As always, Labour Day is a time for working people to take stock of where they stand, to celebrate their accomplishments, and to rededicate themselves to the inevitable struggles to come. Labour Day 2009 is more important than ever. The year that has passed since last Labour Day has been a terribly trying one for working people in this province, in this country and around the world.

Monday, March 03, 2008
It’s about Dignity, not Diapers

Although the Minister of Health and Long Term Care has apologized for his incredible insensitivity about the critical problems in long term care it still doesn’t change the fact that these problems have existed for years and nothing has been done.  The only action has been for the Minister to apologize.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Friday, August 31, 2007
JOBS WORTH FIGHTING FOR

The fight for decent jobs and a living wage has been ongoing at the Ontario Federation of Labour since its founding Convention in 1957.  The OFL celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2007 and the fight for good jobs continues unabated.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Monday, June 25, 2007
RE:  Supreme Court Ruling on Collective Bargaining

Letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty from Wayne Samuelson, OFL President

OFL President Wayne Samuelson wants the Government of Ontario to undertake an immediate and comprehensive review of the Province’s labour legislation in light of the recent Supreme Court’s ruling in British Columbia.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Letter to Steve Mahoney, Chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board

I am writing to you regarding your quotes which appeared in at least two recent news articles.  The first is that an “‘accidents will happen’ mentality exists among Ontario’s employers, union leaders and workers....” The second is that the number of deaths this year is “reflective of a systemic problem in the province”.

Organized labour has been at the forefront of fighting for better workplace safety for decades.  We have never accepted that “accidents just happen”.  We have never accepted that workplace injury, illness and death are just the price some have to pay to earn a living.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreements (TILMA)

President Wayne Samuelson’s letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty on November 13, 2006 about proposed ‘Free Trade’ deals (Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement) between the provinces.  “ We would suggest that this is the wrong direction for Ontario,” Samuelson says.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Wednesday, September 06, 2006
12 Critical Months

Earning a living.

That shouldn’t be too much to ask in a society as affluent as ours, but thousands of Ontario workers are in the fight of their lives – just to earn a living. 

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Regional Strategy Workshops To Save our Public Services (Stop P3s)

The McGuinty government has embarked on a strategy which will destroy our public services.  Experience in other countries shows that Premier McGuinty’s plan to use public private partnerships for public services will be devastating.  It can only lead to fewer services for our members; more services being paid for directly by our members; and control of services by profit-making companies. 

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Thursday, September 01, 2005
Labour Day Message, 2005 - A Day to Honour the Dignity of Working People

Labour Day is a time for remembering.  Remembering the workers who started Labour Day in 1872 to demand the release of 24 leaders of the Toronto Typographical Union, who were imprisoned for the “crime” of striking to gain a nine-hour working day.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Thursday, August 11, 2005
To:  Affiliated Unions of the OFL

Strike Appeal for the Society of Energy Professionals who have been on strike since June 6.  The Ontario Government owns Ontario Hydro and the McGuinty government is clearly supporting, if not encouraging, the management at Hydro One.  “I have never seen such anti-union tactics by any level of government,” says OFL President Wayne Samuelson.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Labour’s Solidarity for Pride

The labour movement is proud of the role we have played in furthering the struggle for equal rights for our members and their families who are part of the GLBT communities.  We stand in solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in celebration of Pride this year. 

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Wednesday, March 30, 2005
To:  Ontario Human Rights Commission

Proposed amendments to the Ontario Labour Relations Act extend card-based certification to the construction sector only.  The OFL is concerned that the failure to extend card-based certification to all sectors of the workforce will create discriminatory effects which are inconsistent with the intent of the Human Rights Code.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Thursday, January 27, 2005
To:  All Affiliates

Union representation and collective bargaining should be seen as a fundamental right in a democratic society. A card-based system for obtaining a union helps to assure that right by reducing the ability of an employer to intimidate employees who wish to join a union.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Dear Prime Minister:

I am writing to give the unqualified support of the Ontario Federation of Labour for recognition and equal treatment of legal marriage rights for same-sex partners. The struggle for equal rights for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities has been a slow step-by-step process as they fought and won individual rights and, very recently, limited forms of recognition for their families.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Wednesday, December 15, 2004
To: The Honourable Chris Bentley

OFL President Wayne Samuelson’s letter to Labour Minister Bentley on concerns about card certification not being extended to all Ontario workers.

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT