Ontario’s top union leader says Mayor Rob Ford has been interviewing prospective replacement staff since September in preparation for a showdown and lockout of thousands of city employees.
Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, called on the province’s unions to converge on Toronto and stop the Ford administration from hiring so-called “scabs” and beating up the city’s workers in collective bargaining.
“We have an opportunity to send a very strong signal to Rob Ford,” Ryan said in a rousing speech to more than 1,500 union activists at the federation’s biennial convention here.
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday denied that the mayor had interviewed possible staff to replace employees if the city locked out workers early next year.
“I believe there is nothing to that claim,” said Holyday, chair of the city’s labour relations committee. “I know for a fact that Rob Ford personally hasn’t interviewed anybody.”
The city employs about 24,000 inside and outside members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees whose contracts expire at the end of December. The two sides have made little progress because the city can’t even get the unions to the bargaining table for cost-cutting talks, Holyday said.
Ryan made the claim while underlining the need for organized labour to fight the growing business practice in recent years of hiring cheaper outsiders to weaken unions and win contract disputes.
“We know for a fact that Rob Ford is already interviewing — he has been doing it since September — and looking for scabs,” said Ryan, who added that one union local believes the city will lock out workers early in the new year.
In an effort to increase militancy among the more than one million organized workers in Ontario, including 80,000 in Toronto, Ryan told the convention they shouldn’t be sitting on the sidelines in a municipal fight in the country’s largest city.
“Are you prepared to come down to City Hall and get your arms around it and start that conversation,” the fiery Ryan said to rising applause. “Let’s say to Rob Ford, ‘We’ll be damned if you bring scabs across this picket line and these workplaces.’ C’mon brothers and sisters. Let’s see the fight in the labour movement.’’
Ryan, who will likely win a second two-year term as OFL president by acclamation on Tuesday, said earlier there is room for escalating protests by workers while evoking the memory of civil rights marches in the U.S. south and the women’s movement for equal rights.
“Nothing has ever been accomplished without a little civil disobedience,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the federation will elect a new secretary-treasurer and executive vice-president on Tuesday after the formal resignation of Marie Kelly and Terry Downey on Sunday. The duo and some affiliated unions have openly feuded with Ryan for most of his first term.
Origin
Source: Toronto Star
Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, called on the province’s unions to converge on Toronto and stop the Ford administration from hiring so-called “scabs” and beating up the city’s workers in collective bargaining.
“We have an opportunity to send a very strong signal to Rob Ford,” Ryan said in a rousing speech to more than 1,500 union activists at the federation’s biennial convention here.
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday denied that the mayor had interviewed possible staff to replace employees if the city locked out workers early next year.
“I believe there is nothing to that claim,” said Holyday, chair of the city’s labour relations committee. “I know for a fact that Rob Ford personally hasn’t interviewed anybody.”
The city employs about 24,000 inside and outside members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees whose contracts expire at the end of December. The two sides have made little progress because the city can’t even get the unions to the bargaining table for cost-cutting talks, Holyday said.
Ryan made the claim while underlining the need for organized labour to fight the growing business practice in recent years of hiring cheaper outsiders to weaken unions and win contract disputes.
“We know for a fact that Rob Ford is already interviewing — he has been doing it since September — and looking for scabs,” said Ryan, who added that one union local believes the city will lock out workers early in the new year.
In an effort to increase militancy among the more than one million organized workers in Ontario, including 80,000 in Toronto, Ryan told the convention they shouldn’t be sitting on the sidelines in a municipal fight in the country’s largest city.
“Are you prepared to come down to City Hall and get your arms around it and start that conversation,” the fiery Ryan said to rising applause. “Let’s say to Rob Ford, ‘We’ll be damned if you bring scabs across this picket line and these workplaces.’ C’mon brothers and sisters. Let’s see the fight in the labour movement.’’
Ryan, who will likely win a second two-year term as OFL president by acclamation on Tuesday, said earlier there is room for escalating protests by workers while evoking the memory of civil rights marches in the U.S. south and the women’s movement for equal rights.
“Nothing has ever been accomplished without a little civil disobedience,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the federation will elect a new secretary-treasurer and executive vice-president on Tuesday after the formal resignation of Marie Kelly and Terry Downey on Sunday. The duo and some affiliated unions have openly feuded with Ryan for most of his first term.
Origin
Source: Toronto Star
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