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MORE COMMUNITY SUPPORT!
Hi Tim,
I received a call today from a man that would like to remain anonymous. He has arranged to have 475 tickets to the Thursday, February 2nd (next Thursday) London Lightning basketball game donated to the EMD workers and ask that I make arrangements for them to be delivered to you. Game time is 7pm.
I hope this is something they (or their families) will enjoy.
IF YOU GO TO THE GAME, PLEASE WEAR BLUE TO BE RECOGNIZED AS A EMD EMPLOYEE.
contact the local for ticket info
THE GRAND THEATRE HAS ANOTHER OFFER TO SEE ED`S GARAGE
Just a follow up after our connection during Cinderella. We were so pleased to see so many Electro Motive workers and family members at Cinderella and we had terrific feedback from many people who attended and enjoyed their experience at The Grand.
We would love to keep this connection going so I just wanted to let you know about another possible chance for workers to see our next play, Ed’s Garage starring Rod Beattie, Doug Hughes, Adrienne Gould and Tim Campbell.
On Thursday, February 2 we have an 11:00a show that we are opening up to help support YOU – Youth Opportunities Unlimited. Perhaps you have heard of them.
Since 1982 Youth Opportunities Unlimited has helped lead youth in London and Middlesex County toward success. We believe that investing in youth and strong communities go hand-in-hand. We know that many youth need guidance and support to reach their true potential. We work with our business, community and government partners to address youths` most pressing needs. Through Transition, Career and Enterprise Services we provide youth with the training, skills development, supports and referrals they need to develop their potential and lead positive lives.
Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) is the London partner in the national Raise the Roof Fundraiser which sells toques for $10 to raise funds to help homeless youth.
Working in tandem with Raising the Roof, each participating community benefits directly from its efforts, financially and through increased visibility. As of June 2011, the Toque Campaign has generated close to $3.3 million in grants, funds that have been used to help support 145 homelessness-serving agencies in 70 communities across Canada. Part of the campaign proceeds also supports Raising the Roof’s national Youthworks initiative, which focuses on long-term solutions to youth homelessness.
The Grand Theatre is doing their part to help YOU by offering 100 seats to Ed’s Garage on February 2 at 11:00a for the price of a toque which is $10…cash only.
So…if any Electro Motive workers would like to support YOU, buy a toque and see Ed’s Garage on Feb 2, just visit our Box Office to buy your toque. These red toques would look great on the picket line and show EMD’s support for a great youth organization in our city.
I realize this is a lengthy email and I am sure you and your team are very busy, but I also thought this might be a show your workers would be interested in and an organization people might want to support.
All the best,
THE PALACE THEATRE IS OFFERING FREE TICKETS TO EMD EMPLOYEES & THIER FAMILIES TO SEE TREASURE ISLAND
PLAY STARTS FEBUARY3,2012
PHONE 519-432-1029 TO ORDER TICKETS
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB IS PLEASED TO OFFER 1 MONTH FREE MEMBERSHIPS TO CHILDREN OF EMD EMPLOYEES
To get a Membership: Call Jim at the local at ext 229,leave your childs name & age, your name and a contact # I can reach you at.
To view video interviews follow the link below to our You Tube Channel caw27london:
Friday Jan062012 From The Sister`s of St. Joseph`s Web Site written by Sister Sue Wilson
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 09:42AM
There is a certain synergy that is created when events happen at the same time. For the past week or so, three events have been coming together in my mind and heart:
First, London’s Electro-Motive strike in which Caterpillar Inc. (which benefitted from a federal government subsidy) offered workers a deal that would cut workers` wages and benefits in half, all done in the midst of fears the company plans to move production to a low-cost U.S. plant, and all done in the midst of record profits for Caterpillar Inc. It is another example of how the middle-class in Canada is being undermined.
Second, the report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives which revealed that the highest paid CEOs in Canada pocketed an average of $8.38 million in 2010 - a 27% increase over the average $6.6 million they took in 2009. This means that Canada’s 100 elite CEOs are now making 189 times the average Canadian wage. This matters, not because there are 100 crazy-rich people, but because it is part of a steady trend that points to an upward redistribution of wealth.
Third, there has been a request for public input into the Social Assistance Review Commission in Ontario. (Background Note: In tandem with the introduction of the “workfare/work-first” model in the mid-1990s, social assistance benefits were cut by 22%, which made it virtually impossible for those who accessed social assistance to pay the rent and put food on the table. Small increases since then have not even kept pace with the rate of inflation. At the same time, endless rules keep people constantly jumping through hoops rather than finding some solid ground on which to build their lives anew). It is clearly a system that is not only broken but also unjust and punitive in nature: Consider that the provincial government is planning a $4 billion tax cut for corporations while giving a 1% increase to people accessing social assistance - all done while the maximum rent increase for 2012 is 3.1%, grocery store prices have increased by 5%, and London’s unemployment rate skyrocketed to 11.2% and currently remains high at 9.6%. If there was ever a time for people to stand up for each other, this is it.
As I consider these events together, they point to four different facets of the growing gap between rich and poor: decline of the middle-class, unbridled profit-seeking of corporations and corporate elites, upward redistribution of wealth, and the social exclusion of people living in deep poverty. These four facets make it clear that the current social and economic trajectories are both unjust and unsustainable. Too many people are being excluded from the benefits of the economy and it is tearing at the fabric of society.
It’s time for a new social deal. But we’ll only get it if we choose solidarity with each other. Let’s refuse to give in to the cynical attitude of “better them than me.” Let’s trust in the mystery of shared power - the power that emerges from cherishing our connectedness - and let’s join with each other to create the kind of change that benefits everyone.
Sue Wilson, CSJ
Posted by glenpearson in Citizenship, Liberalism, Personal, Politics, progressive centre
At some point last week my wife Jane did some calculations on the computer, swiveled in her chair and said, “Congratulations. Sometime in September you wrote your one millionth word on your blog.” I hadn’t thought about that but it got us to talking about what was the most important thing I’ve been trying to say for the last five years and both concluded “citizenship.” And so it is. Politics is nothing without it; community is everything with it.
Right now London – our community – is under the microscope nationally. A big firm has decided that our habitat is not as important as its bottom line and we are quickly realizing that our city, already vulnerable to high levels of unemployment, is in a more fragile predicament as a result of Electro Motive than before it became an issue. We are angry and insecure at the same time, knowing that at some point the job lost could be ours. Some 500 workers, unionized and private, have reminded us that modern capitalism, especially at the higher end, suffers from a lack of commitment.
Repeatedly we hear, “what can we do about it; it’s just the way it is?” Perhaps we need to revisit that outlook. I would like to suggest that by adopting the attitude that we have to sell ourselves to the world as the answer to our problems that we might only be adding to them. Most companies that eventually come here will behave increasingly like Caterpillar, so, really, how are we much farther ahead? I think it’s time we start selling ourselves to ourselves.
We are repeatedly reminded that a high percentage of jobs created in this country are produced by small and medium-sized companies. London is full of such entrepreneurs and yet we continually seem to neglect them as we scour the earth for the larger firms to come to London in search of the bottom line. These local firms have chosen to live and function here among us but are continually overlooked as we keep offering tax breaks and services to the larger stores and manufacturers. If these indeed are the companies that will produce the jobs and hire the workers, why are we not making it easier for them to do business in our town?
My friend Mike Moffatt, economist from the Ivey Business School, provided me with a clear example of this just yesterday. Link to this if you want to understand why smaller firms feel they are second-class citizens. Firms like Mike is talking about choose to live here and suffer through the red tape and lack of attention specifically because they buy into the concept of “our town.” I have met more such firms in the last six months than I knew existed and they all tell the same story. We go for the big guys when we should be building up our own productivity and capacity from within, much like we do with research parks. Instead of banking everything on foreign investors who seem to have deep pockets but ice in their veins, let’s promote what is already great in our town by rewarding those who choose to live and produce among us. Perhaps it’s time we as a city recalibrated our economic outlook and held an internal economic summit designed to free local businesses from the bonds holding them in check. That would be a better plan of action than holding our breath for the Caterpillars of the world.
We don’t have to be slaves to the present capitalist trends. We have choices, but only if we act collectively as citizens. Our bonds shouldn’t just be based upon our economic usefulness to one another but on our shared commitment to provide a healthy and open community for our children and our neighbours. That isn’t impossible, but it will take a change in outlook.
One of the best ways we’ll know if we’re made of the right stuff for this is how we treat workers like those at Electro Motive. Most Londoners polled say they support the workers, but if that’s true where are they? This isn’t about unions or corporate giants; it’s about us and how we protect our own. It’s not tribalism but community. It is ironic that Londoners by the thousands will contribute to wildly successful food drives to feed the hungry but can’t recognize that these Electro Motive workers are but a step away from the food bank’s door. Why wait until we are moved by charitable impulses? Let’s instead fighting for adequate pay for good work.
If you believe these workers are part of our community, then envelop them with your own commitment and dedication. There’s a rally shortly to support them in Victoria Park. Let’s show up by the thousands.
This community is our commodity. It’s the best of what we are and have. We want jobs, but not if we have to sell our collective soul to get them. Our leaders used to make decisions for us; now they spend their time trying to lure others to our town. Fair enough. But they also must lead from within, developing talents we already possess in large measure. Yet their biggest task now is not to sell; it’s to sympathize and be with these workers because they are our own. There is no excuse for politicians still not showing up at the worker’s line – no excuse. These are our people, suffering in our town. Be there, regardless of your opinion. If you can’t do that, then please don’t ask to lead us. We follow pioneers not peddlers.
Caterpillar has done us a favour by waking us up to what our future might be if we don’t permit that citizenship part of us to rise above our consumerism. Let’s free up our inner entrepreneurship. And let’s never forget that these workers on the line are “our folks” and we’ll stay on the limb with them as long as it takes.
This is the last post in this series on labour. Special thanks to all those who responded by showing up at the worker’s line. You have my respect
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