Activists finger Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Electro-Motive Diesel Canada’s alleged “state-sponsored corporate greed” and labor malpractices.

By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive:

Occupy Ottawa activists are expected to join thousands of Canadian Occupy and labour activists in London, Ont., on Saturday, January 21, for a massive rally against Electro-Motive Diesel Canada. The company, a subsidiary of U.S. industrial giant Caterpillar Inc., illegally locked out its workers at its London-based diesel train plant on New Year’s Day in an attempt to slash benefits and cut wages by 50 percent.

The rally is being organized by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), with the support of the London and District Labour Council, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). It’s scheduled to start at 11:00 am at Victoria Park a downtown London.

The park is a powerful symbol of the strengthening connection between the labour and Occupy movements in Canada. It was the site of last year’s Occupy London Ontario tent city, from where the movement defended the interests of the “99 percent.”

Canadian big hitters expected to speak at the rally include CAW President Ken Lewenza, OFL President, Sid Ryan, CLC President Ken Georgetti, and Nycole Turmel, the interim leader of Canada’s Official Opposition New Democratic Party.

“We expect thousands, if not tens of thousands of people to converge upon our city for this action, and we would like the Occupy movement to help these workers strike back against one of the worst corporate citizens of the past few decades,” said Occupy London Ontario’s Brent Cornwall in a statement released January 8th.

Caterpillar Inc. is notorious for union-busting and other labour malpractices in North American and overseas. Many have called for the company to be investigated under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. It has reportedly been found guilty and penalized over $120 million for environmental malpractices.

“The company has also been aggressive in working with China in the notorious Three Gorges Dam project, which has displaced 1.3 million citizens,” Cornwall said. “We, at Occupy London Ontario, believe that Caterpiller is the poster child of bad corporate citizenship.”

He added that the company’s practices were tantamount to “attacking the 99% to fuel the greed of the 1%.”

But for both Lewenza and Ryan the rally isn’t just about Electro-Motive Diesel Canada’s abhorant actions. In a statement released by the OFL Wednesday, both men accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of coddling the company, which reportedly received $5-million from a government tax incentive program a few years ago.

“It’s about taking a stand against the worst kind of state-sponsored corporate greed,” Lewenza said. “Prime Minister Harper is spending billions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize tax cuts for corporations who are taking our cash … and our jobs. It is like having our own money used against us.”

Electro-Motive Diesel Canada’s actions come at a time its parent company enjoyed billion dollar profits and a 20 percent boost in productivity. In the third quarter of 2011, Caterpillar Inc. posted profits of close to $15,000,000 per day, a 44% increase over the previous year.

Caterpillar CEO, Douglas R. Oberhelman, reportedly makes over $5,000 an hour, before bonuses are even added to his salary.

“Prime Minister Harper has made it clear that he is on the side of corporations that are exploiting weak federal regulations and lax labour laws to rob Canadians of their jobs and their livelihoods,” OFL President Ryan said. “Our message to the Harper government, Caterpillar and every other company is simple: it won’t be business as usual until community needs come before corporate greed.”

The rally is expected to be the largest ever to take place in London. Nearly 70 buses are expected to bring activists from across Canada. Supporters are also reportedly driving in from the GE Plant in Erie, Pennsylvania and the Caterpillar plant in La Grange, Illinois.

The bus from Ottawa, provided by the Ottawa and District Labour Council (ODLC) leaves the capital in the early house of Saturday. It will pick up participants from St. Laurent Shopping Centre (near East Side Mario’s) at 2:45am and IKEA (Greenbank/Iris) at 3:00am.

As the Occupy Ottawa website reported earlier, on Sunday, December 11, 2011, more than 100 people packed O’Reilly’s Pub in Perth to hear speakers from the Occupy Ottawa movement talk about their collective and personal experiences. With this visit, dubbed Meet The Occupation, Canada’s newest Occupy movement was born. Following the visit, a group of facilitators created a new Facebook Page, posters, fliers and other resources. Next Sunday, January 22, Occupy Lanark County will hold its General Assembly (GA).

“After the great response to the Meet The Occupation event from the community of Perth, we have decided to try to legitimize the movement in Lanark County by creating Lanark’s first General Assembly (GA),” said Joe Cowen, a Perth native and co-facilitator of Occupy Lanark County.

A protest on Parliament Hill to end Omnibus Crime Bill C-10. Ending violence against indigenous women. A teach-in for Crime Bill C-10. Occupy Toronto Activist Assembly. Martin Luther King Day of Action. Occupy Congress. These are some of the actions being facilitated by Occupy Ottawa and allies in Ottawa, Canada and the US.

OCCUPY OTTAWA ACTIONS

Action: Ending Violence Against Indigenous Women

• When: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 6:00pm
• Where: McNabb Community Centre, Ottawa, ON
• Host: Occupy Ottawa: Indigenous Solidarity Action
• Online action page: Facebook: Ending Violence Against Indigenous Women

Details: Kristen Gilchrest and Bridget Tolley from Families of sisters and Spirit will be talking with us about the violence against Indigenous women and how to end it. They have both been active for more than a decade in trying to raise awareness around this issue as well as working to end the violence. The Native Women’s movement was initiated when Native women became aware that they were discriminated against by Canada’s Indian Act on the basis of race, gender and marital status. The Indian Act is race legislation that defines who is an “Indian” and contains certain legal disabilities and legal rights for registered Indians. It has been one of the most oppressive colonial instruments of the Canadian Government.

Additional resources:
http://ipsmo.wordpress.com/
http://ipsmo.wordpress.com/honouring-indigenous-women/

Occupy Ottawa activist, Andy Wilson, sees a future political role for the movement. During Occupy Ottawa’s November 28 General Assembly, Wilson proposed the creation of a Political Action Committee for the movement. During its December 3, General Assembly, Occupy Ottawa approved his proposal.

The irony of it all! At around 2.am Wednesday morning, more than 150 Ottawa Police officers pounced on eight Occupy Ottawa protesters peacefully resisting eviction from Confederation Park, where they’d camped for five weeks shining a light on growing economic disparities in Canada. In the meantime, the residents of Attawapiskat First Nations have been living in tents and “Third World” conditions for years.

Metro News reports on my injuries sustained when I was dragged by Ottawa Police officers during the eviction of Occupy Ottawa protesters from Confederation Park shortly after 2.am yesterday.

Quote from the paper:

“”They dragged me for a distance — it was very rough,” said Madondo as he limped toward the NCC protest on Elgin Street with his arm in a sling. “Then they dropped me and I hit my head on the road.”

He was treated at the Ottawa Hospital for arm and leg injuries after officers disentangled protesters who had chained themselves together. They had also linked arms and legs, which made the arrests even more difficult.”

Read the full story HERE

Occupy Ottawa march on Global Day of Action Nov 17 2011

With crackdowns against Occupy protesters in New York, Vancouver and other Canadian cities in recent days, we knew this moment of force and madness would come to Canada’s capital. Today, on its 38th day of a peaceful occupation of Confederation Park, the Occupy Ottawa movement received the eviction notice from the National Capital Commission (NCC), the federal government body responsible for the park.

by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Nov. 18, 2011:

Even as the threat of eviction from Confederation Park looms larger, the Occupy Ottawa movement is getting stronger, says Arun Smith.

Yesterday, the movement held simultaneous marches before four key Ottawa landmarks: the Canadian Human Rights Monument, US embassy, Novotel hotel and the Sparks Street Mall.

Before leaving the park, the protesters observed a minute of silence to honor Occupy movements facing eviction and police brutality across the world.