Document Details

2009

Agriculture Workers Alliance

AWA E-News

Agriculture Workers Alliance

AWA at Labour Day Weekend Activities:

AWA activists will be out in full force at this year’s Labour Day activities talking to people about the new “McGuinty’s Plantation” campaign.

As many of you already know, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government in Ontario decided back in February, 2009 to appeal the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal which granted the right of agriculture workers to join a union and bargain collectively.

Join our brothers and sisters at different locations across Ontario and let Dalton McGuinty’s government know that “Just because agriculture workers work the land, doesn’t mean they are dirt!”

STOP DALTON MCGUINTY’S PLANTATION!

Our brothers and sisters will be spreading the word about McGuinty’s Plantation in the following communities:

Cornwall, Kingston, Ottawa, Windsor, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Kenora, London, Toronto, Guelph, Sault Ste. Marie, Oshawa, St. Catharines and North Bay

Mexican Independence Day Festivities

Mexican Independence Day is fast approaching and many AWA centres are already preparing for this event.

Every year just over 15 thousand Mexican workers come to work in the agriculture sector in Canada and thousands more in other industries like meat packing, construction, food services and hotels.

In the early hours of September 16, 1810, father Hidalgo, accompanied by several revolutionaries – Ignacio Allende, Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez – rang the bell of his little church, calling everyone to fight for liberty. This was the beginning of the Independence War, which lasted 10 years.

And this is the moment re-enacted every September 16th in every plaza or zócalo of Mexico, and commemorated by Mexicans all over the world.

Please join many of our brothers and sisters at each of the nine AWA centres across Canada in recognizing and celebrating this important day for our Mexican amigos. Please stay tuned as we will be posting the details of these events on both the AWA website and the AWA Facebook Group.

First Country-Wide Call for the Latin American Trade Unionist of Canada Conference
Si, Soy Sindicalista! - Yes, I am a Unionist!

Dear Sisters and Brothers, are you Latin-American? Are you member of a union? You are not alone. In September of 2009, the first ever conference of Latin American union members across Canada will be held in Toronto, Canada.

The Latin American Trade Unionists Coalition (“LATUC”) is a newly formed coalition of Canadian union members of Latin American heritage. It is an active network of men and women, workers that self-identify as Latin American from across the Canadian labour movement spectrum. LATUC includes members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, International Association of Machinists, United Steelworkers, United Food and Commercial Workers and other public and private sector unions. It seeks to strengthen the voice of Canadian Latin American workers within the labour movement in Canada.

LATUC encourages all Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters in trade unions across Canada to attend and participate in their first national conference, which will take place on:

Date: September 11, 12 and 13, 2009
Place: Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Toronto, Ontario

For more information contact Pablo Godoy:
By e-mail: pablo.godoy@ufcw.ca
By telephone: 416.420.6992

On September 10, 2009 before the LATUC conference, Latino-American brothers and sisters within the UFCW Canada membership will get together for the founding Latinos Unidos of UFCW Canada Conference to be held at the UFCW Canada Local 175 & 633 Training Centre. So far, members from UFCW Canada Locals 500, 175, 1000A and 501 will take part in the event.

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  Agriculture Workers Alliance Bits and Bites! (http://awa-ata.ca/en/media/e-news-2009/e-news-vol2-issue-21/)
  

Agriculture and horticulture workers

Policy analysis

Public awareness

Right to unionize, Labour standards, Health and safety at work, Determination fair wages and labour shortage, Right to equality (national origin), and Right to equality (social status)

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