Presented by Ken Georgetti on Sunday, 31 January 2010

(Check Against Delivery)

Sisters and brothers – those of you here today are truly the heart of our Canadian labour movement.

It is people like you – right across this country – union members who give up their own time and energy to help promote and improve our labour movement – who give us our real strength – the strength of solidarity. 

And isn’t it ironic that as we meet – as you volunteer to take part in union activities and to benefit your communities – that Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t think there is enough work to do in Canada to have Parliament sitting!

For shame.

Hundreds of thousands of workers without jobs – an economic recession – and Harper “prorogues” – the word for suspends – he prorogues Parliament from December till March!
Imagine what would happen if you asked your boss to “prorogue” your work for a couple of months but still get paid?

They would permanently “prorogue” you!

So the next time you hear a right-wing politician like Stephen Harper complain that Canada has a problem with “worker productivity” – tell the Prime Minister that you actually work full-time for a living!

So I suggest that Harper and his Conservative MPs get back to work now – we pay you enough – do your job!

But while Conservative politicians may not want to do their jobs, it’s people like you who are doing a great job on behalf of your members.

Whether you are a local union president, a shop steward, member of a bargaining committee, a health and safety rep or any other role in your union – you are the face of the labour movement in your workplace.
And all of us depend on you to keep this movement strong.

This is how it has always been – since the start of our movement in the 1800s – and you are now an important part of that proud history.

Those who came before us built our movement – they demanded the 8 hour day – gave us weekends free of work – forced the creation of unemployment insurance and health and safety laws – and so many other things we now take for granted.
We owe them a debt of gratitude – and we pay that debt with our activism to help all workers with the new issues that challenge them today.

And there is no shortage of trouble facing workers and their unions.

• A battered economy.
• Massive unemployment.
• Workers with employment insurance running out.
• Strikes and lockouts.
• Industrial accidents and disease.
• Pensions and retirement at risk.
• Make no mistake – these are tough times for workers.

But our labour movement has never had it easy – we have had to fight to get every benefit and every social program we enjoy today – to fight hard.

And we keep fighting to defend them.

Today I want to talk briefly about just a few things your Canadian Labour Congress is doing on behalf of all union members – and to ask for your help.
We are making a national priority of what is perhaps the most troubling issue in Canada – the fate of our pensions.

Because if we don’t take action now – if we don’t fight for the changes needed in Parliament – we will no longer be able to promise that workers are able to retire with dignity, respect and security in their old age.
The Canadian Labour Congress is deeply concerned that unless we dramatically improve pension legislation, many workers will face poverty, uncertainty and humiliation in what should be their golden years.

We have seen two enormous challenges.

First, as many of you know, employers are viciously trying to take back our defined benefit pension plans.

And let’s be clear – those hard-fought pension plans are not a gift from the employer – they are the deferred earnings of workers!

We agreed to lower wages in exchange for money being put into defined benefit pension plans for when we retire – it’s as simple as that.

And now CEOs who have gold-plated, multi-million dollar pension plans of their own are trying to take away our pensions and boost windfall profits.

We have to fight back together – to protect our pensions – and we will.

It is overwhelmingly clear that Registered Retirement Savings Plans – RRSPs – are not the way for workers to guarantee a comfortable retirement.

The economic meltdown we have just seen has destroyed billions of dollars of assets in both union pension plans and RRSPs – the markets lost 40% of their value in just months.

And in Canada only one taxpayer in four made any contribution to an RRSP in the 2008 tax year.

But in 2009, the number of Canadians declaring personal bankruptcy hit an all time high of more than 150,000.

Clearly what we are doing for retirement isn’t working – we have to change course.
And the CLC says the answer is obvious – over the next 7 to 10 years we have to double the benefits of the public Canada Pension Plan.

The Canada Pension Plan is in fact a defined benefit pension plan that covers 93% of all Canadians.
And by improving it, we can ensure that no Canadian retires into poverty – to ensure that no Canadian is forced to work long past retirement age because of a lack of income.
It won’t be easy. Big business and its mouthpieces in the media are already opposing the idea.

But with your help, we can win.

Because it was the labour movement in Canada that helped create unemployment insurance and demanded public Medicare, as well as other social programs.

And we are going to help create a Canada Pension Plan that all of us can count on!
Secondly, we desperately need more jobs in Canada.

The federal Conservative government budget in March must make job creation the priority.

We have over 1.5 million Canadians out of work.

Unemployment stands at 8.5% – and youth unemployment is over 16%.

Since October 2008, our country has lost 342,000 full-time jobs.

And in December of last year, no jobs were created – none.

This is a total, unacceptable disaster – and it has to stop.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty simply must bring in measures immediately to create jobs and reduce unemployment.

And it should not just be the labour movement calling for job creation – it should be every small, medium and large business in this country!

Who do they think buys their goods and services? It’s workers who have jobs.

But the 1.5 million unemployed Canadian workers aren’t buying new cars, eating out in restaurants or taking vacations on their small EI benefits.

Sisters and brothers – you are the messengers for our labour movement.

You are out there – in the workplace, in the community, in volunteer organizations, churches and schools, with your friends and family.

Please take this important message wherever you go – it’s time to dramatically reduce unemployment and fix the Canada Pension Plan.

Workers in this country can’t wait any longer – and it’s up to all of us to fight for solutions.

So thank you for all you do for our labour movement and good luck with your Winter School studies!