Empire: How Wall Street Colonized the Caribbean).

zoom.us

365 Days of War in Ukraine: Prospects Toward Peace

When: Friday February 24th, 7am

One year after the beginning of the Ukraine war, the International Peace Bureau in cooperation with the Peace in Ukraine Coalition (USA), Movement de la Paix (France), CND (UK) and Transform! Europe will hold an international webinar to bring together different voices from different countries to discuss a lasting peace in Ukraine and the way toward it.

zoom.us

Beat the Bosses Bootcamp

When: Friday, February 24, to Sunday February 26
Where: Toronto Metropolitan University

Have you had enough? Are you sick of lousy wages and working conditions? Are you ready to take on the bosses at work and in the streets? Then the upcoming Beat the Bosses Bootcamp is for you! From February 24 to 26, decent work fighters from across Ontario–and elsewhere–will be coming together to share skills, experiences, and strategies to build a multi-racial, working-class movement that’s unstoppable.

There are no registration fees for community members.

For union members or others who can manage it, we encourage a sliding-scale, solidarity contribution of $100 to $200 (or contribute what you can) to help offset the costs of hosting the conference and helping others attend.

justice4workers.org

Welcome Back Doug

When: February 25th, 11am

Join the Ghost Gurney Project as they host a “Welcome Back Party” the Ford government on Saturday, February 25 (11:00am – 1:00pm) – the weekend after the Ontario Legislature comes back into session. Individuals, unions and organizations big and small are all invited to the party! Join the rally as they stand up for Indigenous peoples, Health, Education, the Environment and Democracy. Among the speakers is our executive director Natalie Mehra.

welcomebackdoug.com | Facebook

Canadian Foreign Policy Hour with Yves Engler

When: Mondays at 6pm

Join author Yves Engler on Mondays for a weekly news roundup and interactive discussion about Canada’s role abroad. This weekly session will delve into the latest developments on subjects ranging from military affairs and Canada’s role in Ukraine to its contribution to Palestinian dispossession and exploitation of African resources. Join Yves for a critical take on Canada’s foreign policy. Questions, comments and criticisms are all welcome.

zoom.us

Tribute to the Coalition Against the Marcos Dictatorship

When: Tuesday February 28th, at 7pm

A 50th anniversary commemoration – The struggle continues

With contributions from Jojo Geronimo, Martha Ocampo, and Gary Shaul.

Toronto Workers’ History Project

IWD Celebration with TYRLC-Gender Equity

When: February 28th, 7pm

Join the TYRLC’s Women’s Committee in celebrating 2023 International Women’s Day through this great event happening both In-person and Online!

Gender Equity and Leadership: A roundtable Discussion.

labourcouncil.ca | eventbrite.ca

ONA All-Out Shut Down Protest

When: Thursday March 2nd, 12pm
Where: Sheraton Centre, 123 Queen St W

Join the “All-Out Shut Down Protest” outside the Sheraton Centre Toronto, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Bargaining will be taking place at the Sheraton and we need every member and ally outside showing their support!

ona.org

Labour and the Climate Crisis

When: March 2nd, 6pm

Developing a Worker- and Equity-Centered Clean Energy Economy

– Keynote address by Dr. Lara Skinner (Executive Director, Climate Jobs Institute, Cornell University)

– Respondent comments by Marjorie Griffin Cohen (Feminist Economist and Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University)

– Moderated by Nathi Zamisa (Graduate Student, Social and Political Thought, York University)

yorku.ca

Transit Coalition Outlines Key Recommendations for Budget 2023

By Keep Transit Moving

Important asks for the 2023 federal budget include permanent operational funding for transit systems, public intercity highway bus service, and accessibility and safety improvements. A broad coalition of unions, environmental organizations, and rider advocates released its annual pre-budget submission with five recommendations for the 2023 federal budget.

Source: The Bullet No. 2782

Civil Society Groups to Canadian Heritage: Ditch IHRA Anti-Semitism Definition

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) has joined together with 30+ other Canadian organizations to call on the federal government to abandon prospective measures that would integrate a controversial antisemitism definition into granting procedures of the Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH). Signatories of the letter include those that currently receive PCH funds or have in the past, as well as other organizations who share concerns about the impacts of the measures; among them, the Canadian Association of University Teachers, Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Arab Institute, the Jewish Faculty Network and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.

Source: The Bullet No. 2783

Iran: A Post-Islamist Society Revolts Against an Islamist State

By Mojtaba Mahdavi

Zan, Zendegi, Azadi (Women, Life, Freedom) is the motto of Iran’s most recent democratic social movement, which sparked after the death in detention of Zhina Mahsa Amini by so-called Iran’s morality police on 16 September 2022. This nationwide progressive movement, largely led by women and other Iran’s subalterns, has shaken the ideological foundation of the Islamic Republic of Iran – the discourse and the institution of the velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist) – and the entirety of the current Islamist state in Iran.

Source: The Bullet No. 2784