The Grey Bruce Labour Council and friends of the Labour Council joined in a nation wide "day of action" in Kincardine on January 19th. Organized locally by the Grey Bruce Labour Council and supported across the country by the Canadian Labour Congress and every Provincial and Territorial Federation of Labour the action successfully brought activists out from coast to coast.
The Grey Bruce Labour Council is profoundly proud of the variety of union affiliates and partners that participate in all labour council activities and the information picket on the 19th was no different. Proudly represented was OPSEU, OSSTF, Society of Energy Professionals, PWU, UNIFOR and the NDP. The participation by UNIFOR is immensely noteworthy, UNIFOR has a history of grassroots activism so having them at the information picket is not unusual, but having brand new members of UNIFOR giving up their unpaid lunch to come and participate must be applauded and celebrated.
For very good reasons the "day of action" took place at or near franchises under the Tim Horton's banner. Labour Council Vice President, Dave Trumble in talking about the action notes that "since its inception some sixty years ago, Tim Horton's has worked hard to mould itself the into the face of wholesome Canadian values. Yet today we see the Tim Horton's corporate entity and some of its franchise owners exemplifying anything but values that Canadians want to identify with. It may be the corporate silence in the face of an injustice imparted by franchisees or the direct action of some franchisees, but minimum wage workers at some Tim Horton's are seeing their paid breaks and some benefits taken away in response to the profoundly overdue increase in the minimum wage in Ontario".
According to Grey Bruce Labour Council President, Kevin Smith, "the action in Kincardine was not undertaken to blame the owners of the Kincardine Tim Horton's. The action and information picket were all about making sure that people understand that the low wage economic model is no longer sustainable. Advocates for owners keep pointing to the eighty, ninety or 100 hours that small business owners must endure to make their businesses successful. These owners should be aligning themselves with workers' advocates and pointing to same low wage model that keeps many workers in perpetual poverty also keeps them, the owners, shackled unfairly to their business".
By a wide margin the visible community response to the information picket was overwhelmingly positive. Jeff Cronin, Labour Council Executive Member, noted "that a few people did vocalize some disapproval of the picket and a few people chose not to take the information flyer, but in the same breath people who had never participated in such a socially responsible activity enthusiastically came out on what turned out to be very well attended, well received and well covered event".
Labour Council Delegate, Mike Dunn, was pleased to point out that the same organizations that organized the January 19th events, including the Labour Council, are now contemplating the next steps. The regressive entities standing in opposition to the improvement of workers' lives continue their full out attack and the Labour Movement and our friends and allies have no intention of allowing such a regressive agenda to go unanswered.
The Grey Bruce Labour Council is one of over one-hundred and forty labour councils in Canada. The Grey Bruce Labour Council is celebrating its sixty second anniversary of being the voice of public and private sector unions in Grey and Bruce.
source: media release, Grey Bruce Labour Council
