Labour

Save Canada Post

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This statement is from our June Central Committee meeting. View our earlier campaign leaflet text here.

The Harper Government’s unilateral decision to eliminate home postal delivery, escalate postal rates and eliminate up to 8000 jobs is a major part of the agenda of privatization which targets all social services, publicly owned resources, energy, Medicare, education and transportation.

In order to expedite negotiation and implementation of the CETA agreement with the European Union the federal government early in the process made a commitment to the European negotiators to comply with the conditions of the Lisbon Agreement (the de facto constitution of the EU) which calls for the privatization and expropriation of all public services and resources. Privatization to comply with trade agreements is a method to bypass parliament and the Canadian public.

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Ceremony to honour Arthur “Slim” Evans and On to Ottawa Trekkers – July 1

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July 1 will mark the 80th anniversary of the brutal police attack against the On to Ottawa Trek. On that date in 1935, the citizens of Regina and Trek participants were holding a peaceful mass rally in that city’s Market Square. Suddenly, at 8:17 pm, RCMP officers emerged from vans parked at the square with batons and tear gas to break up the rally, injuring hundreds and sparking the infamous “Regina Police Riot”.

The On to Ottawa Trek was organized by the Relief Camp Workers Union, and led by Arthur “Slim” Evans, one of the most popular trade union and Communist leaders of the “Dirty Thirties” Depression era. In the spring of 1935, after weeks of political organizing in Vancouver to demand “Work and Wages”, hundreds of RCWU members and other unemployed workers boarded freight trains, intending to take their struggle directly to the federal government in Ottawa.

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80th anniversary of the On To Ottawa Trek: Mass struggle is still the key to victory!

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Special Resolution on the 80th anniversary of the On to Ottawa Trek, adopted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada, June 13-14, 2015

This meeting of the Central Committee CPC salutes the 80th anniversary of the 1935 On to Ottawa Trek – one of the most iconic episodes in the history of the working class struggle in Canada. On this occasion, we pay tribute to the leaders of the Trek – Arthur “Slim” Evans, Robert “Doc” Savage and other working class heroes who fearlessly took on the bosses, the police, the military, and right-wing politicians.

At the same time, we stress the need to understand the lessons of the past in today’s context.

The On to Ottawa Trek was initiated by the communist-led Relief Camp Workers Union at the height of the Great Depression, after five years of vicious ruling class attacks on the living standards and rights of the working class across the country. Today we are experiencing another period of economic crisis for the capitalist system, which has seen a rebound of corporate profits since 2008, but no real economic recovery for working people. Once again, the gap between the ultra-wealthy and the mass of the people has increased sharply, reflecting the intensified exploitation of workers as bosses use the “reserve army of labour” to drive down wages and impose austerity cuts.

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Empowering women, empowering humanity

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IWD 2015 greetings from the Communist Party of Canada

March 8, International Women’s Day, is a time to celebrate our historic struggles for equality, and to unite around today’s challenges. On IWD 2015, the Communist Party of Canada extends our warm solidarity to all who stand for peace, equality, democracy and social progress.

In September 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing. 30,000 activists held a parallel Forum, while government representatives from 189 countries hammered out the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Despite its shortcomings, the document was amazingly comprehensive, covering women and the environment, economy, education, health, armed conflict, and much more.

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Émancipation des femmes, émancipation de l’humanité

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Salutations du Parti communiste du Canada à l’occasion de la JIF 2015.

Le  8 mars, Journée internationale des femmes, est une occasion de célébrer nos luttes historiques pour l’égalité et de s’unir pour relever les défis d’aujourd’hui. À l’occasion de la JIF 2015, le Parti communiste du Canada exprime sa solidarité la plus chaleureuse envers toutes celles et ceux qui se dressent en faveur de la paix, l’égalité, la démocratie et le progrès social.

En Septembre 1995, la quatrième Conférence mondiale sur les femmes s’est tenue à Beijing. 30 000 militantes avaient organisé un Forum parallèle, tandis que les représentantes des gouvernements de 189 pays élaboraient la Déclaration de Beijing et le Programme d’action. Malgré ses lacunes, le document était étonnamment complet, couvrant les femmes et l’environnement, l’économie, l’éducation, la santé, les conflits armés, et bien plus encore.

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Unite against Harper’s politics of fear

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In the wake of the violent events in Ottawa and Quebec last month, the Communist Party of Canada warned against attempts to use such incidents to impose new restriction on civil liberties and democratic freedoms. The Harper government is clearly adopting such a strategy, in an effort to intimidate Canadians against expressing criticism of Conservative policies, by expanding the frightening scale of mass surveillance of the activities and communications of the people of this country. We join with many others to warn that this trend towards police state tactics will have dangerous consequences for democracy and freedom.

Instead of adopting an “evidence based approach” to dealing with violent crime, the Harper government is engaged in a blatant attempt to frighten Canadians into silence. The Conservatives strategy is to use various hot-button issues to head off serious debates, such as their claim that terrorist threats pose a mortal danger to the entire country, or that “cyber-bullying” can only be stopped by giving police sweeping new powers to monitor virtually all online communications.

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Withdraw Bill 3 attack on Québec municipal pensions

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The Communist Party of Canada supports the municipal employees of Québec and demands the withdrawal of Bill 3 which attacks their pension rights.

Citing the fear of pension fund deficits due to the improved life expectancy of workers, Bill 3 would tear up collective agreements, and force renegotiation by setting advance concessions that workers must accept. With good reason, the unions argue that such imposed negotiations will be artificial, and that the Bill is an attack on freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Bill 3 covers all Québec municipalities, affecting 170 retirement plans, 50,000 retirees and 122 000 participants, even though these plans are not actually in financial difficulty.

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Block the CETA deal!

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Every government and advocates of “Free Trade Agreements” have dangled the illusion of jobs and prosperity. These have never materialized. Indeed the opposite is true. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have vanished through NAFTA, and experts predict at least another 50,000 jobs will be lost through CETA, the latest and most dangerous of these agreements.

Shrouded in secrecy, the Harper Conservative government, the European Union, and major trans‑national corporations recently concluded the final round of negotiations for the largest free‑trade agreement in Canada’s history since NAFTA. Although there have been setbacks in the German Parliament over the dispute mechanism, the Harper government are still pushing for a signing, at least in principle, in September 2014. CETA would take effect after it has been ratified by the EU member states, and also by the federal and provincial governments of Canada. This makes the fightback agenda very urgent; just as the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investments) was defeated, blocking CETA is still possible, through a strategy of mass mobilizations and by making this sellout a key issue in next year’s federal election.

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Salute to B.C. teachers – the fight continues

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The teachers of British Columbia deserve a huge vote of appreciation for standing on the picket lines to defend public education and collective bargaining rights. The Communist Party of BC salutes their determination to resist the attacks and provocations of the Liberal government, and to win the support of parents, students, and all who value public education. This courageous struggle goes all the way back to the first Liberal term in office, and the budget slashing and union‑bashing launched by Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. We pledge to continue our solidarity with teachers and all education workers in this fight, which has now entered a new stage following the ratification of a new six‑year collective agreement. The teachers will go back to classrooms with justifiable pride that unlike the government, they made the interests of students their priority in this dispute.

After months of government threats and bullying, the final negotiated settlement was reached thanks to the solidarity of community groups, parents and students, and by the financial and moral support and of trade unions across the country and even internationally. Having made huge sacrifices, many teachers were understandably reluctant to accept a deal which leaves them with just 7.25% pay increases over a period of eight years, and with only minor gains on the crucial issues of class size and composition.

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Labour must lead escalating fightback in solidarity with BC Teachers

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British Columbians are dismayed and increasingly angry that public schools across the province are closed as the 2014-15 academic year begins, with no end in sight to the labour dispute imposed on students and teachers by Christy Clark’s Liberal government. The Communist Party of BC stands in solidarity with the BC Teachers’ Federation in their courageous struggle for a fair collective agreement, the right to negotiate class size and composition, and a funding formula which reverses many years of cutbacks, layoffs and school closures across the province.

Over the summer, many remained hopeful that the government would eventually back down from its refusal to engage in real collective bargaining, and find a way to reach an agreement with the BC Teachers Federation by Labour Day. Now, it is clear to both critics and supporters that the Premier’s long-range goal is to use this dispute in order to gut the public education system across the province
and to smash the BCTF.

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