Latest News and Updates
Damning Report Says Ontario is Failing Migrant Workers: OFL Calls on Wynne Government to Protect Rights of Vulnerable Workers
posted on May 16, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 16, 2013 Damning Report Says Ontario is Failing Migrant Workers OFL Calls on Wynne Government to Protect Rights of Vulnerable Workers (TORONTO, ON) ─ OFL calls on Ontario Government to respond immediately to a new report that gives the province shameful grades for failing to protect the rights of migrant workers. [...]
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Modest Improvements Offer Little Relief in Austerity Budget: OFL Calls on Parties to Make Fairness the Focus of Budget Negotiations
posted on May 2, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2, 2013 MEDIA RELEASE Modest Improvements Offer Little Relief in Austerity Budget OFL Calls on Parties to Make Fairness the Focus of Budget Negotiations (TORONTO, ON) ─ Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan welcomed modest measures in today’s Budget that responded to concerns identified in the People’s Budget but [...]
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Release: OFL releases People’s Budget plan for Ontario: affordable measures to alleviate poverty, new infrastructure investment, and tax fairness
posted on April 15, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 15, 2013 OFL releases People’s Budget plan for Ontario: affordable measures to alleviate poverty, new infrastructure investment, and tax fairness More than 135 groups participated in nine-community public consultation (Toronto, Ontario) –The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) released a white paper today, A People’s Budget – Towards a Fair Ontario, which [...]
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Advisory: OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Thunder Bay region on March 7
posted on March 6, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 6, 2013 MEDIA ADVISORY OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Thunder Bay region on March 7 Campaign aims to change the public policy conversation on austerity (Thunder Bay, Ontario) – On Thursday, March 7, residents of the Thunder Bay region will add their ideas to a province-wide consultation [...]
Read MoreAdvisory: OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Sudbury region on March 6
posted on March 4, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 6, 2013 MEDIA ADVISORY OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Sudbury region on March 6 Campaign aims to change the public policy conversation on austerity (Sudbury, Ontario) – On Wednesday, March 6, residents of the Sudbury region will add their ideas to a province-wide consultation on Ontario’s financial [...]
Read MoreAdvisory: OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Ottawa region on February 26
posted on February 25, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 25, 2013 MEDIA ADVISORY OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Ottawa region on February 26 Campaign aims to change the public policy conversation on austerity (Sudbury, Ontario) – On Tuesday, February 26, residents of the National Capital Region will add their ideas to a province-wide consultation on Ontario’s [...]
Read MoreRELEASE: New OFL discussion paper rejects the myths of austerity and urges new public policy focus on jobs, growth, and public services
posted on February 25, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 25, 2013 MEDIA RELEASE New OFL discussion paper rejects the myths of austerity and urges new public policy focus on jobs, growth, and public services Ontarians invited to participate in province-wide consultation that begins tonight in Brampton (Toronto, Ontario) –The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) released a discussion paper today calling [...]
Read MoreADVISORY: OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Peel region on February 25th
posted on February 23, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 25, 2013 MEDIA ADVISORY OFL People’s Budget Campaign to hold community consultation in Peel region on February 25th Brampton Campaign Launch aims to change the public policy conversation on austerity (Brampton, Ontario) – On February 25, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) will release a discussion paper calling for a changing [...]
Read MoreRELEASE: OFL Considers Nominating Fraser Institute for “Union Organizer of the Year” Award for Championing Union Benefits
posted on February 20, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 20, 2013 Media Release OFL Considers Nominating Fraser Institute for “Union Organizer of the Year” Award for Championing Union Benefits (Toronto, Ontario) – Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan thanked the Fraser Institute – a right-wing think tank – for its release of today’s report highlighting the benefits of joining [...]
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RELEASE: OFL Welcomes Throne Speech Overtures to Labour but is Eager for Action
posted on February 19, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 19, 2013 Media Release OFL Welcomes Throne Speech Overtures to Labour but is Eager for Action (Toronto, Ontario) – Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan today welcomed a positive and constructive message from the first throne speech of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, but workers are eager for action. “Today’s throne [...]
Read MoreOFL calls on Ontario’s New Premier to Redefine Provincial Priorities Around an Economic Recovery that Includes Everyone
posted on January 27, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 27, 2013 OFL calls on Ontario’s New Premier to Redefine Provincial Priorities Around an Economic Recovery that Includes Everyone (Toronto, Ontario) – Ontario’s new Premier must meet the challenges left by her predecessor head on, according to the Ontario Federation of Labour. Newly elected Liberal Party Leader Kathleen Wynne must tackle [...]
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MEDIA RELEASE: New Premier Faces Record Opposition: 30,000 Rally to Demand Restoration of Public Services and Democratic Rights
posted on January 26, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 26, 2013 New Premier Faces Record Opposition: 30,000 Rally to Demand Restoration of Public Services and Democratic Rights (Toronto, Ontario) – Over 30,000 protesters descended on Maple Leaf Gardens this afternoon as Liberal Party delegates prepared to elect the next Premier of Ontario. Coming from every corner of the province and [...]
Read MoreMedia Advisory: Liberals to Elect New Premier Amid Unprecedented Protest
posted on January 25, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 25, 2013 Media Advisory: Liberals to Elect New Premier Amid Unprecedented Protest (Toronto, Ontario) – Whoever is elected to be the new Premier of Ontario will have to face the largest protest of the party’s eight years in government. “The Liberals have tried to pretend that their only opposition is from [...]
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Ontario Liberals to Face Largest Protest Yet at #J26Rally: Over 100 Buses Booked and More are Rolling in Daily
posted on January 18, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 18, 2013 Ontario Liberals to Face Largest Protest Yet at #J26Rally: Over 100 Buses Booked and More are Rolling in Daily (Toronto, Ontario) – With its Leadership Convention only a week away, the public backlash against the Ontario Liberal Party shows no signs of abating. The protest scheduled for 1:00 pm [...]
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Advisory: OFL President to Join Chief Spence and Allies in Rally for Justice
posted on January 10, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2013 OFL President to Join Chief Spence and Allies in Rally for Justice (Ottawa, Ontario) – As First Nations leaders prepare to meet with Canada’s Prime Minister and Governor General, Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan will show the support of Ontario’s labour movement for Canada’s Aboriginal community by [...]
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Metron Manager to Face Criminal Trial for Toronto High-Rise Fatalities
posted on January 10, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2013 Metron Manager to Face Criminal Trial for Toronto High-Rise Fatalities (Toronto, Ontario) – The Ontario Federation of Labour welcomed today’s Ontario Court decision that Metron Construction Project Manager Vadim Kazenelson will face a criminal trial for the deaths of four workers and the serious injury of another in 2009. [...]
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OPEN LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER HARPER: Talk to Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation
posted on December 17, 2012OPEN LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER HARPER: Talk to Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation DECEMBER 17, 2012 Dear Prime Minister Harper: On behalf of one million members of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) I am calling on you to meet with Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation who is engaged [...]
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OFL President Sid Ryan to Hunker Down with the Homeless in Sidewalk Sleep-Out to Protest Social Assistance Cuts
posted on December 11, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 11, 2012 OFL President Sid Ryan to Hunker Down with the Homeless in Sidewalk Sleep-Out to Protest Social Assistance Cuts (Toronto, Ontario) – OFL Officers Sid Ryan and Irwin Nanda will join poverty activists and people who are homeless in a sidewalk sleep-out at MPP Glen Murray’s Toronto Centre Constituency Office [...]
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Media Advisory: Community-Labour Coalition joins education worker fight against Bill 115; hosts assembly to challenge cuts to services and rights
posted on December 6, 2012For Immediate Release December 6, 2012 Media Advisory: Community-Labour Coalition joins education worker fight against Bill 115; hosts assembly to challenge cuts to services and rights (TORONTO, ON) ─ Hot on the heels of a nationally recognized report exposing Ontario’s growing income inequality, the Ontario Common Front is expecting hundreds to attend a general assembly [...]
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ADVISORY: Cornwall Town Hall Exposes Local Impact of Government Cuts to Services and Democratic Rights
posted on December 3, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 3, 2012 ADVISORY: Cornwall Town Hall Exposes Local Impact of Government Cuts to Services and Democratic Rights (Cornwall, Ontario) – Outraged at the McGuinty governments’ deep cuts to social programs and the recent attack on the democratic rights of education workers, Cornwall community members will be gathering on the evening of [...]
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ADVISORY: Windsor Town Hall Exposes Local Impact of Government Cuts to Services and Democratic Rights
posted on November 26, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 26, 2012 (Windsor, Ontario) – Outraged at the McGuinty governments’ deep cuts to social programs and the recent attack on the democratic rights of education workers, community members from across Windsor will be gathering this evening for a public town hall meeting. The forum will provide an opportunity for local residents [...]
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ADVISORY: Thunder Bay Town Hall Exposes Local Impact of Government Cuts to Services and Democratic Rights
posted on November 19, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 20, 2012 (Thunder Bay, Ontario) – Outraged at the McGuinty governments’ deep cuts to social programs and the recent attack on the democratic rights of education workers, community members from across Thunder Bay will be gathering this evening for a public town hall meeting. The forum will provide an opportunity for [...]
Read MoreOPEN LETTER TO PREMIER: Labour Ends Talks with Government; Refuses to be Political Pawn
posted on October 24, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 24, 2012 Dear Premier McGuinty, Two weeks ago, Ontario’s labour leaders approached your government, in a gesture of good will, with the end goal of supporting local settlements while circumventing draconian legislation like Bill 115. Unfortunately, your government undermined these discussions before they could get started. First, your crass political decision [...]
Read MoreLabour Calls Prorogation an Affront to Democratic Rights
posted on October 19, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 19, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan today debunked media speculation that the labour movement was privy to Premier Dalton McGuinty’s decision to prorogue the Ontario Legislature. “Let me set the record straight once and for all: the labour movement played no part in the [...]
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Labour Movement Releases Mental Injury Tool Kit on World Mental Health Day
posted on October 9, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 9, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) has banded together with several provincial labour unions and the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) to launch a Mental Injury Tool Kit on October 10, 2012, in recognition of World Mental Health Day. This tool kit is part [...]
Read MoreEmergency Meeting of Union Leaders to Announce Plans to Mobilize Opposition Against McGuinty’s Attack on Charter Rights
posted on September 25, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 25, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) will host an emergency meeting of labour union leaders representing over one million workers on Wednesday, September 26 to draft province-wide plans to challenge Premier Dalton McGuinty’s recent attack on the Charter rights of workers. After tabling the constitutionally disputed [...]
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OFL Launches Hotline to Report Gas Company Theft of Worker Wages in Wake of Gas-and-Dash Tragedy
posted on September 18, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 18, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — Despite denial from the petroleum industry, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) believes that the illegal practice of docking worker wages for gas theft may have played a role in Saturday night’s gas-and-dash killing of a Toronto gas station attendant. Today the OFL set out to [...]
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OFL Calls for Criminal Investigation into Role of Shell Canada Policies in Gas-and-Dash Killing
posted on September 17, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 17, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) today wrote to the Toronto Police Service to call for a criminal investigation into the policies of Shell Canada and the possible role they played in Saturday night’s death of a Toronto gas station attendant. Amid public outcry over the [...]
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ADVISORY: Ontario Federation of Labour to Join the Occupy Rally on Parliament Hill, Sept. 17
posted on September 14, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 14, 2012 (Toronto) — On Monday, September 17, Ontario’s labour movement will be joining Canada’s Occupy movement on Parliament Hill to demand a stop to Prime Minister Harper’s cuts to jobs and services. Planned for the date that Parliament resumes after the summer recess and the one year anniversary of Occupy [...]
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MEDIA RELEASE: McGuinty’s Anti-Union Posturing is Simply a Crass Game of Politics that Will Cost Him a Majority
posted on September 6, 2012For Immediate Release September 6, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — Stealing a page out of Tim Hudak’s failed “Change Book,” Premier Dalton McGuinty made a cynical electoral play when he decided to try to vilify school teachers and educational workers. In a deposition delivered last night on the McGuinty government’s controversial anti-worker bill, OFL President Sid [...]
Read MoreMedia Advisory: McGuinty’s Anti-Worker Gamble will Cost Him a Majority Government
posted on September 5, 2012For Immediate Release September 5, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — Stealing a page out of Tim Hudak’s failed “Change Book,” Premier Dalton McGuinty made a cynical electoral play when he decided to try to vilify school teachers and educational workers. In tonight’s deposition on the McGuinty government’s controversial anti-worker bill, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) will [...]
Read MoreOFL Applauds Crown’s Appeal of “Manifestly Unfit” Sentence in Metron Scaffolding Tragedy
posted on August 21, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 21, 2012 (Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan today applauded Ontario’s Attorney General for appealing the $200,000 fine leveled against Metron Construction for criminal negligence claiming the lives of four workers and seriously injuring another on Christmas Eve 2009. Calling the sentence “manifestly unfit,” the Crown’s [...]
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OFL Receives Appointment to Ontario’s First Prevention Council
posted on August 10, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 10, 2012 (Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) welcomed yesterday’s Ontario government announcement of the province’s first Prevention Council on Occupational Health and Safety. Included in the announcement was the appointment of OFL Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Hutchison and four other worker representatives to advise the government on measures to protect [...]
Read MoreOFL Calls on Crown to Appeal Metron Sentence: A Worker’s Life is Worth More than $50K
posted on July 13, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 13, 2012 (Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan is calling on the Crown to appeal the $200,000 fine leveled against Metron Construction today for the deaths of four workers and the critical injury of another. Ryan had harsh criticisms for a judicial system that continues to [...]
Read MoreOFL Expects Historic Sentencing of Negligent Company: Restitution Sought for Victim and Survivors
posted on July 12, 2012(Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is bracing itself for a historic verdict this Friday, when the sentence will be announced against Metron Construction. The company’s criminal negligence led to the deaths of four workers and the critical injury of another when scaffolding collapsed at a Toronto high-rise on December 24, 2009. While [...]
Read MoreHudak Plan Seeks to Strip Workers of Wages, Benefits and Pensions
posted on June 27, 2012(TORONTO) — Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak’s White Paper on “Flexible Labour Markets” seeks to strip Ontario workers of wages, benefits and pensions, according to the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL). “Hudak’s proposed reforms to Ontario labour laws are nothing but sour grapes. He blames labour unions and not his own bad policy for his [...]
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Callous Assault by Employers on Cancer Victims and Surviving Widows
posted on June 26, 2012OFL Calls on McGuinty to Reinstate Compensation for Victims and Survivors (Toronto) — As a result of an employer-led legal campaign, victims of occupational disease and their survivors have been cut off of “loss of earnings” benefit payments by the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB). OFL President Sid Ryan sent an urgent letter to [...]
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No Jail Time, No Justice, Says OFL
posted on June 22, 2012(TORONTO, ON) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) expressed frustration that Metron Construction boss Joel Swartz won’t be facing jail time for the deaths of four workers and serious injury to another. While applauding the historic conviction of the company – the first in Ontario to face conviction for criminal negligence – the OFL made it clear that the $1-million fine sought by the prosecution doesn’t deliver sufficient justice to the victims and their families.
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