_ CONVENTION
" HIGHLIGHTS99

Hampton calls for
unity with Ontario
labour movement

Convention delegates were given an address
by Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton who
acknowledged that all is not rosy between the
party and some parts of the labour movement.

is is one big family. I wish that we could
get along better sometimes, but I recognize that
sometimes there are differences that have to be
worked out,” he said. “I’m here to make the plea
that we continue all of our efforts to work
together.”

e said it frustrating to hear people say they
don’t need unions anymore and that they don’t
need the NDP anymore.

Although the NDP struggled to bring in
Medicare, fair labour legislation and has fought
for public education, workers compensation, and
health and safety laws, Hampton said some
working people think the Pauly, is unnecessary.

He said that today, salaries for CEO’s are
about 214 times greater than the salaries of their
average employees, up from about 20 times

® greater two decades ago. 4
“Meanwhile, workers are being told to work
ler, work longer, and by the way, work for
less,” he said. “Workers are being told the pen-
sion plan is too generous and vacation leave is
too generous.” 2 3

le said these inequities, at a time that society

is producing more goods and services than ever

ee

Ken Georgetti

_ Continued from page twenty-four

benefits of what we can do.”
He said the labour movement has to push for
labour legislation that will help, organizing in
ite of provinces like Ontario, where he predicts
the Harris government will introduce legislation
to make it tougher to join a union. :
He id that feccich has shown ee two ba
evel ‘would join a union if they wer
4 eigrerke hd one el a half would join if
ir boss wouldn't intimidate them. .
“So that means that over 70 percent of all work-
ers out there, if given an opportunity to pare
access to collective bargaining rights, woul
access them if they knew there wee a Tee
sions from the people that emp: se

“That says a lot about where 8
ted that way,
and why the: = slant , f

° Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton said the union movement must continue to work with the NDP.

before, proves that the union movement is more
important than ever before.

He made the clear point that working people
need a representative party in government.

He said labour laws, health and safety laws
and the health care system can all be taken away
by the stroke of a pen.

“My plea to you is to be not only a union that
engages in good collective bargaining, but a
union that continues to engage in good, sound
political activity as well, because what you gain
at the bargaining table has to be helped by what
is also passed in legislation,” said Hampton.

The speaker said that unions must continue to
reach out and organize in all sectors of society.

“T can tell you from my experience that we can-
not allow a world where more and more workers
feel that they can never have the prospect of a
union,” he said, adding that there lots of politi-
cal leaders “who are only too happy to stir up and

to create an aniti-union attitude.”

He said that under the Harris government the
minimum wage has been frozen for four and a
half years, despite a so-called economic boom. In
the United States the minimum wage has
increased by 30% over the past two years.

Hampton said that unions should join the
NDP in fighting for a higher minimum wage and
fight to prevent government from having legis-
lation that eliminates benefits for the growing
number of part-time workers.

In Saskatchewan, the NDP passed legislation
saying that when the employer shifts a worker
from full to part-time, they can’t get rid of his/her
benefit package.

“I would urge that all of us look at these issues,
the benefits of part-time workers, a decent min-
imum wage, so we can stop corporations from
creating a huge gulf” between union workers
and those that are unorganized, said Hampton.

NDP is workers’ voice says OFL

° OFL President Wayne Samuelson

“To those Ontario delegates, I don’t know about
you but I've been sick ever since the election, but
the reality is, we ain’t going to change it; at least
not the last election. We may be able to do it for the
next one.”

Those were the words of guest speaker Wayne
Samuelson, president of the Ontario Federation of
Labour, who was at this year’s I.W.A. convention.
The OFL saw the NDP finish a distant third to the
opposition Liberals and Mike Harris Conserva-
pies: Many working people voted against the

“You see, in Ontario we face areal challenge. We
are in jeopardy of losing a three-party system, in
going to a two-party system, where in fact the two
parties are both financed by the business commu-
nity, kind of like an American-style two party sys-
tem.”

The Liberals approached the OFL for a hospi-
tality room at the November convention and were
turned down. Samuelson said that working people
should never support a political party if it’s not
willing to support them.

“You won’t find (Liberal leader) Dalton
McGuinty on the picket line in Durham....”he said.

“When the Liberal Party of Ontario wants totalk
about real change in Workers’ Compensation, then
maybe we will talk to them,” he added. “Where the
hell are they on (the labour code) successor rights?
They didn’t say a word about it in the last election.
As a matter of fact the Liberal platform never even
used the word “worker” or “union” and I think we
need to be real clear with the Liberals here in
Ontario where we stand.” Z :

He said the NDP gained strength in past elec-
tions when it fought on core issues like rent con-
trol, workers health and safety, and social pro-

‘ams.

“The struggle for us, for the province of Ontario,
is to start setting an agenda, to not only respond
to the terrible things that we know the Tories are
going to do, but to start to talk to our members
about not only what’s important to them, what’s
important to their communities and to make sure
those issues are raised in the legislature in
Ontario,” he said.

“And the only voice that can do that is Howard
Hampton in the NDP, because I'll guarantee you
one ining) you won't have to ask Howard Ham)
ton twice to join you at your picket line,” he said.

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1999/25