The Industrial Workers of the World Canadian Regional Organizing Committee urges Ontario rank-and-file teachers union members to keep struggling for justice and respect on the job.

The rank-and-file of Ontario’s teachers’ unions have borne the brunt of this struggle with Ontario’s Liberal government for a fair and equitable contract, negotiated freely and under conditions of respect and solidarity.

The government’s decision to repeal Bill 115 is meaningless, particularly as it intends to enforce the two-year agreement it forced on teachers. Taking the knife out does not heal the wound.

The Industrial Workers of the World in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada urge the rank-and-file to keep up the fight on the job and within your own union. We see rank-and-file members adopting a more effective approach by continuing to network at the grassroots level and keep mobilized in the workplace. Instructors should continue to take action as necessary to make the imposition of this contract a mistake the government will not forget.

There is also organizing work to do within the teachers’ unions. The news that the Toronto District 12 of the OSSTF donated $30,000 to Liberal leadership candidates in December 2012 demonstrates a serious breach of faith with its members. Attempting to use union funds to curry favour with the very members of the Liberal cabinet who voted in favour of Bill 115 is an ineffective way of fighting this government and its allies.

Similarly, the decision to stop the work-to-rule tactic on extra-curricular activities on the hint of a promise from the new premier puts the interests of the Ontario Liberal Party over the interests of the union’s membership. We urge union members to hold their officers accountable for these blunders.

Our members and working class Ontarians support the teachers and educators in our schools. We know what it is like to face austerity and demonization by this province’s government and its allies. Solidarity and political independence is the hard road to victory and we will see you on it, Fellow Workers.

The interview starts at 2:56. Listen to the streamed version or download the MP3.

The Canadian IWW Literature Department is now offering the 2013 Solidarity Forever Calendar for $12 plus postage. Fill out the form and send it to us! CANROC Literature Order Form

The Canadian Regional Organizing Committee issued a charter to the branch on May 6, 2012.

Windsor members have also formed a Windsor Button Cooperative, which received its IWW shop card in November 2011. This new workers cooperative produces buttons for the labour movement, activists and other organizations.

We congratulate these Fellow Workers as they build the IWW in Windsor. We urge working class people in the Windsor area to contact the branch, get involved and support their campaigns.

Contact:

IWW Windsor General Membership Branch
c/o WWAC, 328 Pelissier St
Windsor, ON N9A 4K7
Phone: (519) 564-8036
E-Mail: windsoriww@gmail.com
Website: windsoriww.wordpress.com/

Windsor Button Cooperative
Email: windsorbuttoncooperative@gmail.com

By refusing to go to school and by taking to the streets in the hundreds of thousands, Quebecois, including IWW members in Montréal, Sherbrooke and the Outaouais, are showing the rest of Canada that direct action really does get the goods.

The IWW calls on the police to stop attacking independent media in Quebec, such as Concordia University’s CUTV, as their live broadcasts and coverage are essential to democratic change.

The IWW also calls on the provincial government to repeal its new laws that outlaw free expression, free assembly and the rights of all Quebecois to defend their vision of the future of education. The government should listen and acknowledge the legitimacy of student demands and reply to them at the negotiation table instead of using legislation to end this conflict repressively in order to establish a false “social peace”.

The IWW Canadian Regional Organizing Committee (CANROC) encourages its members and branches to donate to student associations, such as the Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSE), and independent media outlets, such as CUTV. The CANROC also urges its members to walk the picket lines and fill the streets in this struggle for education and freedom.

Ultimately, students, teachers and workers are now building a strong solidarity movement like never before. This powerful movement allows us to hope that one day the education system will be controlled by those who work, teach and study there so that the fruits of this labour provide universal benefit to social and human development rather than be enslaved to the logic of profit which benefit banks and capitalists of all kinds.

Find out more about the IWW in Canada online: www.iww.ca

To join the IWW, contact the nearest delegate:

*Montrèal
514-268-3394

*Sherbrooke
819-349-9914

* Quèbec
iww_quebec@riseup.net

* Ottawa-Outaouais
ott-out@iww.org

En bloquant les cours et en descendant souvent, et parfois par centaines de milliers, dans les rues, les personnes qui se mobilisent dans la lutte au côté des membres de notre syndicat qui s’y impliquent activement montrent au reste du Canada que l’action directe peut réellement porter fruit.

Le SITT réclame par la même occasion que la police cesse d’attaquer les médias indépendants du Québec, particulièrement Concordia University TV (CUTV). Leur travail de transmission vidéo en direct est essentielle aux changements démocratiques que nous encourageons.

Le SITT réclame aussi que le gouvernement provincial abroge la loi spéciale 78 qui suspend la liberté d’expression, la liberté d’assemblée et le droit de ceux qui luttent de défendre leurs choix par rapport à l’avenir que devrait avoir l’éducation au Québec. Le gouvernement doit entendre et reconnaître les bien fondés des revendications du mouvement et y répondre lors de négociations et non pas de légiférer de manière répressive pour mettre fin au conflit et rétablir la “paix sociale” par la force.

Le Comité Canadien d’Organisation Régionale du SITT (CCOR) encourage les membres et les branches locales à faire des dons à des associations étudiantes, dont l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ), et aux médias indépendants, dont CUTV. Le CORR les invite aussi à se joindre autant que possible à ceux et celles qui défendent les lignes de piquetages et qui se mobilisent dans les rues en solidarité avec cette lutte pour le droit à l’éducation et la liberté.

Au bout du compte, les étudiantes et les étudiants conjointement avec les travailleuses et les travailleurs ainsi que les professeures et professeurs sont en train de bâtir un puissant mouvement de solidarité qui marquera le Québec. Cette forte union nous permet d’espérer qu’un jour le système d’éducation puisse être contrôlé par ceux et celles qui y travaillent, y étudient et y enseignent dans le but de favoriser universellement le développement social et humain plutôt que de l’asservir à une sinistre logique de rendement monétaire qui profite aux banques insatiables et aux capitalistes de tout acabit.

Si tu es intéressé(e) par ce que tu lis, contacte-nous. Cela ne t’engage a rien, et sois sur(e) que nous n’en parleons ni a tes collegues, ni a ton patron. Si tu decides de te syndiquer, nous serons la pour t’aider.

Pour rejoindre un(e) délégué(e):

*Montréal
514-268-3394

*Sherbrooke
819-349-9914

*Partout au Québec
iww_quebec@riseup.net

* Ottawa-Outaouais
ott-out@iww.org

Air Canada has shown it does not respect its contract with its workers nor is it meeting its obligations to negotiate contracts in good faith. The federal government has unwisely sided with Air Canada by claiming its operations are an essential service to the Canadian economy and by bringing in back-to-work legislation.

In a situation where workers are denied their right to strike and the government compromises their right to negotiate their working conditions, workers must take action to defend themselves and their families. Laws passed in parliament or any other venue only have meaning for working people if they are founded in justice and fairness. Back-to-work legislation and forcing arbitrated contracts onto workers meets neither criteria.

We demand the government rescind its back-to-work legislation and for Air Canada to return to the bargaining table in good faith. We support the Air Canada workers who are taking the necessary risks to win this fight.

For more information about the IWW in Canada, please contact iww@iww.ca or visit www.iww.ca .

Their names are Frank Rogers, Thomas Belanger, Francois Theriault, Joseph Mairs, Albert ‘Ginger’ Goodwin, Mike Solokowski, Steve Schezerbanowicz, William Davis, Janne Voutilainen, Viljo Rosvall, Nick Nargan, Julian Gryshko, Peer Markunas, Mike Kyatick, Nick Schaack, David Lochart, William Gardner, Bill McDonald, Fernand Drouin, Irenee Fortier, Joseph Fortier, Michele Gauthier, Theodore LeBlanc, and John Stammers.

This pamphlet is a fitting way to remember and educate today’s working class about the sacrifices made and the gains won by our union movement.

Individual copies are $5 plus postage.

Order form.

Who wants to know more about the IWW?

You can now visit the CANROC’s new online store.

We are selling working class books, pamphlets and t-shirts to Canadians. Browse and send in your order forms.

CANROC-affiliated branches should contact us for information about reduced prices.

We will be adding more inventory as we get it so check back on a regular basis.

Agitate, Educate and Organize!

Fellow Workers and Members of the Public,

This is a public statement to correct misinformation about the IWW in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

There is no chartered Industrial Union, General Membership Branch or workplaces with an IWW shop card in Kingston. The Kingston Compassion Club Society (KCCS) is not an IWW shop, workers cooperative or Industrial Union. Similarly, the IWW does not endorse anarcho-syndicalism or the New Democratic Party as is claimed on various Kingston-based web and social media sites as per our longstanding policy of no alliances with political parties or anti-political groups.

In October and November 2011, the CANROC undertook an internal investigation of a complaint by Fellow Worker Laurie MacEachern against Fellow Worker Matt Thornton. On November 5, the branch ruled against FW Thornton on three complaints. It also found that there was insufficient evidence to prove the allegations of FW Thornton and the KCCS that plaintiff FW Laurie MacEachern had stolen $1000 for her own profit.

FW Thornton appealed this decision, but the CANROC branch representatives did not accept his appeal on the basis that he has not paid dues since April 2011 and is in inactive standing, that he is a delinquent delegate owing IWW members’ dues money and other funds to the IWW, and that his appeal did not meet the criteria set out in the IWW Bylaws. FW Thornton has refused to comply with these remedies and we are taking steps to ensure compliance and protect the reputation of the IWW in Kingston and online.

The following remedies take immediate effect:

1. Remove FW Matt Thornton as an IWW delegate and that he be ineligible for any officer position for 3 years. He shall turn over all reports, funds, delegate rigging, and IWW documents and supplies to the Canadian Regional Secretary-Treasurer.

2. FW Thornton shall be barred from the role of spokesperson, negotiator or representative for the IWW for 3 years.

3. FW Thornton shall hand passwords and control over all the Kingston IWW and KCCS media to the CANROC Regional Secretary-Treasurer and that all misinformation be corrected or removed from these sites.

4. The RST shall prepare a public statement to provide clarification about the IWW’s role in the KCCS and related events to be distributed to people who may have received misinformation.

While FW Thornton remains a member of the IWW, his status is as a delinquent delegate and inactive member. He has refused to turn over dues money he collected from our members. As a result, he has no voting rights at IWW meetings until he turns over all funds. He is also believed to have control over the IWW defense fund struck by the Kingston IWW members who worked at KCCS to raise funds for their legal defense. We urge donors to contact iww@iww.ca with information about your donation, so we can take steps to account for it and ensure the money is in good hands.

We urge members of the public to recognize that FW Matt Thornton does not speak for the IWW in Kingston, on the Internet or in any other place nor is he authorized to raise or hold funds for the union or any other IWW body.

The CANROC continues its efforts to work with IWW members in Kingston to build a democratic and accountable union. We hope that you will be a part of our effort to do so. We urge members to contact iww@iww.ca with information about your membership so we can return you to good standing.

If you have additional information or concerns, please contact iww@iww.ca with the information.