2010 RETIRED WORKERS COUNCIL & CONFERENCE HELD AT THE CAW FAMILY EDUCATION CENTRE SEPTEMBER 5-10 IN PORT ELGIN
Brothers and Sisters and fellow retirees,
The retired workers motto of “Retired from the job, NOT from the fight” was reflected in the high energy and the obvious will to continue the fight for better treatment of retired people everywhere, this and more was abundantly evident at this important conference. Keep in mind that our fight of today may be your fight tomorrow.
Many resolutions were discussed and voted on during the meeting ranging from fighting P3 hospitals (my personal favourite), endorsing unity with and liaising with Canada’s much maligned aboriginal peoples to pension security for all Canadians and supporting Bill 22 Grandparents Rights.
One thorny issue that, surprisingly to me at least, drew little discussion was the demand to rescind the HST. It was brought to the attention of the chair of the meeting, Brother Len Harrison that it was a well known fact that Brother Lewenza and presumably the National executive actually support this tax. Brother Lewenza feels that this tax will help increase provincial coffers so that more funds will be made available to support things like social housing and other important projects of that nature. The chair acknowledged Brother Lewenzas stand on this issue but indicated it would be up to the individual to make that determination. The resolution passed regardless.
I can understand the reluctance to support the HST simply based on the track record of successive government’s lack of fiscal prudence not to mention the abundance of corruption that has been evident. Having said that, in my opinion it’s a tad oxymoronic that a resolution calling on the Provincial and Federal government to “support public infrastructure projects” and “reject the P3 model” for building hospitals would receive enthusiastic support yet the very vehicle that could help supply the public finances to take this important initiative away from the greed of the private sector is voted down.
There is a sad note to touch on and that is the ongoing OFL debacle. Apparently, the CAW’s return to the OFL has ruffled a few feathers. The new president Syd Ryan has inherited an embarrassing mess. The CAW’s re-entry into this influential organization has prompted some current member unions to protest our presence by withdrawing equal per capita dues to counter the CAW’s per capita payments. This is not the time for this sort of infantile self destructive behavior and cannot be tolerated in the labour movement. Old hatchets must be buried and solidarity must be made whole again. The very survival of the Ontario Federation of Labour depends on it. The corporate world is watching this unfold knowing that we will divide ourselves and they will conquer.
During Brother Lewenzas speech he eluded to the fact that we, as a labour movement are politically confused. In keeping with Hargroves position on strategic voting, Lewenza claims that we shouldn’t “rubber stamp” political parties.
The Pakistani flood tragedy became front and centre at the conference. Through a charity casino night along with donations from the floor over $2000 was collected for the relief of this hard struck area of the world. This will be matched dollar for dollar by the Feds.
The Nortel retiree’s situation is not lost on the rest of the labour movement and was rightly so, a very hot topic of discussion both inside and outside the hall. We all know that their fight is most definitely our fight. That’s why it is vitally important to support them in these dark times and one way this can be done is having a huge turnout for the 12 noon September 15th.rally at Queen Park.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Port Elgin Labour day parade. It was a great success with no small thanks to the organizing efforts of the CAW Retirees parade committee. That “old war horse” brother Frank Marek participated in the parade followed by two beautiful Clydesdale horses. The pictures are available on the 584 retiree’s website. Frank will be the one holding our flagJ
Nominations and elections were held for the following positions on the retiree’s executive board. The results for those positions and also nonexecutive positions are as follows:
EXECUTIVE BOARD
CHAIR – LEN HARRISON
VICE-CHAIR – LEN HOPE
SGT-AT-ARMS – MARY STRAUS
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE (4 positions):
RICK REAUME
HERB JOHN
DAVID TREMBLAY
MARG ARNONE
NON-EXECUTIVE
PARADE COMMITTEE (7 positions)
NORM WEDLOCK
RON MCLEAN
ARMINDO VIEIRA
JEAN SIMPSON
LES MACDONALD
ROXIE BAKER
NICK COLLINI
CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE (3 positions)
WILLIAM “BILL” HICKS
SANDRA “SANDY” CARRICATO
CHARLIE GOODE
Finally, I offer my sincere appreciation for allowing me the honour of representing both CAW Local 584 active members and the local’s retiree’s committee at this most educational and informative conference.
Brother Doug Berry (Sgt-at-arms)
CAW Local 584 Retirees Committee |
