LONDON, ONT. - It was a loud and boisterous scene outside the massive Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) factory on Jan. 21 as more than a thousand trade unionists joined the picket line in solidarity with 465 workers who have been locked out by the company for the past three weeks. With a punk rock band blasting music from a makeshift stage by the front gate, hundreds of workers disrupted traffic by crossing back and forth across the road regularly. A lone London police officer pleaded with them to keep things moving. It was the second show of support that day; earlier, an estimated 7,000 workers from across Ontario and the Midwest United States rallied at Victoria Park in downtown London.

LONDON, ONTARIO -- "Caterpillar equipment is used to destroy homes in Palestine. Kind of like what Caterpillar is trying to do to our homes here in London," a locked-out worker commented outside the Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) plant last week on their picket line.

Home losses are a likely outcome of the aggressive concessions the locked-out workers' employer (owned by Caterpillar since 2010) is demanding. Wage cuts of more than 50 per cent plus loss of benefits would mean families not being able to make mortgage or rent payments. I spoke to one welder, a father of five, whose spouse also worked at EMD. With both breadwinners hit by drastic compensation cuts or job loss, what sort of future would a family like theirs face?

On Saturday, April 9, 2011, rally at Dundas square (Yonge & Dundas) and march to Toronto City Hall to defend our communities, public services and good jobs.together we can stop cuts, closures, user fees and privatization that will hurt every person and every neighbourhood in Toronto. Let's speak up before it spreads to every city and town in Ontario.

Endorsing Organizations: ACORN Canada, Toronto and York Region Labour Council, International Women's Day Committee,Good Jobs for All Coalition, Ontario Federation of Labour, Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario,Canadian Labour Congress.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are about to impose usage-based billing on YOU.

This means we're looking at a future where ISPs will charge per byte, the way they do with smart phones. If we allow this to happen Canadians will have no choice but to pay MUCH more for less Internet. Big Telecom companies are obviously trying to gouge consumers, control the Internet market, and ensure that consumers continue to subscribe to their television services.

These Big Telecom companies are forcing small competing ISPs to adopt the same pricing scheme, so that we have no choice but to pay these punitive fees.

This will crush innovative services, Canada's digital competitiveness, and your wallet. More about this here: http://stopthemeter.ca/

Demand an independent public inquiry. Join the Day of Action for Civil Liberties in towns and cities across Canada on July 17, 2010.

Look for more events in your area:

St John's: 1:00-3:00 pm @ Lion's Club (Bonaventure Ave.) to Colonial Building (Military Rd.)

Ottawa: 1:00-3:00pm @ Human Rights Monument (Elgin St)

Bancroft: 1:00pm - 4:00pm @ Millennium Park; ends at MPP Leona Dombrowsky's office

London: 1:00-6:00pm @ City Hall on Dufferin Avenue

Niagara Falls: 1:00-3:00pm @ Montebello Park

Winnipeg: 1:00-4:00pm @ The Forks

Regina: 11am rally and march @ the Buffalo on Scarth St

Nelson: 1:00-3:00pm @ City Hall

Vancouver: 1:00-3:00pm @ Vancouver Public Library, followed by march to Victory Square