News and views from SA Canada Toronto rally defends postal services

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Over 400 people rallied on Satur­ Toronto constituency office of Conser­ vative Finance Minister Joe Oliver to demand a halt to Tory and Canada Post Corporation plans to eliminate home mail delivery and set higher prices for postage.

Participants came from as far away as Vernon, B.C., and Charlottetown, P.E.I. They included retired autoworkers from Oshawa, and a group of posties who hired a bus in Hamilton, Ontario.

Rally chair Elizabeth Byce, a proud retired member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, past secretary of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, and a leading member of So­ cialist Action, welcomed the crowd. In the breezy, warm sunshine, she led-off the proceedings with a few chants: “1,2,3,4, mail delivery door-to-door, 5,6,7,8, stop increasing postal rates,” “Stop the Cuts at Canada Post,” and “They say Cutback. We say Fightback!”

“I say to Finance Minister Joe Oliver, you can hide, but you cannot escape our anger, and you cannot avoid our determination to hold you and your government accountable for cuts to the postal service that Canadians hold dear. Keep your bloody hands off our public services!” Byce told the gather­ ing.

“Many organizations have endorsed this rally. They are listed on the news­ paper ads and the leaflets you’ve seen. New endorsers include: the Workers’ Action Centre, York Region Catholic Teachers, United Steel Workers – To­ ronto Area Council, and the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP). We thank them all.”

She then introduced the rally speak­ ers as follows: “Denis Lemelin, the leader of the fight to save vital postal services and good jobs, is the presi­ dent of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. His involvement in the union began in 1979 when he started as a postal clerk in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

“Marie Clark-Walker comes out of CUPE-Ontario. She celebrates her Ja­ maican heritage, and is a vice presi­ dent of the Canadian Labour Congress. Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Fed­ eration of Labour, is a past-President of CUPE-Ontario, and is former Ontar­ io Tory Leader Tim Hudak’s worst en­ emy. Sharon DeSoussa is the Regional Executive Vice-President in Ontario for the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

“Barry Weisleder is the person who organized the rally from scratch. He is a teacher, union activist, journalist, Julian Arscott / Socialist Action ganizing Officer for the Metro Toronto Region of CUPW, and is also a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Union­ ists. “Hockey has its Hall of Fame, and so does Labour. Buzz Hargrove is a past president of the Canadian Auto Work­ ers. He speaks today on behalf of Uni­ for, Canada’s newest and biggest pri­ vate-sector union.

The Ontario Public Service Employ­ ees’ Union, which generously contrib­ uted to the publicity tools that made this rally a success, is represented by a vice president of OPSEU, Myles Mag­ ner. “The Canadian Union of Public Em­ ployees in Ontario played a key role in promoting the protest. Fred Hahn is the president of CUPE-Ontario, and a long-time fighter for LGBT rights and dignity. Liz Rowley is the Ontario leader of the Communist Party and a former school board trustee. “Carolyn Egan is president of the United Steetworkers’ Toronto Area Council and a member of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council exec­ utive. Chris Clay is a leader of CUPW in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. “CUPW Union Rep Mike Palecek, based in Ottawa, is here today to sing his new anti-austerity, anti-Stephen Harper song, which debuted on Parlia­ ment Hill at the People’s Social Forum rally on Aug. 21.”

The rally chair reminded everyone that the campaign to Save Canada Post continues, and called on people to at­ tend a meeting of the Toronto Organiz­ ing Committee to plan the next steps.

Extensive coverage of the Toronto pro­ test featured prominently on that day’s 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news broadcast of CITY-TV. n workers. Sending troops to Iraq. Backing the siege of Gaza. Giving tax breaks to big corporations. Watch­ ing our cities descend into the despair of gridlock and homelessness.

We in Socialist Action believe that the common de­ nominator of global social misery is the destructive and dying capitalist disorder.

There’s a funny saying: “Capitalism is just a phase we’re going through.” Unfortunately, this phase is kill­ ing the planet and its inhabitants. Its stale date is well over a century old. We need ways to break the grip of the 0.1%. The fight to keep our valued postal ser­ vices is just such a way. This issue is Harper’s Achilles heel. If, together, we can drive this campaign forward, there’s no telling what we can achieve.

We can bring down the Tories. We can restore and expand public services. Broaden the battle for social equality and a genuine economic democracy. And perhaps, we can shake this rotten system to its core, and bring to birth a cooperative commonwealth in our time. Let’s make the most of it. Let’s fight to win, in soli­ darity.” n workers joined with fast-food workers in support of the demand for $15 minimum wage. The home-care workers’ union rights had been attacked just two months earlier by the U.S. Supreme Court. They are 90% women and 40% Black and Latina.

In addition to expanding to a new layer of oppressed workers, the demonstrations themselves were more militant. They in­ cluded civil disobedience and more strikes in the South. In Charleston, S.C., a by­ stander was watching as fast-food workers were engaged in a sit-in in the middle of the street. He commented to reporters, “This is just not something you see in Charleston.”

We need to be in the streets supporting our brothers and sisters. We want the numbers to increase, the issues and demands to in­ crease, and all workers who are victims of austerity to join together. One of our com­ rades who is most experienced in the labor movement said it best, “Our goal is to ad­ vance the interests of our class.” I can say it no better. n