Windsor Workers' Action Centre

Wage Theft Campaign – Information for Workers

bulkiew — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:44:36 +0000

Wage theft is a growing problem. The Windsor Worker’s Action Centre is working hard to help workers avoid becoming victims of wage theft, by actively engaging in a campaign to educate both workers and employers across the City of Windsor. Don’t become a victim! Stay informed!

Wage Theft Flyer [PDF]

DID YOU KNOW…
• As an employee, you are entitled to receive statutory holiday pay on ALL statutory holidays at a rate of at least 1.5x your regular pay.
• You are entitled to vacation pay at a rate of 4%.
• You are entitled to 1.5x your regular pay after working more than 44 hours in any given week.
• You are entitled to receive payment on a regular pay schedule.
• You are entitled to receive a wage statement with your regular pay outlining the pay period for which the wages are being paid, your wage rate, the gross amount of wages before taxes/deductions, the amount and purpose of each wage deduction, and the net amount of wages.
• Employers can not make a deduction from your wages if the purpose is to cover a loss due to faulty
work (i.e. work that is spoiled or rejected, tools are broken, a company vehicle is damaged, etc.).

1 in 3 workers faces a regular violation of their basic rights. Don’t become a statistic. If you have been a victim of wage theft, please contact the Windsor Works Action Center at 519-252-1212.

Stop the $6 million cut to Employment Standards enforcement. Stop wage theft.

bulkiew — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:54:12 +0000

Despite the fact that workplace violations are at a crisis, the government wants to cut $6 million out of Employment Standards enforcement.

Since we launched our action alert about the cuts to Employment Standards enforcement last week, emails have been streaming in to Premier Dalton McGuinty urging him to stop the cuts. If you have not yet sent an email, please do so today and forward this information to your networks!

EMAIL Dalton McGuinty to ask him to keep his promise to workers and stop the cut today:

Wage theft is at a crisis.
People need confidence that when they go to work they will be paid. However, every day we are seeing workers not getting paid their wages. In a recent survey of workplace violations, WAC found that 1 in 3 people in low waged jobs face unpaid wages. Now more than ever workers need protection from wage theft.

TAKE ACTION

Email Premier Dalton McGuinty here and tell him to keep his promise to workers.
Call your MPP and ask them to make sure the government does not cut $6 million from Employment Standards enforcement. Download a fact-sheet and sample phone script here. Find out who your MPP is at http://www.elections.on.ca/en-ca
Watch our new video and share this information with others in your community and urge them to take action.

In Solidarity,

WWAC

Windsor Pilgrimage to Freedom – Demand Rights for Migrant Workers

admin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:51:56 +0000

PILGRIMAGE TO FREEDOM – WINDSOR, DRESDEN, CHATHAM, LEAMINGTON

Time	Sunday, September 25 · 11:00am - 5:00pm Starting in Windsor, and then the caravan travels to Dresden, Chatham and Leamington

Location	Tower of Freedom Monument 100 Pitt st East Windsor, ON


More Info	Pilgrimage to Freedom Caravan 2011 Last year, over 150 migrant workers and their allies made history by marching over 50 Km, an equivalent of 12 hours, from Leamington to Windsor, Ontario demanding justice, respect and dignity for the hundreds of thousands employed under the auspices of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programs. Over the last year, thousands of people have heard the testimonies and the stories that led to organizing the march. Demands for permanent residency and citizenship status, an end to repatriations and deportations, labour law reform, equal access to social entitlements and an end to the coercive role of recruiters and contractors has inspired many others about the realities faced by migrant workers in Canada. Migrant workers and members of Justicia for Migrant Workers have continued to organize in rural Ontario and are once again demanding that the chains of indentureship in Canada be broken! This year the pilgrimage continues as a form of a caravan across rural Ontario. Migrant workers and their allies will be recreating the stops of the underground railroad to pay tribute to the important struggles of resistance that we base our struggle upon. On September 4th, 2011 we visited St. Catharines, Virgil, NOTL, and Niagara Falls during the first stage of the Pilgrimage to Freedom, and it was very a very successful and touching day. J4MW is requesting the support of community, religious, labour and allied organizations to join us for this year’s two remaining actions. September 4, 2011 St. Catharines – Virgil – NOTL- Niagara Falls **********September 25, 2011************* Windsor – Leamington – Chatham – Dresden Meet at 11:00 pm at the Tower for Freedom Monument, at 100 Pitt st East, Windsor Ontario, and get on the bus for the Pilgrimage to Freedom Caravan. *RIDES: Being a grassroots organization, we have very limited funding and it will go to paying for the buses of the tour and transporting farmworkers, so we cannot offer a bus leaving Toronto. We will do our best to coordinate rides so people can attend from out of town. Agenda for the day will be posted very briefly. October 2, 2011 Simcoe – Brantford – Hamilton – TORONTO!!!! Coverage of our Sept 4 action: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1049164–annual-labour-day-march-to-honour-jack-layton-and-defend-public-services#article http://www.stcatharinessta ndard.ca/ArticleDisplay.as px?e=3285720#.TmVIHqGqmSw.facebook http://www.niagaraadvance.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3 288847#.TmfVDhVhrS8.facebo ok http://www.brockpress.com/news/external-news/migrant-workers-rally-in-st-catharines-1.2587699 http://sharenews.com/opinion/2011/09/15/migrant-workers-denied-rights-others-take-granted CONTACT INFO pilgrimage2freedom@gmail.com

Cancelation Notice – Know Your Rights In The Workplace Workshop

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:27:48 +0000

Please be advised that the Wednesday, August 10th workshop “Know Your Rights In The Workplace” at the Windsor Public Library has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The Workshop will be rescheduled at a further date.

Windsor Workers’ Action Centre apologizes for any inconvenience.

If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact WWAC at 519 252 1212 or info(at)wwac.ca

WCPE Community Workshop: Naming The Moment To Seize The Future

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:23:07 +0000

Time: Saturday, April 2 · 11:00am – 3:00pm

Location: Windsor Workers’ Action Centre, 328 Pelissier St., Windsor, ON

The Premise

Borrowed from : Deborah Barndt: Naming the Moment:Political Analysis for Action, A Manual for Community Groups. (Ontario: The Moment Project, Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice, 1989): 24-53

If we need to change how our society is constructed, and as a result, change the course of history “…we must see ourselves as part of that society and history.” We probably know more than we think we do about how society is actually constructed but since we are immersed in a media landscape controlled by a capitalist framework, we are for the most part unable to stop long enough to properly assess our true situation. This Naming the Moment to Seize the Future exercise is meant to “help us read history and act more effectively toward social change.” In short, how do we see society and do we think the structure ought to be changed.

To answer we start with ourselves – to situate ourselves in this particular historical moment. Over the course of yet to be determined weeks, we’ll work through four phases of Naming the Moment:

Phase 1: Identifying ourselves and our interests
Phase 2: Naming the issues/struggles
Phase 3: Assessing the forces
Phase 4: Planning for action

Phase I

Identifying Ourselves and Our Interests

Who are ‘we’ and how do we see the world
How has our view(s) been shaped by our race, gender, class, age, sector, religion, etc?
How do we define our ‘constituency’: are we of, with, for the people most affected by issues we work on or wish to work on?
What do we believe about the current structure of Canada – about what it could be, about how we get there?

Barndt: ” It’s important to talk frankly about the different perspectives we bring to the longer term questions, even if we don’t agree. The differences, in fact, may offer both constraints to and possibilities for our proposed actions. They will inevitably affect how we read and use present moments for short-term goals as well as for longer-term objectives.” (p.28)

At this point it’s seems prudent to not get too far ahead. This exercise is meant to be participatory, self – led, adult education. We often don’t think of ourselves being in a ‘historical moment’ so we need to get as good a picture as we can of ourselves, what we bring to this process, and what we hope to get out of it. Then we can determine how we approach the other three phases.

The election is on, we are all busy, and this is short notice. If you can at all come out we can start a process of change in Windsor which will be able to challenge and then transform the societal structure we live with.

Free Bike Clinics from the Centre for Popular Education

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:25:49 +0000

As part of the Popular Education Centre initiative of community based education, starting on April 3^rd, you are invited to a free series on how to repair and maintain your own bicycle. The workshops will be hands-on – that means you will be doing the work! Highly trained volunteers will display and guide you through all you need to know to keep you, and your bike, in tip top condition for the coming summer.

Weekly Schedule:

April 3rd: 11am

Bike Basics and Daily Maintenance

April 10th: 11am

Replace a tire and Tube

April 17th: 11am

Brake cable replacement and adjustment

Location:

Windsor Workers Action Centre

328 Pelissier

For more Information contact: Jason Turpin

Phone: 519-984-5858

Email: jasonturpin1970@gmail.com

Question and Answers – Bilingual Legal Clinic

bulkiew — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:21:03 +0000

Windsor Worker’s Action Centre and The Immigrants’ ‘Mutual Aid’ Community Project

Invite you to a Question and Answer Session with a representative from the Bilingual Legal Clinic

If you are not a Canadian citizen, but you work, study or live in Canada, this session is for you. It will help you to learn about your legal rights (health, employment, and immigration) in relation to your migratory status, as well as free resources and opportunities that are available to you in Windsor, Ontario.

Bring your questions so that we can all benefit from the answers!

Saturday February 12th, 5 PM

328 Pelissier, Windsor, Ontario.
(519) 254-6940 or (519) 252-1212

mutualaidproject@gmail.com

This event is FREE

People of all ages and ethnic/linguistic background are welcome to attend

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(El Proyecto Comunitario de Migrantes “Apoyo Mutuo”)

Te invitan a Sesión de preguntas y respuestas con representantes de la

Bilingual Legal Clinic

Si no eres ciudadano canadiense, pero trabajas, estudias o vives en Canadá, esta sesión es para ti. Te servirá para aprender acerca de tus derechos en materia de salud, empleo y migración de acuerdo con tu estatus migratorio.

También podrás informarte sobre los recursos gratuitos y las oportunidades que hay disponibles para ti en tu comunidad.

Compartiremos las preguntas y respuestas para que todos nos beneficiemos

Sábado 12 de Febrero, 5 PM

328 Pelissier, Windsor, Ontario.
(519) 254-6940 ó (519) 252-1212

mutualaidproject@gmail.com

Este evento es GRATUITO

Todo mundo es bienvenido

Uncertain Times : Precarious Employment and Young Workers

bulkiew — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:50:58 +0000

Panelists will critically address different aspects of the employment situation for current and graduating University students,
focusing on the challenges associated with precarious employment, on Monday, February 7th, 2011 (3-5PM) in the Oak Room, at Vanier Hall, University of Windsor.

Panelists

Mr. Zachary Gerard, History Student, University of Windsor
Dr. Wayne Lewchuk, Professor of Economics and Labour Studies, McMaster University– Precarious Employment: The Future of Work?
Dr. Kendra Coulter, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor— Good Jobs for All? Problems and Possibilities for Graduating Students
Dr. Alan Hall, Director, Labour Studies, University of Windsor— Labour and Employment Law: Why isn’t it Working? -University of Windsor Labour Studies Programme & The Windsor Workers’ Action Centre

Click here to view the event poster
For more information, contact Dr. Hall at hall4@uwindsor.ca.

WWAC Presentation – Reducing Your Energy Bill Through Alternative Energy

bulkiew — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:36:50 +0000

Just a reminder that the Centre for Popular Education Windsor’s first discussion series kicks off tomorrow:

Windsor Workers’ Action Centre

328 Pellisier

January 12^th, Doug Hayes: Reducing Your Energy Bill Through Alternative Energy

Hope to see you there.

Centre For Popular Education To Offer New Series of Free Workshops

admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:26:54 +0000

Windsor’s Centre for Popular Education will be offering the new discussion series “Surviving the Recession” once per week during January and February. Weekly topics range from practical options for alternative energy to the roll of workers’ cooperatives in community sustainability. The series will start on January 12th, all workshops start at 2pm, are free-of-charge and will take place at WWAC.

For more information and to access a schedule of classes, please visit the Centre for Popular Education‘s new site.