{"id":3893,"date":"2014-05-20T14:34:40","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T19:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.une-sen.org\/press\/?p=3893"},"modified":"2014-05-20T16:27:35","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T21:27:35","slug":"building-solidarity-at-the-clc-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=3893","title":{"rendered":"Building solidarity at the CLC convention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"clc_conv\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just over a week ago, the Canadian Labour of Congress held its convention in Montreal. With close to 5,000 delegates, this mastodon of a convention is big enough to give our teeny-weeny convention a size complex!<\/p>\n

During the convention, Hassan\u00a0Yussuff\u00a0was elected president; he is the labour organization\u2019s first racially visible president. Yussuf promised delegates that the CLC would be more active.<\/p>\n

In her blog<\/a>, PSAC President Robyn Benson wrote that Yussuf\u2019s election is a reflection of \u201cstrong feeling within the labour movement that we need different tactics, a new inclusive strategy, a tougher, member-based approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The landmark election was just one of many noteworthy moments. For Evelyn Beckert, a convention delegate, the event was a great place to be inspired by powerful speakers from a legion of unions across the country. It was also a stark reminder that unions from all sectors are fighting some pretty serious battles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard from the nurses\u2019 union in British Columbia \u2013 about the horrible cutbacks they\u2019re facing,\u201d explained Beckert. \u201cThere\u2019s an increased need for medical services, yet there\u2019s more cutbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of decisions that don\u2019t make sense: the scrapping of Canada Post\u2019s door-to-door service was front-of-mind for many delegates. Speaking at the convention, Montreal Mayor Dennis Coderre called the move unacceptable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find it unacceptable how Canada Post conducts itself \u2013 not only in regards to its workers, but in how it treats all citizens,\u201d said Coderre. \u201cAnd I demand that Stephen Harper intervenes once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coderre said the issue goes beyond labour; it\u2019s about respecting citizens. He also pointed out how changes to door-to-door service will affect those with mobility issues and the elderly.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting your mail is essential,\u201d he declared. \u201cThere are 6,000 to 8,000 people who could lose their jobs. No one\u2019s going to come around and make me believe that it\u2019s all going to magically happen through attrition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are jobs that are going to be cut. And I want you to know that the municipal sector is behind you and we\u2019ll support you to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delegates were moved by the show of solidarity. From Beckert\u2019s point of view, solidarity is what\u2019s desperately needed right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to support each other in this fight,\u201d she said. \u201cIf it\u2019s just your union supporting your thing, you don\u2019t have as much clout as you can get from all unions saying \u2018if you attack one of us, you attack us all.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Beckert says she\u2019ll happily join any rally in support of sister unions; she hopes other unions will join us if we ever have to fight for our rights. One of those looming fights could be over pensions.<\/p>\n

During the event, the PSAC submitted an emergency resolution regarding pensions. According to the PSAC, \u201cthe government wants to provide significant incentives to employers to get rid of the much better defined benefit plans and convert these to targeted pension plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

This would undoubtedly inject some instability into retirement income \u2013 income already paid for through pension contributions!<\/p>\n

But the convention wasn\u2019t all doom and gloom; Beckert says she was pleasantly surprised to find out that leaders of Quebec\u2019s student movement were now actively involved in the labour movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the student leaders are now in the workplace,\u201d she explained. \u201cSeveral of them were at the CLC convention; they\u2019re very active as unionists and they\u2019re working with us. Their activism didn\u2019t end with the fight to over tuition fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

So if anyone ever asks what happened to those students, now you know: they\u2019re with us!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just over a week ago, the Canadian Labour of Congress held its convention in Montreal. With close to 5,000 delegates, this mastodon of a convention is big enough to give our teeny-weeny convention a size complex! During the convention, Hassan\u00a0Yussuff\u00a0was elected president; he is the labour organization\u2019s first racially visible president. Yussuf promised delegates that … <\/p>\n

>> “Building solidarity at the CLC convention”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,12,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3895,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893\/revisions\/3895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}