Hamilton & District Labour Council
1130 Barton St E # 210 L8H7P9 Hamilton, ON, Canada

Today on Trans Day of Remembrance we remember the Two-Spirit, Trans, Non-Binary and Gender Diverse folks who have lost their lives because of transphobic violen...ce. We have to acknowledge that most are women of colour and that transmisogyny and racism are deadly. Today we grieve together and reaffirm our commitment to fight to end transphobic violence, racism, and oppression and also acknowledge the ongoing resiliency and power of trans communities. #TDOR #TDOR2020

https://canadianlabour.ca/canadas-unions-mark-trans-day-of/ Canada’s unions are marking this year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance by calling on the federal government to implement a ban on conversion therapy.

"This land must be given back to Six Nations because it is a nation. If it is not, the violence at the 1492 site will only escalate in the face of police provocation. The people at the camp will not disappear; this is their land."

Friends, you know the drill. Following two weeks of negotiations, the Sessional Faculty Bargaining Team has reached an impasse with the Employer due to a number... of outstanding issues, including improvements to job security and transparency in hiring, technological support for remote teaching, and reasonable working hours. The University is once again relying on Bill 124 to justify below-inflation wage increases, and is refusing to entertain alternatives to wage increases like paid training as a way to keep sessionals from falling further behind. Please take a moment to send a message that you support our Bargaining Team in demanding a fairer contract for Sessional Faculty.

Land Defenders in the 1492 Land Back Lane action reclaiming land along the Haldimand Tract have the support and solidarity of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Since July 19, Haudenosaunee Land Defenders have been peacefully reclaiming land along the Haldimand Tract, just south of Caledonia. The Haldimand Tract was land given to Six Nations, in 1784, for supporting the British during the American Revolution. However, the Canadian government has unlawfully sold the land to dev...eloper Mackenzie Meadows. The Haudenosaunee people have voiced that these injunctions serve as a colonial mechanism to deny its people their ancestral lands and resources, which fundamentally violates their rights as sovereign. Land Defenders must be acknowledged and respected. Governments must honour their past agreements, and stop the state’s violent imposition of its power on Land Defenders who are exercising their right to protect these lands, said Ontario Federation of Labour President Patty Coates. We call on governments to ensure that negotiations and decisions made about these lands are fair, accountable, and respect past agreements.

Kill a worker; go to jail!

Solidarity with HWDSB Kids Need Help... "On September 29th, CBC Hamilton issued an article regarding a Code of Conduct complaint filed by HWDSB trustee, Carole Paikin Miller. During HWDSB Kids Need Help’s press conference on August 3rd, former student trustees Ahona Mehdi and Rubaiat Hye outlined issues of systemic racism within HWDSB’s board of trustees. The recent complaint claims that by attending the press conference, trustees Paul Tut, Maria Felix-Miller and Cam Galindo ...violated rules of "procedural fairness and unbiased process while also being "biased in favour of the accuser and not neutral." This attack on the board’s only racialized trustees is clearly an act of systemic racism within itself. Time and time again, racialized board affiliates are punished for confronting racism and complicity. By choosing not to publicly condemn this attempt to ostracize racialized trustees, the school board is deliberately protecting trustees with histories of racist behaviour, while belittling and intimidating those who choose to protect students."

Something all employers should consider!

Great news for workers under municipal contract jobs in Halifax! Hamilton's Living Wage is only $16.45/hr. Shouldn't Hamilton ensure that all of work that it procures and contracts out guaranteed at least a living wage for all workers?

We can tell Ward 14 Councillor, Terry Whitehead, that the 50 thousand affiliate members of the HDLC don't fall under the city's Integrity Commissioner, nor do we brook veiled threats against organizations who are leaders in anti-racism and anti-oppression work in #HamOnt. #Solidarity with Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion!

Solidarity with our CUPE 4153 comrades!

Help sessional faculty at McMaster secure a fair deal. McMaster continues to fail its community by not supporting its educators.

Tomorrow us Orange Shirt Day. We will be wearing orange to honour those impacted by the Residential Schools and commit to a future of Indigenous sovereignty. W...e will be wearing orange to remember Phyliss' story: "I went to the Mission for one school year in 1973/1974. I had just turned 6 years old. I lived with my grandmother on the Dog Creek reserve. We never had very much money, but somehow my granny managed to buy me a new outfit to go to the Mission school. I remember going to Robinson’s store and picking out a shiny orange shirt. It had string laced up in front, and was so bright and exciting just like I felt to be going to school! When I got to the Mission, they stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never wore it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared." - Phyllis (Jack) Webstad (https://www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story.html) Every child matters. And to survivors of the Residential Schools or those impacted by the intergenerational trauma they caused the IRSRHSP has a National Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line 1-866-925-4419 that provides immediate emotional support. #orangeshirtday #orangeshirtday2020

'On average, 21% of CERB recipients will now receive no support and 4% will receive some support but less than $500. All told, 25% of CERB recipients will be worse off after the transition: 53% of CERB recipients will make the same $500 a week after CERB ends and 21% of CERB recipients will be better off after CERB, receiving more than $500 a week on EI.' -- David Macdonald

September 30 is Orange Shirt Day. People all across Canada will wear orange shirts to remember and honour Indigenous children who attended Residential Schools. Learn more about the tragedy of residential schools: https://www.orangeshirtday.org/

"My biggest concern is for my members because the workload is untenable. For the public, their son or daughter is not going to get the education they think they're going to get," Daryl Jerome explained. "It's not because of my members' unwillingness to do it, it's because of a massive workload. The board is using their passion against them. They're expecting, without putting it explicitly in writing, them to work on their personal time, at home. They don't have time to do it during the day because they have to teach their other classes."