ATU Strike Picket
                        ---- All are Welcome!----
                                           Where: 1) LTC. main offices 450 Highbury Ave
                                                          2) Wonderland Rd. south at Wharncliffe.

                           Picket Line Times and Locations
                            7am - 7pm,                                24 hrs/day                        
                  Map to New Facillity                         Map to Main Offices
On The Agenda                                     (Items of interest at the next general meeting)
                     1) Call for delegates to the OFL convention.
                     2) Report on the pension seminar.
Municipal Election Kick Off conference
September 12 and 13, 2009
“Excellent”  was the most used descriptor of the CLC/Labour Council Municipal Election Strategy  kick off conference in Toronto on the weekend of September 12 and 13. There were 50 participants representing 35 Labour Councils from across the province.   CLC President Ken Georgetti and Hamilton Centre NDP MP David Christopherson started off the conference with President Georgetti reaffirming the Canadian Labour Congress’ commitment to coordinate and fund the municipal program. MP Christopherson reminded participants that we can all do this as he told his own story of going from the plant floor to Hamilton City Hall, Queen’s Park and now the House of Commons.   Two different techniques to engage participants were used at the conference – World Cafe and Open Space technology.  World Cafe posed two questions,  “What is it that you could  do to make your community hungry for progressive change and How would you know you were successful? The responses are below.   The second technique was Open Space discussions.  This followed presentations by a 5-member panel made up of the following individuals:
London Controller and Imagine London member Gina Barber who spoke about her work with community members of Imagine London to change the ward boundaries in the city, even going in front of the OMB and winning;
Toronto District Board of Education Trustee Chris Bolton who spoke about his ongoing working relationship with the Toronto and York Region Labour Council and the community group -  Friends of Community Schools;
Thunder Bay Councillor Andrew Foulds who talked about his relationship with the Thunder Bay and District Labour Council and called on labour to keep the lines of communications open with their endorsed councillors;
Columbia Institute’s Ontario Co-ordinator Sean Meagher spoke about the Columbia Institute’s  ongoing program to provide networking opportunities for progressive municipal politicians once they are elected; and
Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield Deputy Reeve Mary Smith who spoke to the rural component of Ontario’s municipal structure. She called on labour to not overlook the second tier municipalities – regional or county councils – as that is often where the social services, economic development and planning happen.    Instead of a question and answer session, the 5 panelists each sat in a circle of chairs and participants moved from panel member to panel member asking one on one questions and engaging in discussions.  No panel member was ever alone.  Saturday wrapped up with a very cordial dinner.   The second day of the conference featured three workshops that were well received.  The workshops were: Connecting with communities in your Hood: Municipal voting and reaching out to communities with instructor Karl Flecker, The relevance of online social networking in elections with instructors Denise Doyle and Caitlin MacLennan and The ongoing search for success (candidate recruitment) with instructor Stephanie Levesque   Below are some of the responses to the evaluation question, What aspect of the weekend interested you the most?  
  • “All.”
  • “The workshops, political panel.”
  • “The practical tips and personal experiences.”
  • “All of it.”
  • “Workshops, open space.”
       
Responses to the World Cafe:   World Cafe Question #1  -- What is it that you could  do to make your community hungry for progressive change?   Responses:
  • getting public to attend a council or committee meeting
  • communicate ideas and issues in plain language
  • BE THE CHANGE
  • PREPARATION – council Level – eg 2010 – test assumptions and promises that you wish to apply to municipal election and issues you wish to bring forward
  • get each local union to call each of their members to build understanding of issues.   Get coalitions to do the same
  • show people that they are not alone in progressive ideas
  • strong lobbying – threats to pensions and wages, housing -   a politician attentive to poverty, housing and social issues, and the impact of good jobs
  • wait until things get worse
  • highlight impact of  globalization + how it hits home (challenge values)
  • TELL YOUR STORY and get others to do the same
  • show successful examples of progressive change
  • highlight progressive examples from other communities/countries
  • develop support system – networking for progressive people
  • information gather – listen to what people have to say and adopt their ideas.
  • find the common goal – talk about issues that bring your community together
  • engage special interest groups
  • find people who have the time and energy to fight the fight
  • point our the shortfalls in the system.  Present some kind of alternative.
  • find something that they do well and give them that
  • agitate around how higher levels of government treat your community
  • suggest progressive alternatives to the status quo by using comparisons with other municipalities
  • coalition building, organizing and providing a focus and platform for discontents
  • expose failures of right-wing policies (P3”s, contracting out)
  • canvas the community and ask people what their issues are
  • gain trust – stop being combative (instead of being against something – be FOR something)
  • what are the communities issues – through town hall forums
  • be at public meetings and information sessions
  • ADVERTISE 
       issues – surveys
       report card on voting of councillors
       positions of candidates
       outcomes and possibilities
       progressive change possibilities
  • educate the public – street theatre,  rallies,   feed the news –  labour friendly, town halls, button holing politicians
  • identify, direction, what connects the community
  • Change – what is it?  What do they want?  What do they resist?
  • Need for change – convey the message and design the menu
  • believe we can make change – highlight our victories and successes
  • make/vision a WHOLE community, not separate issues
  • progressive should become democratic
  • each community must be allowed to ID their issues, not force ours on them
  • remove the shame for using the social safety net
  • town hall meetings where important issues are highlighted
  • give people HOPE AND INSPIRATION
  • maintain ties
  • jobs – retraining
  • vision a new energy economy – the future
  • have dynamic candidates – committed and progressive
  • green community forums
  • take something negative and turn it around
  • show positive alternatives
  • offer  A BETTER CHOICE
  • jobs – green jobs
  • wait lists for seniors
  • get people out to public participation meetings
  • bring council and mayor’s short falls to light
  • keep the focus local – it makes people realize that it is a SHARED crisis – develop shared goals
  • develop coalitions
  • loss of major employers in community and surrounding area – highlight them
  • find local issues that matter – that the current council has not addressed
  • use and show examples of other communities
  • make a buy and build in Canada policy
  • bring attention to the value of public services vs contracting out
  • make company buyouts accountable to the public
  • buy local
  • public ownership to combat job loss
  • draw attention to low voter turnout and low getting out to vote can make a difference
  World Cafe Question #2   - How would you know you were successful?  
  • increase political influence
  • fully elected progressive council
  • everyone making a living wage
  • coalitions that work
  • reduction in poverty
  • an informed community
  • an activist community
  • better community communications
  • more responsible council
  • higher voter turnout and removal of right wing politicians
  • election results
  • voter turnout (especially if there was a specific issue of importance)
  • more progressive council
  • continuity of issues – conversations AFTER an election
  • continued engagement in the community
  • if the media continues to cover stories about it
  • good candidates wanting to run with strong working class platforms
  • progress/action/laws that get passed
  • empowering citizens expectations for sustainability
  • if you had people thinking about the NEXT election
  • no Out of the Cold program, no food banks, no soup kitchens
  • if the candidate was elected
  • fewer environmental diseases
  • progressive policy being passed at a municipal level and eventually adopted on a provincial and federal level
  • increased:  media coverage,  voter turnout,   people on the ballot (new, more varied backgrounds),  municipal issues being debated across the community,   volunteers,   interest  in the community (municipal committees and boards),  resistance from political and financial for profit community,   of our issues becoming municipal agenda items,    non-traditional allies getting on board (rallies letters to the editor)
  • seeing where inroads are made – making an impact on the elected council even if you weren’t elected
  • getting candidates elected
  • increasing the number of youth on your campaign,  succession planning for future elections
  • size of your campaign staff and the demo graphical range of your staff
  • continued education and next steps and future expectations
  • our agenda is heard – higher media coverage
  • looking at what you left behind – a base – a network – a coalition
  • we know we are successful when the right starts paying attention to what we are doing
  • increased attendance at meetings
  • increased voter turnout
  • increase our vote % for our candidates
  • increased donations to campaigns
  • election results – did you win?
  • did the campaign focus on progressive issues or were they ignored?
  • NDP GOVERNMENT
  • more people in the community become engaged
  • more participation in community forums and voting
  • debriefing campaign for strengths and weaknesses
  • a revitalization of the democratic process
  • more people stepping forward to be leaders and candidates
  • stronger networks and creation of activists
  • people demanding more accountability from politicians
  • positive feedback on ideas
  • get some reaction from other people (opposition indicates impact)
  • people approach you to put your name forward as a candidate
  • lots of volunteer people helping and other coalitions joining you
  • if you have people trying to identify good interested candidates to run in the next election
Adrienne Smith Canadian Labour Congress
 ***Coming Events***
         Council General Meeting
                               ---- All are Welcome!----
                               When: September 9th, 2009
                               Time: 7pm.
                               Where: Tolpuddle Common Room (380 Adelaide St. London)

                                                          Map to Meeting            
***Education***
    Health & Safety Training
                                Level II Law

    Offered by the London District Labour Council & Workers Health 8 Safety Centre

The Level II Law training will equip participants with an understanding of health and safety law and its inadequa­cies, and enable them to use their legislated rights and develop strategies to press for workplace improvements.

                                               Program Modules:
 - Law and the Workplace

 - Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

 - How Law is Made and Read

 - Duties of Individuals Under the Act and Regs

 - Joint Health and Safety Committees

 - Duties of Inspectors, Orders and Appeals

 - Regulations

 - Changes and Interpretations

 - Other Legislation

Date: September 24 - November 26, 2009 (10 consecutive Thursdays)

Location:      London Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) 
                       2-797 York St, London (519-433-4156)         info@losh.on.ca

Time:         5:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Cost:   $30.00 - Cheques made payable to the London and District Labour Council 

Register:  To register please contact LOSH at 519-433-4156 or  info@losh.on.ca.
    ***Coming Events***
       CLC Pension / Political Action Training Session
                               ---- All are Welcome!----
                               When: Monday, September 28th, 2009
                               Time: 7pm.
                               Where: Tolpuddle Common Room (380 Adelaide St. London)

                                                             Map to Meeting