BY ROBERT SIMMS

TORONTO - Unionists in Metropolitan Toronto joined by community groups, teachers, and students, are firming up their plans a for protest strike in Toronto and surrounding municipalities October 25. They are also preparing to stage a massive demonstration on October 26 to oppose the government's deep cuts to entitlements and anti-labor laws.

The Labour Council of Metropolitan Toronto and York Region, allied with the Metro Network for Social Justice, is the main organizer of the "Metro Days of Action," which encompass a week of rallies, demonstrations, and meetings October 22-27. The coalition is planning to have most unionized workplaces shutdown October 25 through cross-picketing, a successful tactic used in recent Ontario protests in London, Hamilton, Kitchener, and Peterborough.

Thousands of union volunteers will set up picket lines - but not at their own workplaces. Postal workers may picket government offices, auto workers and government workers may picket steelworkers and so on. One place targeted for a mass picket is the S.A. Armstrong factory, where 75 members of the United Steelworkers have been on strike since April 29, and replacement workers have kept production running.

The public transit system of city subway, bus lines and commuter rail lines is projected to close, as well as the postal system and provincial government offices where workers fought and won a bitter strike last winter. Organizers of the Days of Action hope to close or slow down Pearson International Airport, the hub of air traffic across Canada, in addition to municipal offices, schools and most mid-size and large industrial factories.

The 26,000-strong strike by auto workers against General Motors (GM) aids the momentum of these protest actions. "We'll be there," said a striker at GM Oshawa picket line. Strikers in Windsor and Oshawa report that buses are being booked to take them to the action.

On Saturday, October 26, a march planned to start at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds will make its way to the Queens Park provincial legislature. Sid Ryan, Ontario president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, predicts the mass demonstration may be in the range of 200,000 people. A similar two-day protest in Hamilton last February drew 100,000. The rally-site at the south end of Queens Park holds only 60,000 people. A giant sound system is being planned for the event.

The target of the protests, which will draw workers and students from across the province, is the Conservative federal government of Ontario led by Premier Michael Harris. The massive demonstration will march past the site where the Conservative party is holding its convention.

In the 15 months since taking office, the Harris government has repealed affirmative action and anti-scab laws, made unionization more difficult, gutted workers' safety laws and compensation for work injuries, instituted billion-dollar cuts in education and health spending and slashed welfare payments due individuals and families by 21 percent. Unemployment in the Toronto area stands at 9.2 percent and homelessness and food bank use are rising.

The Liberal federal government in Ottawa, which has led these anti-worker attacks with its massive cuts to unemployment insurance, university education spending, and transfer payments to provinces for healthcare and welfare, has so far avoided being the target for the bulk of the protests.

The Toronto City Council voted 11-6 to support workers who join the protests and allow city workers to schedule October 25 as vacation or unpaid leave.

The move was rebuked by Ontario Management Board head David Johnson, a member of the Harris cabinet. General manager, David Gunn, of the Toronto Transit Commission has threatened to seek a court injunction to stop closure of city transit, to sue labor officials for lost income, which could amount to $1.5 million, and keep the system closed for Saturday. The Metro Toronto Council (the City of Toronto is one of five Metro cities and boroughs) backed Gunn's threat of a lawsuit. The Toronto City Council executive committee is now calling for an emergency meeting to authorize a court injunction.

In workplaces throughout Toronto there is debate and discussion over the value and effectiveness of the protests - including whether the protest is worth joining in and risking disciplinary action.

"Big business is trying to consolidate itself on the backs of working people," said Bentley Ford, a member of the International Association of Machinists at Ford Electronics. "The Days of Actions are a good thing because it might educate the business guys behind the government."

Susan Berman, who works at Ontario Store Fixtures organized by the United Steelworkers, told the Militant that some workers aren't sure that the protest's result would be worth losing a day's pay, and some worry how united it will be. "But sixty percent have been wearing buttons advertising the Days of Action lately, and confidence is growing that we should stay out when the cross-pickets appear on October 25."

To volunteer for cross-picketing or other activities contact the Metro Days of Protest Coordinating Committee at (416) 512- 8890.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home