December, 2023 Grey Bruce Labour Council-Seasons Greetings This past year has been referred to as the year of the union. For good reason! The acceptance of unions and the desire to join or form a union are at higher numbers than at least a generation. Resulting in agreements at the bargaining table or by settlements to strikes, the collective agreements are regularly described in terms that tell a story of significant success for workers. Terms, also, that have not been used to describe collective agreements and settlements for many years. Not only is 2023 deserving of this title for excellent agreements and settlements, but the Union Movement, Labour in general, has been tremendously successful in organizing the unorganized, or the forcing governments to lean towards working people instead of their traditional allies found in the corporate board rooms, banks and investment firms. Making this part of a seasonal message is to recognize that one of the greatest gifts is a fair collective agreement and to celebrate what working people and their representatives have accomplished in recent months. Perhaps the best gift is that of a union card as this card is a pathway to equity, prosperity, respect and dignity. Many workers continue to be without union representation, but these workers will see improvements as improved settlements in unionized workplaces help to raise everyone to a much improved standard. This past year has not been all success. Of particular note provincial governments in Ontario and Alberta continue the tradition of being out of touch and tone deaf to the needs of workers that Conservative governments have become synonymous with. In Ottawa the introduction of anti-scab legislation in the federal sector is life changing and will profoundly improve the chances of bargained collective agreements. Even with all the well-known benefits of such legislation the doctrine driven Conservatives in Ottawa decline to support this generational improvement. The season represented by this last few weeks of 2023 and early 2024 finds many faiths celebrating. This time of the year calls us to kindness and charity that will hopefully help those in need at this time of year when as said in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, “want” is most keenly felt. Hopefully this is not where kindness and charity will end, but we will exercise kindness and charity throughout all we do. Charitable organizations, often found in the non-profit sector, have experienced the stress of significant decreases in donations and contributions. One path to improve this situation is the improved livelihoods achieved through fair collective bargaining and improved settlements that could create a situation where workers could have personal resources adequate enough to permit donations. The idea that overall prosperity can improve the lives of all of us gives hope that kindness and charity is sustainable and not only present at this time of year. The Grey Bruce Labour Council has been the voice of workers in our region for over sixty-five years. Supported by the generosity of the affiliated unions the labour council has been able to donate to numerous organizations to help the most vulnerable across our various communities. In the spirit of such giving and in the spirit of the season, the Grey Bruce Labour Council wishes safety, happiness and well-being to one and all and a very happy new year as we continue the year of the union to the years of the union.

The passing of the guard

The passing of the guard The recent passing of past Canadian Auto Workers and Canadian Labour Congress president Bob White is a tragic loss to all his family, friends, and loved ones. Hopefully they will find comfort in the font of love and respect that will flow their way in the wake of Bob’s life and his life’s work. In terms of Canada, and perhaps the world, it is impossible to view the passing of Bob White through a single lens. With the passing of iconic Canadians such as Bob White we are witness to not only the passing of the person, but the passing on of their passion for the work, the changes they made to Canada and the world as they marched and lead us through this life to new generations. Bob White’s work in the trade union and social justice movement was both pioneering and transformational. Suggesting that Bob was the only transformational and pioneering leader of progressive movements would be and is unfair to his peers, sisters and brothers, across progressive movements such as labour whom all made equally profound contributions. The list would be long and distinguished, Jean Claude Parrot, Lynn Williams, Kealey Cumming, Shirley Carr, Walter Reuther, the leaders of the Winnipeg General Strike, the strikers that brought about the Rand formula, the miners in Elliott Lake that brought about the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and so many more. The aim of organized labour is to improve the lives of workers, workers’ families, and their communities. The aim of business is the pursuit of capital and with forty plus years of predominantly business oriented, worker unfriendly governments the world over, these goals frequently contrast with the aim of labour. Organized labour has long recognized that reaching their goals must be attained holistically and that the sharing of wealth is imperative to that success. Bob White professed a sound sentiment some years ago, when he noted the it is the workers, without whom not a wheel would turn, that are the wealth makers. Philanthropic endeavours by business make it appear that their approach is a similar holistic approach, but no such endeavours would have taken place without the pressure of workers and their representatives insisting that businesses share their prosperity with workers and the community at large. It is this insistence on the sharing of prosperity or the creative way of dealing with challenges to this prosperity that made Bob White and this genre of labour leader the transformational leaders that they turned out to be. Measuring success in the context of workers’ rights and a fair and compassionate state is a bit of a mirror of Bob White’s accomplishments. Human rights, international solidarity with workers fighting apartheid, working to eliminate racism, woman’s rights, unwavering belief in Canada and Canadian workers through taking Canadian Auto Workers out of the UAW and into the CAW, bare knuckle fighting against the corporate agenda and neo-liberalism, ensuring that Canadians have decent paying jobs to go to, political action in the streets and in the legislatures, pushing back against unfair trade and the realization that a fair and compassionate society is not only possible it is ours for the making. These profound and progressive steps have all been achieved by the hard work of organized labour leaders, the rank and file and like minded individuals. Each victory was won by an undiminished belief that a socially responsible and fair society is possible and will be achieved through solid collective action. Based on decades of demonstrated contempt for workers by governments and business these leaders of workers and their members still took on the struggles and won the day by mobilizing workers and the community. Should these leaders and their supporters leave nothing behind, but their legacy of progressive change and the firm realization that fighting back and creating a better society for all was absolutely necessary, then they have paved the path for the next generation of activists and the new and transformational ways that will change the world and society for the better in spite of this time of ever increasing attacks on workers and the charter rights that embed such things as collective bargaining. Ending this letter to you with two quotes is appropriate. “Unions raise the standard for all workers just as a rising tide lifts all boats” and the United Steelworkers refrain of “One Day Longer” tells the story of how we all benefit from the struggle, what the struggle is likely to look like and what it will take-one day longer than the opposition to the fair and just society. Dave Trumble Vice-President, Bruce County Grey-Bruce Labour Council https://greybrucelabour.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/GBlabour/ https://twitter.com/GreyBruceLC

Labour Education

Experienced a full day talking to co-op students. The day was to be about Health and Safety and it certainly was. However, a very astute teacher recognized the possibility of expanding the two sessions to provide some education about unions, labour councils and the labour movement. At one time discussions about labour and unions took place regularly in secondary schools. I had my own educated guesses as to why this faded away from the curriculum and to some degree these guesses were validated today. During a break today this topic came up and the next few lines outline more or less what appears to have happened. There may be other reasons, but this seems to be the essence. Starting in 1995, as governments and media became less and less worker and union friendly this trend was adopted by more and more of the community at large. Covering the topics of unions and labour took place in a variety of ways. The teachers did it independently, invited speakers to their classes and made use of union speakers from the speakers' bureau of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Such speakers spoke from the heart and aided immensely in a better understanding for students of the benefits of a strong and robust labour movement. The negativity towards workers and unions, as mentioned above, manifested itself into the community voicing concerns about this valuable addition to the students' understanding. As misplaced and inappropriate as denying of students a clear understanding of unions, labour and the engine for positive social change that unions and labour are, this took its toll on teachers and schools inviting speakers in and ultimately lead to the demise of widespread and responsible sharing of this information as teachers felt less and less comfortable bringing speakers in. This ultimately took us to the point where education about unions and labour is at best hit and miss, or as happened to me, took place because of an inspired educator. Denying students a deep and full understanding of unions and labour is denying them information that is as important and profound as anything in any history book. It denies them the history of people and events that formed the foundation of almost every positive social change we have collectively experienced.

Fake News and the Labour Movement

January 3, 2017 “Fake News” and the Labour Movement There is a possibility that “fake news” may have been a consideration in the recent American election outcome and with its proliferation in many facets of life, “fake news” is currently the subject of talk shows, pundits, etc. There is clear evidence that for some ,fake news may pass for factual news but despite appearances it has no semblance to fact based journalism or source verified news. Through trained journalists carrying out hard nosed journalism, legitimate news reporting and analysis will arrive at conclusions, or at least educated opinions. Hard news and reporting is not designed to please everyone, but there is research, debate and if proven, legitimate publication. People may disagree with resulting opinions and/or outcomes that are reached, but by and large the effort is honest and unmolested, unlike the news reported by the fake news purveyors who exaggerate, misinform, use racism, hate, intolerance, wedge issues and / or corporate dollars to interfere with editorial boards. Wedge issues are a cornerstone of fake news as it demands that readers be drawn into discussions that are, by design, put in place to distract people from the issues that need attention. Intrinsic to the standard for legitimate news is accountability. Before fake news, if a media or journalistic source intentionally set out to mislead there were consequences, such accountability did not necessarily have substantial weight, but could range from subscriber issues to legal action against the source. There exists a vast quantity of media personalities and social media users intentionally providing and/or propagating misleading reports and lies. This may also be multiplied by corporate dollars pressuring their lapdog media outlets and by extension their too often repugnant and regressive on air personalities. Up to this point unfortunately there seems to be no accountability for those delivering fake news. Some fake news has a very long shelf life as it is very well reported. An example of the immediate or obvious issues with fake news is that of American President Barack Obama, despite there not being any verifiable information or conclusive evidence, the birther movement in America sustained the question of his birthplace for several years. Additionally, a subscriber or reader of fake news in America took it upon himself to attempt an armed rescue of children who he believed were being held hostage. Fake news is partially sustained by pandering to a portion of the population, that who, because of their personal convictions wish to believe what is provided and by those who either choose to accept fake news without verifying its legitimacy or sadly for any number of reasons are incapable of determining its authenticity. Fake news owes much to the posting and reposting in the social media world and such actions flow out the same roots of verification and pandering. Keeping fake news alive cannot be solely attributed to the left or the right of the social or political spectrum, but its damage cannot be overstated: Did fake news change the course of an election? It will be more appropriate for historians to debate and decide that. Let us be clear though, provocation is one of the pillars of fake news. There will always be topics that generate strong feelings, fake news is typically aimed at these susceptible topics, the already noted example of the birther issue is one such item. Although fabricated, some people wanted to believe bad things about President Obama, aided solely by endless shares and retweets the purveyors of fake news pushed this as far as possible. Fake news is not limited to misleading information on a global scale, but does evolve into numerous smaller manifestations and will exist by sustaining itself by the same rules as fake news on a global issue, nonetheless it does remains damaging. Examining this more closely we can look at the damage done to the labour movement. The labour movement by its very structure, is inclusive and works for the collective good. However, with a concerted campaign of disinformation about the labour movement that predates the social media amplification of fake news by decades, the damage done by the fake news of today is easily multiplied. The labour movement has been overtly attacked since the Mulroney, Reagan, Thatcher triumvirate of economic horror. The attacks have undermined an entity that works for the good of all workers. This attack, both legislatively and in the media, has aided in the decrease in union membership and backlash towards unionized workers in all sectors. There is a direct relationship between the declining wealth of workers, the strength of the middle class and the decline in union membership. Those that have committed themselves to damaging the labour movement, or any progressive movement for that matter, have a tool that knows no bounds and exists with no known method of accountability. The damage that can be done to the labour movement or any progressive movement is all but limitless. Anytime that progressive movements are vulnerable the entire balance of liberal democracy teeters on the razor’s edge. The labour movement is the last self funded barrier between economic totalitarianism and workers maintaining their rights in the workplace and the damage done before fake news is a malignant cancer eating away at workers’ rights in the workplace. The possible damage that fake news could inflict is now almost incalculable. There are numerous legitimate accusations against fake news and an undermining of workers’ rights is but one. Fake news is used by those wishing to see the labour movement weakened to the point of negligible influence, or perhaps destroyed completely. Along with working within the workplace on behalf of its members, the trade union movement is active in the legislative environment. To remain effective, the density or percentage of unionized workers needs to be enough to bring pressure to bear on employers and on legislators to improve workers’ rights and benefits. Fake news attempts to dress up legislation such as so called “right to work” as something noble in the workplace. In reality “right to work” is a corporate and legislative initiative designed to decrease union density and undermine the effectiveness of the labour movement. Similarly, fake news is being used to pit public sector union members against private sector union members. Fake news reports that public sector union members have somehow been awarded lucrative wages and benefits where private sector union members have been intentionally deprived of similar wages and benefits. Instead of recognizing that the benefits that any union member receives is the result of years of open and fair collective bargaining, ultimately advancing the standard of living and working conditions for every worker, the fake news end game is to pit union member against union member. Fake news is being used to suggest to union members and to the general public that public sector union members receiving these wages and benefits are the reason for government debt issues, when these debt issues are part of government inaction on the loss of manufacturing jobs and the continued habit of providing corporate tax breaks. Left unchecked fake news can be used to undermine any entity. It may alter history and destroy institutions with little chance of recovery. The job ahead of us all, despite the fake news attack is to be responsible well informed citizens, voters, union members and workers. Never forget that the gains of union members elevate the standard of living for all workers. Dave Trumble, VP, Grey Bruce Labour Council

Looking to 2017 for the Grey Bruce Labour Council

The founding convention of the Canadian Labour Congress took place 60 years ago in 1956. That founding convention not only brought together workers from across Canada it also witnessed the chartering of local labour councils across Canada. One such labour council was the Owen Sound and District Labour Council. From 1956 to 1995 the Owen Sound and District Labour Council provided a voice to workers across our region and has proudly continued doing this noble and needed work since 1995 when the name was changed to the Grey-Bruce Labour Council. The new year and the council's 61st continuous year of operation starts the new decade for the Grey-Bruce Labour Council. Labour Councils are the very grassroots of the Labour Movement. Workers at the community or local level are able to work towards the betterment of their members and the entire community through labour council involvement. Even though 2017 represents the start of another decade, the only change will be that the labour council in light of the ongoing attacks on workers' rights and the undermining of communities and pubic services will have to work harder than ever to ensure that workers and their families have safe workplaces, safe communities, adequate public services and the opportunity for a dignified retirement. The January 2017 meeting of the labour council will see a setting of local work priorities along with campaign priorities that will assist with provincial and national goals for the labour and the social justice movements. OPSEU is driving a campaign called "We Own It". The focus is to do all things possible to ensure that our public services are adequately funded and accessible. The Grey-Bruce Labour Council anxiously looks forward to assisting with this campaign. Many unionized workplaces have yet to become active in the Grey-Bruce Labour Council and it will be a priority of the council to reach out to these local unions, federations, lodges, etc. in hopes of involving them in the work of the Labour Council. Looking past the early part of the upcoming year, the labour council will be undertaking the required work to organize no less than three Day of Mourning ceremonies to remember workers killed and injured in the workplace, the awarding of the Robert White Social Justice Awards in June, the Labour Day parade in September and the Activist Awards dinner in November. The Labour Council Affiliates contribute so much to the community and the region through their work in the labour council that the very fabric of our community would be damaged if they were to step back only marginally. As we reach out to the community through the United Way and the Four County Planning Board the labour council hopes to exceed its grasp and make the community and the region all the stronger and better for all citizens.

Labour Council Involvement

Why should your union become involved in the activities of the Grey-Bruce Labour Council? A Labour Council is a local or regional labour central where unions and “like minded” organizations come together to share knowledge and consider and plan activities that will move a socially responsible agenda forward within the community or region where they reside. Unions often need training, information and support. Labour Councils capably provide these services by offering a variety of labour produced courses, information from the Canadian Labour Congress and mutual aid in the event of strike, lockout or lay off. Labour Councils provide delegates to assist and, where seats are designated to Labour, to sit on the board of directors of agencies that provide assistance to members of our community or region that may experience job loss, poverty, abuse and violence, and the many forms of tragedy that unfortunately afflict our society. Local Labour Councils are able to undertake all these activities only because local unions, federations, lodges and associations attend Labour Council meetings and support the local Labour Council. A strong Labour Council is only as strong as the commitment of local unions to become involved with the Labour Council and local unions are only able to access the services of the Labour Council when local unions commit to involvement with the Labour Council.

Municipal Elections

Aug. 10, 2014 Dear Editor; Municipal elections, or the next season of political activity will be upon us this fall. Although municipal candidates and elected officials are often our neighbors and co-workers, municipal elections frequently receive less attention than their provincial and federal counterparts. Being careful to not be over zealous (or politely put, not be a pest to these people) municipal candidates and those elected to municipal office are more accessible than any other politician. Federal or provincial officials are accessible when they are in the riding, but their availability pales relative to how often a resident of a municipality will be able to interact with their councilor, trustee and/or mayor. Participating in or viewing local council meetings or simply being able to quickly access a politician living in the community represents a greatly enhanced ability to educate, influence or debate on an issue or issues that will have immediate impact in the community. With nowhere near the majority of the electorate casting a vote to establish majority provincial or federal governments, the recent trend to less engaged voters is costing Canadians dearly as these governments legislate more and more on behalf of the rich and corporate elite and less and less on behalf of all working Canadians. Municipal elections are not responsible for majority governments, but municipal elections are responsible for elected officials that have immediate impact in their community. Many people in Canada, from union members to anti-poverty activists, work tirelessly to effect change that will stem the profound and devastating damage done to working Canadians by a vast array of provincial and federal governments elected not on their merit, but too often by apathy. Every working Canadian needs to thank these activists, but there is no tool more effective in changing the direction of government policy at all levels than informed voters getting out and voting. There must be no mistake that those executing and planning an agenda contrary to the interests of ordinary Canadians have inexhaustible resources and a never ending supply of ethical decay. Resources that they will use to convince people to vote against their own self interests; self interests such as a decent minimum wage, safe workplaces, workplaces with defined benefit pensions and benefits, the right to organize and more. A certain level of surprise is usually present when people start to come to the realization that municipal elections represent a significant opportunity to engage their municipal officials and to generate changes that will benefit working people. Representing over three million Canadian workers, the Canadian Labour Congress through Union affiliates, progressive organizations and local Labour Councils invests considerable effort in the “Municipalities Matters” campaign. The title of the campaign calls out the tangible changes that voters can make by being engaged in their municipal elections and by voting for candidates with a stated desire to work for progressive change in their communities. There is no level of government except the municipal level where carefully considered votes and involvement with local municipal officials by the electorate will have such a tangible result on setting policy on such profound issues as collective bargaining for municipal workers/police/paramedics/fire and others, establishing policy on items like minimum wage (as has been successfully done in Seattle for example), establishing “buy Canadian” policies, governance for local utilities and even in Kincardine the controversial issues associated with the Deep Geological Repository for low and intermediate waste. Educated voters getting out and voting in every election is hugely important. Perhaps with the knowledge of how important municipal elections are the fall elections will see a significant surge in voter turnout. Who knows, this may translate into a wave of voter engagement and the right wing and the corporations will have considerably less influence on the election outcome. A wave of voter engagement is the biggest fear of right wing governments and the corporate elite. Dave Trumble Kincardine