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We're occupying Canada!

“Change is coming!” said one of the activists at the Occupy Ottawa protest.

Recently, the Occupy Wall Street movement spread to major Canadian cities. Members of the Union of National Employees and the PSAC have been there to show their support for the protest and collect signatures for the petition to protect public services. Our union members were also on-site to distribute raincoats to those occupying Confederation Park.

The protesters are tired of how the financial system treats them. They call themselves the 99 percenters: those who don’t have the money to influence elections, affect public policy or buy a politician. The 99 percenters are seeking fairness; they want their government to work on behalf of voters instead of large corporations and millionaires.

In a recent live interview from Wall Street, MSNBC television journalist Dylan Ratigan observed that the U.S. has “an auction-based democracy.” Bringing the point home, Ratigan explained that 94 per cent of the time, the winning presidential candidate is the one who raises the most money. Meanwhile, the Conservatives in this country have abolished the per-vote subsidy. By the next federal election, political parties will be entirely dependent on donations. Are we also heading for an auction-based democracy?

While the troublesome relationship between corporations and government is a key concern, protesters are also concerned about workers’ rights and corporate greed. The first collective statement of Occupy Wall Street reads in part:

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. […]

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions. […]

They have consistently outsourced labour and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

To find out more about Occupy Canada locations, please visit this website.

If you haven’t already, please sign the PSAC petition to protect public services!

Meet Camilla Vallejo — Photo credit: Marcelo Moisan Published with permission

It’s being called the Chilean Winter: a protest movement not unlike recent events in the Middle East commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. Protesters have united to call on the government for better and more affordable education. The uprising recently led to a two-day nationwide shutdown, in which many public service employees joined the students in protest.

At the centre of the movement is Camila Vallejo, a 23-year-old student and activist. Her leadership has led the government to agree to substantially lower interest rates on student loans and invest over a trillion pesos ($2 billion dollars) into education.

The demonstrations she has organized have drawn hundreds of thousands of supporters. While a few demonstrations have turned violent, Vallejo is clear on their intent: “We don’t want violence, our fight is not versus the police or to destroy commercial shops … our fight is to recover the right to education.”

Vallejo is now receiving police protection, having recently received death threats. One of these came from a government official who was subsequently fired. Despite these threats, her fight has the support of 80 percent of her fellow citizens, according to a recent survey.

For more information on Camila and the uprising in Chile, please consult this article in the British paper The Guardian or this article in the French newspaper Le Monde.

Finally, a sincere word of thanks to our Union’s newest Chilean friend, Marcelo Moisan, who graciously allowed us to use the above picture for this article. Take a moment to visit Marcelo’s Flickr site, leave a comment or a thank you on his picture or add him as a Flickr contact: he has many great photos!