TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 15, 2015) - Communities across Ontario are joining the North American-wide movement for decent work and a $15 minimum wage. On April 15, actions are taking place in over 200 cities in the US, Canada and around the world.
In Ontario, workers want Labour Minister Kevin Flynn to use the current review of employment and labour law as an opportunity to curb employer practices that undermine decent wages and working conditions in Ontario.
Workers are also taking their message to the doorsteps of McDonald's, a profitable multi-national corporation that is renown for its low-wage employment practices. "McDonald's has come to exemplify unstable, low-wage, part-time employment," says Patti Dalton, a teacher and member of the London Common Front. "Yet last year, McDonald's made $6.7 billion in profit. There's no reason why that corporation - and others like it - can't provide decent wages and benefits. The time has come for governments everywhere to compel profitable corporations like McDonald's to raise wages and improve working conditions."
"We're showing our support for workers earning poverty-level wages in the United States. We want to help build that movement for a just society," said SEIU Healthcare president Sharleen Stewart. "Fight for 15 is all about justice for working people so that everyone can earn a living wage."
The following Fight for $15 & Fairness events are taking place across Ontario:
April 14:
Canadian Labour Congress
Releases new research paper: The Minimum Wage in Canada
Media Contact: Angella MacEwen, CLC Senior Economist, cell: 613-277-2587
http://www.canadianlabour.ca/news-room/publications/minimum-wage-canada
North Bay
Forum: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Precarious employment and the Fight for $15 & Fairness
Location: North Bay Museum, Oak Street at Ferguson
Media contact: Rob Breton, robbr@nipissingu.ca, 705-474-3450 ext 4438
- Organized by the Nipissing University Faculty Association and North Bay and District Labour Council
April 15:
Thunder Bay
Action: 8:00 am to 9:00 am
Location: McGillivray Square, City Hall, 500 Donald St. E.
Media contact: Terri Lynne Carter 807-632-4442
Action: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: McDonald's, 770 Memorial Ave.
Media contact: Candace Shirk 807-626-0480
- Organized by Poverty Free Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay & District Labour Council, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare, and others
Sudbury
Forum: 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Community dialogue on precarious employment: What is its impact on poverty and how can we improve the Employment Standards Act to create fair work practices.
Location: Laughing Buddha (private room), 194 Elgin Street
Media contact: Nicole Beaulieu sudburyworkerscentre@gmail.com
- Organized by the Sudbury Workers' Education and Advocacy Centre (SWEAC)
Ottawa
Action: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Rally for a Federal $15 Minimum Wage
Location: Prime Minister's Office, 80 Wellington Street
- Media contact: Jill O'Reilly, 613-744-7228 or onacornot@acorncanada.org
- Organized by ACORN Ottawa and allies
Peterborough
Action: 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Location: McDonald's, 978 Lansdowne Street
Media contact: Paul Brown 705-868-7426 or pbrown@uwpeterborough.ca
- Organized by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare, Peterborough Workers' Action Centre, Peterborough and District Labour Council, UNIFOR, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Canadian Union of Public Employees, and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
London
Action: 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Location: McDonald's, 151 Dundas Street (at Richmond)
Media contact: Patti Dalton 519-494-3901
- Organized by the London Common Front and the London and District Labour Council
Oshawa
Action: 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Location: Tim Hortons, 17 Athol Street West (at Simcoe)
Media contact: Jim Freeman, President, Durham Region Labour Council cell: 905-431-5607.
- Organized by We are Oshawa and Durham Region Labour Council
Waterloo
Action: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Location: Waterloo Town Square, 75 King Street South
Media contact: Mark Xuereb, President, Waterloo Regional Labour Council cell: 519-588-0199.
- Organized by the Alliance against Poverty and supported by the Waterloo Regional Labour Council
Hamilton
Action: 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Location: McDonald's, 50 Dundurn Street South
Media contact: Gilleen Witkowski, SEIU Healthcare, 416-805-0305 or g.witkowski@seiuhealthcare.ca
- Organized by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare
Toronto
Action: 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Location: McDonald's Canada Headquarters, 1 McDonald's Place
Media contact: Gilleen Witkowski, SEIU Healthcare, 416-805-0305 or g.witkowski@seiuhealthcare.ca
- Organized by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare
Action: 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm
Location: Ministry of Labour, 400 University Avenue
Media contact: Pam Frache, cell: 416-578-3472.
- Organized by Toronto-area members of the Fight for $15 & Fairness
Action: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Location: Pearson International Airport
Media contact: Sean Smith, cell: 416-277-1242
- Organized by the Toronto Airport Workers' Council
April 23:
Guelph
Forum: 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Community meeting on precarious employment and the Fight for $15
Location: University of Guelph, UTC-07, UC 103
Media contact: Peter Miller, 226-500-3433
- Organized by Raise the Wage Guelph
For more information:
- Fight for $15 and Fairness (Ontario), visit: http://15andfairness.org/.
- Fight for $15 (British Columbia), visit: http://www.fightfor15bc.ca/.
- Fight for $15 (Nova Scotia), visit: https://www.facebook.com/nslivingwage?fref=ts.
- Fight for $15 (United States), visit: http://fightfor15.org/april15/ or http://april15.org/.
Contact Information:
Pam Frache
cell: 416-578-3472