Issue: Members of the Occupy Calgary movement and union leaders from the Calgary area will hold a Labour Solidarity Rally at Calgary City Hall at noon on Saturday, November 12th.
Actions Requested: Join the rally to show your support and solidarity for the fight for workers’ rights, a fair wage for a good job and an end to greed and the income inequality plaguing our society.
When: Noon, Saturday, November 12th.
Issue:
The Occupy movement in Calgary, across Canada and around the world is fighting for many of the same things for which the labour movement has campaigned for decades: Workers getting a fair wage; reliable funding for our public services including health care and education; an end to profitable multinational corporations being given billions of our dollars while working people get less and less. Workers are part of the 99%.
AFL’s Position: The Occupy movement is protesting income inequality, funding cuts to public services, tax breaks for the wealthy. Despite claims to the contrary, the protestors have legitimate concerns and have come up with specific solutions, such as the Robin Hood Tax on transactions by financial institutions to combat poverty. They have spoken openly about the positive role that unions can play in building a better Calgary, a better Alberta and a better Canada. Occupy Calgary has called for this rally to show solidarity with workers under attack from the Harper government, which has shown its contempt for workers’ rights and the ability to bargain collectively.
Even Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney – a former Goldman Sachs investment banker and newly appointed by the G20 as the man to overhaul international banking industry – has acknowledged that the Occupy demonstrations are a “democratic expression of views” and are “entirely constructive.” The Occupy movement is helping to keep pressure on governments to introduce vital reforms to the banking industry to prevent the kind of recession that swept the globe in 2008 and caused so much harm to so many.
We support the Occupy movements because they offer a sign of hope that a better, fairer, and more tolerant world may yet emerge from the ashes of the ongoing global financial crisis.
The powers that be have often sought to confront and quash peaceful protests, like those by supporters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Years later, with the benefit of hindsight, those same societies looked back at the protesters and applauded their courage and conviction – and with horror of the attempts by authorities to silence them.
Action: Join the rally at Calgary City Hall at noon on Saturday, November 12th, to show your support and solidarity for the fight for workers’ rights, a fair wage for a good job and an end to greed and the income inequality plaguing our society. Help support the Occupy Calgary occupiers by bringing donations of fresh fruit and vegetables and non-perishable food items, clothing and winter apparel, tenting gear, blankets, foldable chairs, tarps, and monetary donations.