Members of the local
media, and others from as far away as Kitchener and Guelph, were treated to a couple of
trays of tuna sandwiches (made by OPSEU communications officer Katie FitzRandolph) and
plastic goblets of ginger ale. Instead of black ties and tails, OPSEU president Leah
Casselman, Bargaining Committee chair John Worton, and Brantford area strikers and
supporters wore black ribbons around their necks.
OPSEU presented a cheque for $434 to the local food bank.
"We have a great deal of sympathy with the charities that will depend on the
casino for revenues. It’s a sad commentary that government cuts to important services
mean a lot of agencies must look to gambling revenues to continue their work," said
Leah.
The cheque represents approximately 15 seconds worth of the province’s daily $2.5
million take from casinos.
Worton called on the employer to get back to the table. "We’ve handed the
employer a response to their latest position. We’re looking for a reaction from
them."
The grand opening has been postponed until November 19. If we’re still on strike
then, we’ll be back in Brantford.
Members of the strike committee were busy Friday writing letters to MPPs, asking them
to put pressure on Bob Runciman to tell the employer to get back to the table.
Watch for our presence on Saturday, Nov. 13 at the Windsor and Rama casinos.
Van loads of strikers will be joined at the Windsor Casino by OPSEU members attending a
Region 1 educational. Members of other unions in the Windsor area have pledged to join the
picket line as well. Last Saturday, with only 35 people on the line, we were able to back
up traffic for at least 20 blocks. Just imagine what we’ll be able to do this week!
A bus of strikers will be headed to Rama as well, where we hope to disrupt business for
a few hours.
Next Saturday a mass rally is planned for the Niagara Casino.
Our strike is having an impact on the employer’s ability to conduct its business.
Next week our message will be heard far and wide. We’ll be buying ads in key
newspapers.
We’ll be making calls to organizations that have every reason to be concerned that
the liquor licensing laws of the province and the gambling laws are not being enforced.
These groups include Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Gamblers Anonymous, Alcoholics
Anonymous and others.
We plan to leaflet buses taking gamblers to casinos to tell them about the problems,
and we will escalate our activities until we can get back to the table and bargain a
decent first contract.
1. Call your MPP and local politicians. Ask them to call Bob Runciman and tell him to
get AGCO management back to the table to deal with our last proposal.
2. Talk to people in your community. Tell them that the liquor licensing laws and the
gambling laws are not being enforced while you are on strike. If you’d like some
information to give out, call the strike headquarters and we’ll make sure you get
some flyers.
3. Keep in touch with the strike committee. Let us know how things are going where you
are. We’ll try to keep the news and the networks active.
Strike headquarters: (416) 593-7717 (416) 593-7718
