The Militant - May 30, 2016 -- On the Picket Line

Quebec seniors’ care workers hold day-long strike for $15 an hour

MONTREAL — In their first strike ever, some 3,000 nurses, nurses’ aides and other care workers walked out for a day May 11 at 42 private seniors’ residences throughout Quebec in their fight for a 15 Canadian dollars an hour minimum wage (CA$1 = US$0.78). The contract of the members of Service Employees International Union Local 298 expired in February.

“This is a historic strike,” nurses’ aide Emmanuel Saladin told the Militant at a press conference across from L’Image d’Outremont residence here. Saladin is president of the union committee at the residence. “The nurses’ aides start at CA$11.80 an hour and the average wage is CA$12.50. It is not enough.”

“We do the same hard work as seniors’ care workers in the public sector, but get paid less,” said Immegryde Rejouis, a worker and vice president of the union committee. “We love our work, but it needs to be valued. The residents support what we are doing.”

L’Image d’Outremont is owned by Le Groupe Maurice, which owns 20 residences in the province.

While the big companies are refusing to meet the union’s demands, some small independent residences have reached agreements, including one with an immediate raise to CA$15 an hour and further increases to CA$16.87, a union press release said.

“We have a big job ahead of us,” Local 298 President Richard Belhumeur said. “About 225 residences are organized out of 1,700 in the province.”

— John Steele

Thousands of Greek workers, farmers protest attack on pensions

ATHENS, Greece — Several thousand workers, students and others marched to the parliament here May 8, part of three days of strikes and street protests May 6-8 called by the country’s three main union federations.

Hundreds of farmers joined the May 7 action in Athens. Public transport workers, civil servants, sailors, rail workers and others struck for the three days.

The protests were called in response to proposed legislation to cut 5.4 billion euros ($6.2 billion) from social security pensions and hike taxes. The Greek parliament approved the bill May 8, hoping to meet demands by creditors before they will release more loans as part of the 86 billion euro “bailout” the Syriza Party government agreed to last year.

This is the latest round of attacks on working people over the last six years of economic depression. Household income has plunged by one-third and official unemployment stands at nearly 25 percent. Greece’s national debt is 180 percent of gross domestic product.

“These measures are aimed at the working class, to take back social benefits that working people have,” public school teacher Aggeliki Katsamani, 34, said at the May 8 rally. “I came here today because if there are no protests there will be many more such measures.”

—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Maggie Trowe, Editor

— Maggie Trowe

Quebec seniors’ care workers hold day-long strike for $15 an hour

— John Steele

Thousands of Greek workers, farmers protest attack on pensions

— Georges Mehrabian