Chris in the News: Local 6500 urged to be courageous at union meeting

Local 6500 urged to be courageous at union meeting

CAROL MULLIGAN, The Sudbury Star

Striking Steelworkers are being urged to demonstrate the same courage now that their predecessors did when they fought, bled and even died for the right to assemble and demand a fair deal in the workplace.

A meeting like the one held Friday morning at the Steelworkers' Hall at 66 Brady St. would have been illegal in his grandparents' day, Hamilton Centre MP David Christopherson told 200 Steelworkers.

"Every one of us in this room would be subject to be arrested and thrown in jail because it was illegal to come together in a collective fashion," the fiery chair of the Ontario caucus of the federal New Democratic Party told the crowd.

"Imagine the courage it took for those trade union leaders and members in that day," said Christopherson. "Not only did they put their job on the line, in some cases they put their life on the line."

Christopherson was one of several New Democrat MPs who answered a call from caucus colleagues Claude Gravelle and Glenn Thibeault to bolster the spirits of Steelworkers entering the 11th month of their strike against Vale Inco.

About 3,000 members of USW Local 6500 in Sudbury and 130 with USW Local 6200 in Port Colborne have been off the job since July 13.

No matter how isolated they may feel, said Christopherson, Steelworkers have the support of the labour movement in Hamilton and across the country.

"Not only did they pick the wrong union and the wrong town," said Christopher, echoing a phrase coined by party leader Jack Layton. "They picked the wrong people in the wrong country 'cause we're all in this fight."

Ontario Steelworkers' struggle to retain defined benefit pensions, nickel bonuses and seniority transfer rights is not just about one picket line, said Christopherson.

"It is the front line of the fight to retake our country and that's why we're going to win."

The former solicitor-general in the NDP provincial government of Bob Rae, Christopherson said our predecessors fought "so the day would come when labour could stand legal and proud, and fight for the rights of workers, just as we are today."

Sudbury Steelworkers have taken on one of the most important fights of their lives and the country's life' defending the Canada our predecessors built "where everybody gets a fair share."

Said Christopherson: "Without you there is no fight, and with you, there is victory."

He promised he and fellow MPs would return to their ridings and not forget "that you're here this cold rainy day and you'll be back on that picket line every day for your kids, for your rights, for your job, yeah, for your country."

The fight must continue at the federal level for legislation banning the hiring of replacement workers during strikes or lockouts, he said. "For a short time (in Ontario), it was the law. We need to make it the law again."

Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton said she was "awfully tired of going to picket lines around the country" where giant corporations are "squeezing the life out of our community."

She slammed Vale Inco for seeking concessions from workers after making huge profits since buying Inco Ltd. more than three years ago.