[Marxism] 1,000 at meeting in Toronto demand jobs now

[Fred Feldman]

'Big Labour' mobilizes: Workers need help now
Union and social activists demand government act, but McGuinty says progress
may be slow
Toronto Star, November 23, 2008
Tanya Talaga, Tony Van Alphen
Staff Reporters

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/542015

A pushback started here yesterday. 

Fed up with disappearing work, lax employment standards and poor wages,
almost 1,000 local union and social activists began a major offensive to
change public policy so good paying long-term jobs are created in the
Greater Toronto Area. 

"We are going to challenge those in power," John Cartwright, president of
the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, told the Good Jobs For All
summit at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre yesterday. 

At a Liberal party policy convention meeting yesterday, Premier Dalton
McGuinty talked of tough economic conditions, saying he intends to "make
room" at the policy table for the working poor. 

In the past, labour would brace for the worst when a recession loomed, with
fewer resources to help the working poor. 

But at the jobs summit, speakers demanded better treatment of Ontario
workers, now. 

Cartwright said that while the economy hummed in recent years, the plight of
workers worsened: Many hold two jobs; hundreds of thousands of families live
below the poverty line; temporary agencies proliferate by skirting labour
legislation; and laid-off workers can't get financial help to bridge them to
new careers. 

"During the good times, there was an orgy of profiteering and speculation
and that was never shared," Cartwright said. "With the economic crisis, it's
clear working families have to be talking about their future just as loudly
as the banks and corporations." 

Activists said they should focus on a "real living wage" of $16-an-hour,
curbing abuses by temporary work agencies, pressuring government and
corporations to buy more Canadian-made goods and labour law revisions so
employees can more easily organize into unions. 

Deena Ladd, co-ordinator of the Workers' Action Centre, which specializes in
helping immigrants, told activists she has seen a significant deterioration
in labour standards.

Across the city, McGuinty said the decision on who gets help will be
difficult. "Ontarians don't blame us for the global economic crisis," he
said. "But they will certainly, as they should, hold us accountable for both
how we manage during this time and how well we succeed in helping Ontario
move forward." 

McGuinty said he does not want to rack up a deficit. "We have fewer
resources to begin. And it will take us longer to make progress."