The Ontario Federation of Labour

NEWS


Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Sid Ryan to Ontario employers: Kill a worker, go to jail

(TORONTO) -- Workplace safety may have taken a huge step forward with the use of a Criminal Code of Canada provision against a Sault Ste. Marie company, says OFL president Sid Ryan.

Friday, March 05, 2010

RALLY TO SUPPORT 3,500 WORKERS ON STRIKE AGAINST GIANT MULTINATIONAL VALE INCO

(TORONTO) -- Workers who are eight months into a strike against giant multinational Vale Inco will get a boost this weekend from supporters at a rally in downtown Toronto.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

(TORONTO) -- On Saturday, March 6: Marie Kelly will be the keynote speaker at the Cornwall & District Labour Council International Women’s Day Breakfast.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

OFL International Women’s Day Statement March 8, 2010

(TORONTO) -- International Women’s Day is a day for solidarity among women. It is a day to celebrate the gains women have made and to call for the changes that are still needed.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Ontario Federation of Labour President, Sid Ryan:“Northern Ontario Needs a ‘Jobs Budget’”

(TORONTO) -- Newly elected Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan will be in Thunder Bay on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 to discuss the OFL’s campaign to ensure that the upcoming provincial budget focuses on the preservation and creation of good jobs and strong public services.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Ontario Federation of Labour calls on McGuinty Government: Reject Lopsided “Buy American” Deal

(TORONTO) -- Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan today called on Premier Dalton McGuinty to reject the Stephen Harper brokered Canada-U.S. trade deal, which would restrict the ability of provincial and municipal governments to support domestic firms employing Canadian workers when they procure goods and services.

Monday, February 08, 2010

OFL statement on health of federal NDP leader Jack Layton

(STATEMENT) -- Federal NDP leader Jack Layton announced last week that he is battling prostate cancer. Always a friend to the labour movement and working families, he has countless friends across Canada to support him in his health challenge.

Monday, February 01, 2010

TESTING SHOWS ONTARIANS ARE BEHIND OFL’S JOBS MESSAGE

(TORONTO) -- OFL president Sid Ryan will deliver the same message in pre-budget consultations tomorrow as the one folks across Ontario are hearing on the radio this week: next month’s budget must be a ‘good jobs’ budget.

UNIONS LAUNCH JOBS CAMPAIGN ON EVE OF BUDGET HEARINGS: ‘GOOD JOBS’ BUDGET NEEDED TO SPEED UP AND

(TORONTO) -- Unions in Ontario are pressing for Premier Dalton McGuinty to make next month’s budget a ‘good jobs’ budget with a campaign starting with a series of radio ads launched this week

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Ontario Federation of Labour applauds creation of expert advisory panel on workplace health and

(TORONTO) -- Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan today commended the Ontario government for creating an expert advisory panel to conduct a comprehensive review of the province’s occupational health and safety prevention and enforcement system.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

OFL Calls for coroner’s inquest into death of Niagara Region woman

(TORONTO) -- The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) has joined the many who are calling for a coroner’s inquest to determine whether a young woman in the Niagara Region could have survived had the emergency room closest to her not been closed.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Unified Labour Movement to Dwight Duncan: Ontario Needs a Jobs Budget

(TORONTO) -- In a meeting today between Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and the leaders of Ontario’s fifteen largest private and public sector unions, representing over one million workers, the Ontario labour movement delivered a clear and unified message on behalf of Ontario’s working families: Ontario needs a “jobs budget”.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Cabinet Ministers to meet with labour on upcoming Ontario budget 11 a.m.

(TORONTO) -- Union leaders representing the largest group of Ontario workers ever will walk united into a meeting with two key cabinet ministers tomorrow to discuss government action on jobs and the economy.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR SENDS MESSAGE OF SYMPATHY AND SUPPORT FOR HIGH-RISE TRAGEDY VICTIMS

(TORONTO) -- On the eve of a public vigil honouring the victims of the Christmas Eve scaffolding collapse tragedy, the Ontario Federation of Labour, on behalf of its affiliate unions and more than one million members in the province, offer our deepest sympathies to the families of the slain workers and to the surviving victim.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF ONTARIO FROM ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR PRESIDENT SID

(TORONTO) -- Dear Minister Bentley:
As the President of the Ontario Federation of Labour, representing over one million workers in Ontario, I am requesting that you launch a criminal investigation into the deaths of four migrant workers who fell to their deaths on Christmas Eve in Toronto. A fifth worker is in intensive care with two fractured legs and a broken spine.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Sid Ryan, OFL call for Attorney General to investigate loss of life in construction accident to

(TORONTO) -- Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan is calling on Ontario’s Attorney General to investigate the tragic deaths of four migrant workers who fell to their death on Christmas Eve in Toronto when a scaffold they were working on broke apart. While the Ministry of Labour is looking into the health and safety circumstances around the accident, Ryan says that an investigation is warranted to determine if criminal negligence is a factor in these deaths.

Monday, December 14, 2009

OFL VIDEO RELEASE

(TORONTO) -- Released today, the OFL video, Climb the Hill: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace calls for an end to one of the most challenging problems in workplaces

Monday, December 07, 2009

AUDITOR GENERAL CLEAR ON CAUSE OF WSIB UNDERFUNDING, OFL’S SID RYAN CLEAR ON THE SOLUTION: INCREASE

(TORONTO) -- Today’s report from the Auditor General of Ontario makes clear the cause of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s (WSIB) unfunded liability, and it certainly isn’t overly generous benefits for injured workers, says Ontario Federation of Labour president-elect Sid Ryan.

ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR RECOGNIZES HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: CELEBRATING THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF

(TORONTO) -- “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” These are the first words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948.

Friday, December 04, 2009

ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR STATEMENT: NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE AND ACTION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST

(TORONTO) -- December 6, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the 1989 École Polytechnique Massacre, in which 14 women were singled because they were women and murdered. The École Polytechnique was not only a college, but also a workplace. Two of the women murdered that day were members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). This senseless act of violence against women shocked our nation and became the catalyst for collective action to end violence against women

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

OFL STATEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (DECEMBER 3, 2009)

(TORONTO) -- The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the World Programme of Action adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1982.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

SID RYAN ELECTED PRESIDENT OF ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR

(TORONTO) -- Labour unity is the order of the day at the OFL convention where 1,000 delegates unanimously chose their new leadership team today.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Change in Leadership at OFL

(TORONTO) -- Elections will be held next week for three full-time officers of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Voting will take place on Wednesday, November 25 at the OFL Convention in Toronto, pending an agenda-setting decision by delegates when the convention opens on Monday, November 23.

FROM CRISIS TO JUSTICE LABOUR AND COMMUNITY WORKING TOGETHER

(TORONTO) -- A special Forum bringing together community and labour activists will examine the impacts of the economic crisis on Ontarians, with a particular focus on the disproportionate impact experienced by Ontarians of colour.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Ontario Federation of Labour Convention Monday, Nov. 23 - Friday, Nov. 27

(TORONTO) -- Union delegates from across Ontario will gather in Toronto next week for the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) convention, held every two years to set policy and elect leaders.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Full day kindergarten an important piece of the childcare puzzle says Ontario Federation of Labour

(TORONTO) -- “The implementation of full day kindergarten in Ontario schools is really welcome news,” says Wayne Samuelson, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour. “This program represents a truly important piece of the childcare puzzle.”

Keep your promises, unemployed tell fed and province

(TORONTO) -- Unions and workers are calling on both the provincial and federal governments to honour their promises to laid-off workers who have applied for training and upgrading under Ontario’s Second Career Program.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Workers Rally at Queen’s Park in Support of Bill 86 Anti-Scab Legislation

(TORONTO) -- Today at noon, at Queen’s Park, workers from around the province will come together at a rally in support of an NDP private members bill which would ban the use of scab labour during strike or lockout situations.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Young Canadian Workers Demand Canada Ratify International Convention Against Child Labour

(TORONTO) -- Today, young worker representatives from labour groups demanded that Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial labour ministers immediately take action to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Convention 138 on Minimum Age – the international standard dealing with the use of children in production or services.

Friday, September 04, 2009

LABOUR FIRMLY BEHIND STRIKING VALE INCO WORKERS

(Sudbury) -- “Vale Inco's reckless and unprecedented plan to run dangerous mining and smelting operations using unqualified and inexperienced replacement workers during the current strike is just the latest in a series of moves the company has made which demand a rethinking of the conditions that are put on the foreign purchase of Canadian businesses,” say OFL President Wayne Samuelson.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Unemployed Workers to Michael Ignatieff:  Fix EI

Unemployed workers want Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to commit himself and his Party to a three point reform package to fix Employment Insurance. Workers will be assembling Thursday to deliver signed petitions to his Etobicoke constituency office.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

International Pickets Target Sun Life

(TORONTO) -- Sun Life Financial – one of Canada’s largest companies – found itself the target of international protests today. Representatives of three labor federations descended on the company’s headquarters in Manila, the Philippines – a major market for Sun Life.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Unemployed Workers to bring a Message to Diane Finley: Fix EI Now

(TORONTO) -- Unemployed workers are taking the quest for EI reform directly to the Minister responsible for Employment Insurance (EI): Diane Finley. Minister Finley is chairing the Panel on Employment Insurance that is set to report to Parliament on September 28.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

OFL urges McGuinty to lead the call for a National Pension Summit at this week’s Premiers’ meeting

(TORONTO) -- “It is urgent that a pan-Canadian Pension Summit be held to shape a vision of retirement security for all Canadians,” said OFL president Wayne Samuelson. We are urging Dalton McGuinty to advocate for the Summit to bring together government, business, labour and other stakeholders on this priority issue in these uncertain times.”

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

TORONTO WELCOMES OFL’S DRIVE TO WORK CARAVAN 3,000-KM TOUR ENDS AT QUEEN’S PARK, 12:30 P.M.,

(TORONTO) -- A 3,000-km province-wide tour to draw attention to the recession’s effects on Ontario people and communities wraps up Thursday, June 25 with a 12:30 p.m. arrival at Queen’s Park, followed by a meeting with representatives of the Ontario government.