On Friday morning, outgoing Ontario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson banged his gavel for the last time as he adjourned the convention.  

Not sure why, but I found this convention to be “flat” – i.e. a fairly low energy event with some notable exceptions. Below are a few of my convention highlights. 

Policy 

Three major policy papers were adopted. The first, on jobs, had no speakers which is unprecedented and reflected the overall “flatness” of the convention. I was surprised that no union presidents or OFL candidates had anything to say. I considered speaking on the green jobs component of the paper but opted to wait for the green resolutions. Tactical mistake since none of the 4 green resolutions (3 submitted by OPSEU) made it to the floor. I did take the opportunity to talk about the environment during discussion of the 3rd policy paper on “Rights” which included some new territory for the OFL including food security, the right to water, green chemicals, green procurement and environmental restoration. 

While the papers had some good content, and the resolutions not dealt with will go to the OFL board for discussion, I was disappointed that no environment  policies made it to the floor in  4 and half days. I was particularly prepared to speak to a resolution calling on the OFL to reduce its greenhouse gas and energy footprint. I didn’t “lobby” the committee until Thursday which was probably a mistake on my part. 

The convention did deal with more than two dozen resolutions on various themes. Most were carried unanimously. I won’t go into them here. 

OFL Native Circle

I was privileged to attend the OFL’s Native Circle gathering on Thursday after adjournment. About 40 people took part in the Circle which was conducted by Brother Tim Brown. Tim told a couple of stories which drove home the importance of working together with one another to achieve things which we can’t achieve on our own. He also stressed the importance of perspective – i.e. that we can look at the same issue from different angles, see different things and perhaps come to different conclusions while all being right. After the story telling, we went around the circle and each participant offered their own reflections on why they attended the Circle, how they were feeling about the convention and whatever else we wanted to add. 

Tim Brown is a rock of strength and source of wisdom in often troubling times. 

Attawapaskat High School

Sisters Serena and Shannon Kootstachin from the Attawapaskat First Nation on James Bay moved the convention with their remarks about the fact that their community has not had a school for years. The former school was shut down after a diesel spill. They talked about the neglect from successive federal governments and the impact that is having on the children in their community. They talked about a nation wide campaign of high school students to support them in their struggle for a real school – not portables. 

Malalai Joya

Suspended Afghan MP Malalai Joya addressed the convention on Wednesday. As she does everywhere she speaks, she made a very strong case for the immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops so that the Afghan people can settle their own affairs without foreign interference. I can’t find her remarks online but you can hear an interview with Malalai on this rabble.ca podcast here. 

Jack Layton

Jack’s speech to the convention can be found here. The main thrust of his remarks were around pensions – on of this convention’s central themes – which was very good. However, I would have liked to have heard him say something about Afghanistan. He made one comment (not in the written text) that “We support Obama” in reference to something I can’t recall. I would have liked to hear him qualify that statement given Obama’s hawkish approach to some foreign policy issues and his unwillingness to do away with some of Bush II’s most repugnant assaults on civil liberties. 

Strike support

Approximately $100,000 was raised from the floor in support of striking workers across Ontario including the CEP at Cadillac Fairview, Steelworkers at Vale Inco and the driver license examiners who are also Steelworkers. As described in this post, we made a couple of visits to the Toronto-Dominion Centre to help highlight the strike there. 

Cultural interludes

The was a wide variety of excellent cultural performances including music, spoken word and dance by various artists. Here’s a Youtube video of Ritallin talking about migrant workers in Niagara. 

Button Fair

Thanks to the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre for hosting a union button, pin and ribbon fair and trading post at lunchtime on Wednesday. I helped initiate this event so that I could display my collection of dues pins, cards and books. These pins harken back to a time when the union was much more connected to its members. Every month or two, members were required to pay their union dues directly to their steward or treasurer. There was no dues “check-off” by employers. The buttons and other materials contain a wealth of history and art. Each button has a story to tell. I’m considering putting together a powerpoint presentation on this topic some time in the future. 

Sheraton Centre Hotel Workers

UNITE/HERE Local 75 successfully used the occasion of the convention to press the Sheraton Hotel for subsidized TTC passes for its employees. This benefit is worth almost $400 per year for each member who buys a pass and is now part of the contract for most UNITE/HERE hotels. Congrats to the Sheraton workers who stood strong. 

Gary Shaul

Gary Shaul is a life-long Torontonian and retired Ontario civil servant. He's been involved with a number of issues over the past 45 years including trade unionism, proportional representation, Indigenous...