Ten Thousand Workers and Their Allies
Break New Ground

On January 29, Hamilton, Ontario was a sea of colours as it hosted the largest convergence of workers and their allies since 1996 in an exhilarating Day of Action. Ten thousand-strong, one contingent of workers after another came forward to support United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 in its fight against the arrogant dictate of U.S. Steel and declare that their cause and that of Local 1005 are one and the same -- the security of all. Even two hours before the start of the rally at City Hall, spirits were high as workers and people from all walks of life started assembling for the historic event. By the time the rally began, the entire street, blocked off for the occasion, was filled with a sea of people and their banners.

Bill Mahoney, Local 1005's own resident poet, with a strong and clear voice expressed the workers' contempt for the arrogant, bullying of U.S. Steel. From his poem "U.S. Steal" he intoned:

"They said that buying Stelco would be our country's gain,
But all they brought to Canada was misery and pain;
When they speak of workers, their voice is full of hate..."

The first to address the rally was Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina who received much applause when he announced that City Council has passed unanimous motions in support of Local 1005. The city is standing with the workers, he said as he called on U.S. Steel to stop its intimidation tactics against the workers with its paramilitary security at the Wilcox Gate. Local 1005 President Rolf Gerstenberger spoke to the significance of the Day of Action, saying, "We consider this a historic gathering because it makes a historic statement that Canadian workers and people from all walks of life are determined to resolve the all-sided crisis, with the economic crisis at the base, in favour of the people, not the rich." He was joined by the entire gathering who chanted "Public Right YES! Monopoly Right NO!" and "Whose Economy? OUR Economy! Who Decides? WE Decide!" (See the full text of his speech in this issue.)

Left to right:Bob Bratina, Rolf Gerstenberger, Sid Ryan, Leo Gerard, Ken Georgetti.

Sid Ryan then spoke on behalf of the Ontario Federation of Labour, which had called the Day of Action, also co-sponsored by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the United Steelworkers, the Hamilton and District Labour Council (HDLC) and USW Local 1005. He denounced the Harper government's refusal to uphold the right of workers and their communities as it works hand-in-hand with the monopolies and their self-serving agenda for profits at the expense of the general society. The monopolies have reneged on their responsibility to guarantee that their operations are a net benefit to Canada, he pointed out. In his speech and interviews with the press, Ryan emphasized that the Harper government must be held to account for its role in facilitating the destruction of our manufacturing base, causing massive job losses and weakening the Canadian economy. Ryan was followed by USW President Leo Gerard and CLC President Ken Georgetti. MP Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain) was invited to address the Investment Canada Act (ICA), which is supposed to make sure foreign takeovers guarantee a net benefit for Canada. President of the HDLC Mary Long, who emceed the rally, also called on the leaders of the federal and Ontario NDP, Jack Layton and Andrea Horwath to speak.

Following the rally, a march shut down the downtown core; the streets were jam-packed with people who formed wave after wave of colourful flags, placards and banners.

Amongst the many unions present, a contingent made up of more than 50 steelworkers from Quebec participated in the day's events. They represented ArcelorMittal's plants in Contrecoeur (formerly Sidbec-Dosco and Stelco), the Xstrata copper refinery in Montreal, the Xstrata zinc facility in Valleyfield and also workers from the textile and food processing industries. The leadership of USW District 5 marched with them behind a huge banner "Métallo Solidarité!" They held aloft many flags highlighting the ongoing struggle in Contrecoeur to force ArcelorMittal to build a steel beam mill, something that the steel monopoly has pledged to build since 2007 when it closed two rolling mills in Contrecoeur.

Autoworkers were militantly represented from Oshawa to the east and Windsor to the west. Holding their well-known banner "Fighting Back Makes a Difference!" they hailed the Spirit of '46 when auto and steel led the way to bring into being the post-war labour relations which provided the possibilities for organized labour to affirm its rights and the rights of all against the otherwise unfettered rights of capital.

The CPC(M-L) contingent rallied behind the banner of the Youth for Democratic Renewal "Building a People's Canada Is Necessary" and also carried the banners "Stop Paying the Rich! Increase Investments in Social Programs!" and "Our Security Lies in the Fight for the Rights of All." Two thousand copies of the February issue of the TML supplement Workers' Forum were sold and distributed during the course of the day.

A contingent of some 40 youth went into the crowd as part of Local 1005's toonie campaign to raise funds to pay for the billboards which decorate Hamilton's streets. They report raising enough money to pay for the next billboard which will go up in February.

Militant contingents of workers from all sectors of the economy were present, such as the Toronto transit workers whose cause against being legislated back to work in 2008 USW Local 1005 militantly espoused, members of USW Local 6500 from Vale Inco in Sudbury, as well as many other unions from the private and public sector, including the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union, elementary and secondary school teachers, and CUPE locals, as well as contingents of students and workers' families.

The march ended at the Hamilton Convention Centre where hundreds gathered and representatives of the many unions and collectives present spoke to the unity of the workers and people, and their common struggles. Speakers at the Convention Centre included Canadian Union of Postal Workers National President Denis Lemelin, USW Local 6887 President Gilles Bordeleau (Xtrata Copper), Amalgated Transit Union Local 113 President Bob Kinnear (Toronto Transit Commission), Floyd Montour of the Six Nations at the Grand River, and Liberal Labour Critic Maria Minna. Participants also warmly welcomed Napoleon Gomez who spoke on behalf of the National Union of Mine and Metallurigical Workers of Mexico (Los Mineros).

At the end of the day's events, members of Local 1005 told TML they were very satisfied with the Day of Action. They expressed confidence that the locked out workers will make headway in their fight to defeat the arrogance of U.S. Steel. They spoke about the need to work hard to keep uniting Canadians to stand as one in defence of public right and to hold governments to account. Local 1005 called on all Canadians, no matter what their political affiliation, to stand as one for public right against monopoly right and demand that governments do their duty by upholding public right. All the delegations present with which TML spoke during the course of the rally and march corroborated this spirit. A palpable sense of elation reflected the confidence engendered by the show of unity behind Local 1005 and its call for governments to uphold public right and stop serving the narrow interests of the monopolies. Placards and chants throughout the crowd all highlighted the common struggle of the workers and their allies, affirming that what Local 1005 and Hamilton are facing -- from the plant shutdowns and job losses to the monopolies' demands that workers' must give up their pensions, benefits and job security -- is taking place in community after community across Canada as well as in the U.S. and other countries. Workers repeatedly expressed confidence in Local 1005's principled stand and the path it is charting to unite all in a Workers' Opposition that will create the conditions to hold the monopolies to account.

TML congratulates the organizers of the Day of Action and particularly the rank and file union members and youth who gave expression to the historic need to hold governments to account.

TML is printing below the speech of USW Local 1005 President Rolf Gerstenberger and more photos from the march and the concluding event at the Convention Centre.

Breaking New Ground in the Fight for the Rights of All
Governments Must Do Their Duty!
Public Right Yes! Monopoly Right No!
- Speech by Rolf Gerstenberger, President, USW Local 1005,
Hamilton Day of Action -

Local 1005 sincerely appreciates everyone's presence here today. We consider this a historic gathering because it makes a historic statement that Canadian workers and people from all walks of life are determined to resolve the all-sided crisis, with economic crisis at the base, in favour of the people not the rich. Let us together set an agenda to demand that governments do their duty by upholding public right, not monopoly right.

We are gathered here for this day of action to defend and affirm our rights. In the modern world people have rights by virtue of being human. All governments and those who employ humans must recognize those rights and guarantee them. Our rights at this time can be broadly expressed as public right. They include the right to a livelihood and security in retirement because we are the producers of all the wealth society depends on for its existence. Our rights include the right to control the decisions that affect our lives, livelihoods, security and pensions, but this right to decide has been usurped by the rich and their governments.

The monopolies, including the big banks and other private financial enterprises and governments in their service, have their own view of rights and more importantly they have the political and economic power to enforce their interests and crush public right. Their view is that the people's rights by virtue of being human have reasonable limits and they get to decide what is reasonable. When it comes to the kinds of rights a modern society should uphold and enforce, rights are considered privileges only to be granted if they serve the narrow interests of the monopolies. This can be expressed as monopoly right.

Last December, we witnessed the most disgusting example of the politics of monopoly right trampling the politics of public right in the events surrounding the national meeting on pensions in Kananaskis, Alberta. The Harper government without warning reversed its pledge to strengthen the indexed defined benefits of the Canada Pension Plan and instead promoted yet another registered savings plan so loved by the private financial enterprises. That is a betrayal of the federal government's social responsibility to guarantee indexed defined-benefit pensions for all.

The bankruptcy protection of Nortel Networks and the all-out assault on the retirement, disability and other benefits of Nortel workers stand as a grievous example of monopoly right using this method to trump public right. Countless other companies have used and are using bankruptcy protection, including some of the richest monopolies, to skip out on their pension and other social obligations. AbitibiBowater just exited bankruptcy protection and the workers are being shafted big time. This is unjust and governments must do their duty and stand up for Canadians and public right in opposition to these companies and monopoly right.

The assault on the security of all in retirement includes dark suggestions that the next target will be the defined-benefit pensions of municipal, provincial and federal public workers.

The most pro-monopoly neoliberal forces have seized power in the federal government, many provinces and big cities such as Toronto. They are determined to privatize public services such as the Post Office and provincial and municipal services. This attack includes the negation of the right to security in retirement for all and the very conception of a modern society that guarantees the rights of all, where public right is defended in opposition to monopoly right as a primary responsibility and duty of government. The people's struggle versus U.S. Steel closely mirrors that of the people versus the global mining monopoly Vale. These global monopolies and others such as Xstrata pledged employment and production levels when they seized Stelco, Inco and Falconbridge and quickly broke those commitments. U.S. Steel specifically entered into a pension agreement with the Ontario government wherein it guaranteed steelworkers' indexed defined-benefit plans. The global monopoly has already destroyed the agreement on employment and production levels, wrecked the pension plan at Lake Erie Works and now dictates the same for Local 1005. It must not pass and will not pass!

These monopolies are abusing and pushing Canadian workers too far. With this Day of Action, workers are warning all the global monopolies and the politicians who do their bidding that this abuse must end! Workers are the producers of all wealth and providers of all services.

We are the source of the wealth that the rich and monopolies so covet and enjoy. Workers warn them not to bite the hand that feeds them; this Canadian working class should not be underestimated.

Workers' social consciousness includes the conception that security does not lie in a Canada annexed to the U.S. Empire, a false security that serves monopoly right and is out of the people's hands and essentially out of control. Workers' social consciousness believes the security of all lies in the fight to defend the rights of all, the struggle for a sovereign Canada with a diverse self-reliant economy based on manufacturing and meeting the needs of the people and general interests of society, a Canada that engages in trade for mutual benefit and is a factor for peace, not war. We wish the same for the workers and people of the United States, Mexico and all other countries.

We have gathered here today because we dare to break new ground in our thinking, organizing and resistance to the monopolies and governments in their service. We are the inheritors of our forebears who broke new ground after World War Two. Our duty is to do the same within the new conditions of neoliberal globalization and the unprecedented power and dominance of the rich and their monopolies. Our duty is to break new ground especially in the realm of holding governments to account. Governments must do their duty! They must uphold public right not monopoly right!

We can defend our pensions, wages, livelihoods, security and way of life if we depend on our own efforts and the people, and break new ground in affirming our political rights as the producers of all wealth and the providers of all services. We are the backbone of the socialised economy. We must become the backbone of decision-making as well.

Local 1005 will go to Parliament Hill on May First to demand that governments resolve the crisis in favour of Canadians, not the rich. We invite all of you to join us to make the statement even more strongly -- Public Right Yes, Monopoly Right No!

[Slogans]
Canadians Stand as One!