Alex Balch - Linchpin

Occupy Toronto: The First 48 Hours

bbbrobin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:59:29 +0000

On Saturday October 15th, the people of Toronto joined with inhabitants of 950 other cities across the world in initating an international “Day of Global Change.” After converging outside the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) at King and Bay, an estimated 3000 people marched east to St James Park to kick off Occupy Toronto , a movement based on Occupy Wall Street, now entering its fourth

Strike Continues for Toronto Hotel Workers

Linchpin — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:38:02 +0000

Toronto, Ont - This year’s TIFF festivities may be over, but for the workers of UNITE HERE Local 75, the struggle against multinational hotel conglomerate Westmont Hospitality Group is just heating up.

London fascist group’s “rebirth” stillborn

Linchpin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:52:44 +0000

Anti-fascists confront homophobes at London, Ont. Pride parade

London, Ont. - On Sunday July 25, fifty anti-fascist activists from southern Ontario joined hundreds of Londoners to show their support for the London Pride Parade. By all accounts, the day was a great success; the weather was excellent, the floats were fun and creative, the atmosphere was great – and the fascists were nowhere to be seen.

Not in service

Gwalgen Dent — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:56:17 +0000

London transit workers on strike

LONDON, Ont. — Workers of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 741 went on strike at midnight Nov. 16, when the deadline for a new contract passed unheeded by their employer, the London Transit Commission (LTC). ATU-741 represents 450 bus drivers, maintenance workers and support staff, and the strike has effectively paralyzed London’s public transit system.

The workers of the LTC have been without a contract since June. Chief among their demands are regularly scheduled lunch breaks, a 12 per cent wage increase over three years and improvements to dental and short-term disability benefits. The union has repeatedly requested arbitration as a means of settling the dispute, but their requests have been blocked by LTC general manager Larry Ducharme and the city’s mayor, Anne Marie DeCicco-Best.

DeCicco-Best slammed the workers’ demands as “irresponsible” at a press conference the day before the deadline was set to expire, citing the fact that London has been particularly hard hit by the current economic downturn. She also vowed to wage a public-relations war to inform Londoners of the “true costs” to the LTC and taxpayers of meeting the union’s demands.

The union responded by pointing to the fact that they are paid significantly less than their counterparts in other municipalities, and their benefit packages trail far behind workers in most other unionized sectors.