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July 7, 2010 - No. 128 Tentative Settlement in Vale Inco Strike No to Secret Deals! Fair Deal Now! Sudbury, January 13, 2010: Six month anniversary of the strike. Tentative Settlement in
Vale Inco Strike Tentative Settlement in Vale Inco Strike No to Secret Deals! Fair Deal Now!The United Steelworkers issued a statement Sunday July 4 announcing a tentative 5 year agreement with Vale Inco for the USW Local 6500 workers in Sudbury and USW Local 6200 workers in Port Colborne. All that is known about the deal is that a memorandum of agreement was signed Monday July 5 and that the company has refused to rehire the 9 workers unjustly fired against whom not a single criminal charge has been laid. The workers will find out about the deal at membership meetings to be held on July 7 and 8 in Sudbury and July 8 in Port Colborne at which time a ratification vote is to be held. Regarding the fired workers it is also known that the Ontario Labour Relations Board will begin deliberation July 9, one day after the scheduled ratification vote, on the "adjudication avenues" for settling the dispute over Vale's refusal to rehire the nine workers fired for alleged picket line offenses against the company's "code of conduct." The workers are approaching 11 and a half months on strike against the company that has been intransigent and brutal. Despite the fact that the workers themselves do not yet know what to think about the settlement because they have not seen it, the "Vale bloggers" are advocating everyone should fold their cards and settle because there is no alternative. TML does not agree with this. It thinks the workers need a process which will permit them to think things through. In the absence of such a process, TML fears that they will be given highlights which present the contract in a favourable light so as to create a "rah-rah" atmosphere which gives nobody the opportunity to read let alone study the fine print. TML sincerely hopes that the workers are given a good deal but if this is the case it cannot understand the need for secrecy. Once again TML congratulates the workers for their courageous stand to reach a fair deal and calls on everyone to go all out to support the reinstatement of the fired workers. Their issue is the issue of all workers not just themselves. They must be supported so that the ORLB cannot conciliate with the dictate of the company line about violation of "its code of conduct." For Your Information
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Restructuring
Concessions: Vale came into these negotiations last year demanding
limits on seniority based transfer rights arguing the company needed a
free hand to restructure if the Sudbury operations were to survive. It
is an absurd demand given that Sudbury produces 85,300 metric tons of
nickel
a year -- 31% of Vale's worldwide nickel production. However,
Vale says restructuring and rationalizing its global nickel operations,
as "one
mining, mill, smelting and refining operation" remains central to its
business plan for its nickel operations. 
TML reiterates
that the issue of police
repression is not that of excessive or disproportionate violence by the
police forces during these events. The issue is the premeditated use of
fascist violence against the people to suppress their political
opposition to the reactionary agendas of these imperialist
summits. The violence used against the people during the summit is part
and parcel of the fascization of the state. The situation confronting
the people is that they face an authority premised on violence and
aggression but which also wants to stand as the arbiter of what is
"peaceful" and "legitimate" protest. The
Canadian state is involved in open criminality where all norms of
civilized behaviour and justice are being trampled in favour of
monopoly right and imperialist dictate. Whether it is the invasion and
occupation of Afghanistan and war preparations against Korea and Iran,
the military invasion of
Haiti and its transformation into a U.S. base of aggression against
the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean under the hoax of
humanitarian aid, its support for the murderous U.S.-backed Israeli
attacks against the Palestinian people or the unbridled attacks against
the workers and the most vulnerable at home, the Canadian people are
faced with a state power which lacks legitimacy and is more and more
openly an instrument of anarchy and
violence on behalf of the rich and U.S. imperialism. The G8/20 summits
themselves, with their declarations to further shift the crisis onto
the backs of the workers and the oppressed peoples and to carry on
provocations against the peoples of Iran and
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea under false pretexts, are
indicative of a system where naked power wields aggression and violence
as the means to further the narrow interests of the rich and the
imperialists.
It is a contradiction for a
state which is the source
of aggression and violence to also be the arbiter and the defender of
peaceful or legitimate protest. As a power which resorts to
violence to further the interests of those it represents, it
is bound to consider the very holding of these summits
as a unique opportunity to exercise terror and disinformation against
the people. It is bound to use violence and to blame the people for the
violence, presenting political stands against the "right" of the G8/20
to exploit and oppress as criminal acts. This is what the people in
Toronto have experienced, which the whole
world has witnessed. It is creating amongst the people not only anger
but deep concern about what to do with an authority which is in
contempt of a rule of law based on public right. 
According to Toronto Police
and the Movement Defence Committee (MDC), approximately 1,105 people
were arrested in relation to protests against the G8/G20 Summits in
Toronto. A number of these were not arrested at any protest but taken
into police custody
following raids on their homes.Of the total number of detainees: Members of the public speak out for justice at the Toronto Police Services Board on July 4, 2010. (Kevin/Toronto Media Co-op) |
The Toronto Police Services Board, at a special meeting convened on July 6 said it would be setting up an "Independent Civilian Review" (ICR) regarding policing during the G20 Summit in Toronto. According to the report submitted by chair of the board Alok Mukherjeee and approved at the meeting, the mandate of the ICR will be to review "oversight, governance, accountability, transparency, as well as communication and supervision issues arising from ... policing the G20 Summit." Mukherjee said the review would determine whether Toronto police's own human rights and use-of-force policies were followed during the G20. Mukherjee is responsible for developing its terms of reference and submitting them to the board in two weeks, as well as recommending someone for the position of "Reviewer" to head the review. Notably, the board said the review would not accept public input in setting its terms of reference or selection of the person to head the review, the Toronto Media Co-op reports. This decision was meet with derisive jeers of "Shame!" from the public gallery which was filled to capacity with some 60 people, an indication of the profound public concern about the police impunity and violence during the summit. Many in the audience expressed fears that if the terms of reference were too narrow or if the wrong person was chosen to head the ICR, the review would not provide real accountability from the police. "Its like putting the mouse in charge of the cheese!" yelled out one person.
One member of the public at the meeting told TML that the broad public outcry for an independent inquiry is based on the demand for justice for all those who were assaulted, detained and otherwise had their rights violated in the course exercising their right to protest or simply going about their daily affairs. She pointed out that "people will not accept a token 'review' that, like the undemocratic G8/20 that they were protesting, serves to exclude them, protects those who carried out violence and preserves the status quo. They will not accept a process that denies justice, rather than rendering it, as so many inquiries into police wrong-doing have done before."
Another person pointed out to TML that in view of the ongoing criminalization of the people by the police because of poverty or race "what took place during the summits is not an aberration but an expansion of police impunity and violence as part of the so-called Canadian democracy." One person at the meeting, quoted by the Toronto Media Co-op, stated, "I saw them abuse and beat several of my friends, I was illegally searched, a friend was tasered and had their head cracked open by a cop. Neighbourhoods in this city are over-policed as it is. In places like Rexdale, Jane and Finch, Malvern and Regent Park, there is such a heavy police presence. They never get penalized, never get fired. I totally believe the process protects the police. There is already a review process, but people in this city already know the process is bogus. There is no accountability."
(TML Correspondent, Toronto Media Co-op, Globe and Mail)
Canada-Wide Actions Continue to Demand Freedom for Detainees and Independent Public Inquiry
Across Canada, people from all walks of life continue to organize actions to demand freedom for all those still detained by Toronto police following the protests against the G8/20 summits, that all the charges be dropped and for an independent inquiry into the criminalization of dissent and police impunity throughout the course of the actions to oppose the summit. TML is posting below reports and photos from some of these actions.
Edmonton
On Saturday July
3, more than 200 people gathered on the steps of City Hall to show
their outrage at the police attacks against the people at the G8/20.
Shortly after 2:00 pm the march to the headquarters of the Edmonton
Police Services began. At the front of the march was a big banner
with the slogan "Solidarity with the Toronto 900!" From City Hall
through the streets to the police station chants rang out non-stop: "We
Will not Shut Up!"; "Whose Streets? Our Streets! - Whose Rights? Our
Rights! -- Who Decides? We Decide!"; "No Justice, No Peace, No Fascist
Police!"; "Drop the Charges Now!
Public Inquiry Now!"; "The People United Can Never be Defeated!";
"Harper
Criminal!"; " This Is What Democracy Looks Like -- That Is What
Hypocrisy Looks Like!" and other slogans.
The rally began with greetings from a member of the
Athabasca
Chipewyan First Nation, which has resolutely opposed the destruction of
their traditional lands to serve the U.S. war machine and unsustainable
car culture. Speakers also included youth who travelled to Toronto for
the G20 who spoke
from their own direct experience of the police brutality. Many speakers
emphasized that the attacks on the people who came to protest the
destruction of the social fabric of society and Mother Earth which the
G8/G20 represents were intended to justify further repression and
criminalization of dissent. Again and again
people expressed that they will not be intimidated, they will not stop
organizing and fighting for the rights of all. Speakers also pointed
out that hundreds of Edmonton police had been sent to Toronto and had
participated in the violent attacks on protestors at the G20. A number
of organizations were represented
at the rally, including Greenpeace, Council of Canadians, the Edmonton
Branch of CPC(M-L) and the International Workers of the World (IWW).
People spoke from their direct experience about the disinformation campaign of the police and monopoly media to blame the people for violence. They pointed out that long before the G8/20 began, a dirty war was initiated with the aim of justifying further attacks on people's rights. What conclusion can be drawn about this "outrage" about some broken windows from those who are waging a brutal war against the people of Afghanistan, people asked. What about the violence of withdrawing more than $1 billion from social programs for G8/20 "security"? Is this not violence against people who need clean drinking water, food, housing and health care, it was pointed out.
Speakers also emphasized that the police must not be permitted to act with impunity. Not only should there be a full public inquiry, but those responsible for brutal and criminal acts against the protesters must be held accountable.
After the rally, people discussed future actions and resolved to continue the fight to defend the Toronto 1000, to demand that all charges be dropped and that a full public inquiry be held.
Calgary
A spirited crowd gathered at Tompkins Park in Calgary on the afternoon of Sunday, July 4, to stand in solidarity with those arrested at the G8/20 protests in Toronto and to condemn the violent policies of the G8/20 governments. With banners and signs, they leafleted passers-by, chanting "No to Secret Laws, No to Mass Arrests"; "Drop the Charges Now!"; G20 Independent Inquiry Now!"; "This Is What Democracy Looks Like"; "Stephen Harper Is a Vandal!"; "No Justice, No Peace -- No Violent Police!"; and "1000 People Doing Time -- Police Violence Is a Crime!"
Following the picket, they gathered to listen to several speakers. Peggy Askin, past president of the Calgary and District Labour Council related the experiences of the youth, workers and many others who organized for more than one year to develop the opposition to the agenda of the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. She explained that for months prior to the summit, the media and the police issued hysterical reports about threats of "violence" to alienate Calgarians from those protesting the anti- people agenda of the G8. Now the Harper government has spent $1.4 billion on the G8/20 summits amidst unparalleled wrecking of manufacturing, massive job loss and violence against the people in the form of destruction of healthcare, and all the support systems for the most vulnerable in our society, she pointed out. The people who protested the agenda of Harper and the G8/20 and those who were arrested and treated in the most inhumane fashion by police are courageous and we are joining others across the country to protest the agendas of the G8/20 and the mass arrests and violation of rights, she said. Peggy concluded with the demand that all arrest warrants be cancelled and that all charges be dropped against the G8/20 protesters, that an independent public inquiry into police violence against G8/20 protests be called immediately, including the role of the Calgary Police who sent the largest contingent of any police force outside Ontario to the protests.
Jason Devine spoke of his experiences as an organizer of the anti-racist protests against the Aryan Guard and the role the police play in facilitating the racist group while profiling those who protest against them as "dangerous." Kevan Hunter, a youth candidate of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada, spoke about the laws passed in secret amending Ontario's Public Works Protection Act. He said we must redouble our efforts to fight for a democracy where not only are the issues actually debated in Parliament and the provincial legislatures but where the interests of the people are represented. Mel Teghtmeyer from the Council of Canadians brought up the issue of whose interests were served by the summits, noting that it was not the people's agenda which was being discussed by the world leaders in Toronto.
Vancouver and Victoria
On July 4, 250 people marched in solidarity with all those detained in Toronto during G8/20 protests. At the head of the march was a banner which read "Solidarity Against Police Repression" that was used in demonstrations to oppose police surveillance and harassment during the lead up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Vancouver Media Co-op reports. The rally started at the Clark and Broadway skate park and marched to the Vancouver police station in the Downtown Eastside. Over a distance of 12 km, the march stopped at different points of significance to the people's struggles, as a bold affirmation of the necessity and the people's right to protest in defence of rights and against injustice. The march was notable for the diverse range of people who participated from various activist organizations, families, First Nations, including people who experienced abuse and intimidation at the hands of the police the days of action in Toronto against the G8/20 Summits.
A similar action also took place in Victoria on July 1 with more than 100 people demonstrating in front of the provincial legislature.
Winnipeg
Some 100 people gathered at River Osborne Community Centre at noon on July 1 to express their solidarity with all those detained, arrested and brutalized at the G20 summit, as well as to denounce police repression of the protests. The group chanted "our passion for freedom is stronger than their prisons," as it proceeded through the midst of Canada Day celebrations. The police had an obvious presence in an unsubtle attempt at intimidation. Demonstrators formed a circle in the intersection of Osborne and Stradbrook where several speakers took the megaphone to deliver messages of support or to recount their stories of protesting the G8/20 in Toronto. They spoke out against permitting the state to split the movement by dictating so-called legitimate versus bad categories of dissent. The event was organized by members of The FemRev Collective, Winnipeg CopWatch, the Winnipeg Anarchist Black Cross and the Winnipeg New Socialist Group among others, the Toronto Media Co-op reports.
(TML Correspondents, Toronto Media Co-op)
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