IBM Workers to stage virtual strike in Second Life
The union headquarters can be found inworld at Commonwealth Island 103.171.22
Bottled Water Boycott
I have been viewing with interest the development of a broadbased boycott of bottled water. When the United Church of Canada announced their endorsement of a boycott of bottled water, the issue hit the mainstream in Canada.
I find this a very heartening sign in several ways. First it signals that there are growing numbers of people who believe that some of the basics of life really should not have a price tag. Secondly it signals once again a growing alignment of the religious Left with the political Left, a coalition that is necessary to gain the broadbased support to challenge the populist support of the far Right.
Lastly, this issue is a very sophisticated one to have the populist appeal that it does. It is commonly taught in political campaign schools that the vast majority of the public cannot hold two ideas in their minds at the same time so political arguments cannot pose complex chains of logic…despite most political issues requiring two or more steps. Usually analysis of election results show that people have bought very simple arguments such as, “It’s time for change”, “Throw the bums out, they’re crooked”, or “Let’s give them another chance” and tapping into those simple powerful messages is the way to win elections.
But let’s look at the messaging in the bottled water boycott.
1. When I drink bottled water, I care less about the safety of tap water.
2. If everyone cares less about the safety of tap water, it may decline in quality.
3. If it declines in quality those who cannot afford bottled water will get sick from tap water.
4. Therefore bottled water is immoral, unethical and I will not buy it.
Fully four steps of political reasoning involved in this issue. Wow! And it is gaining momentum. We should all be encouraged.
Tags: Canada Council, Dance, Arts Policy
New idea in the fight against false self-employment
Here’s a new strategy for activists who want to fight back against this employment problem in Canada.
When businesses represent workers as self-employed when they meet all the requirements of employees, who should know better? Who should advise the employer that they are taking financial risks? Who is charged with the responsibility for ensuring that companies don’t get socked with unexpected costs like paying back EI and CPP for several workers?
If your past or present deadbeat employer retains an accountant or has an accountant on their Board of Directors, why not file a complaint to that professional association. These individuals are supposed to be the financial watchdogs for the company’s who employ them or the organizations that ask them to sit on their board of directors. If enough accountants are made the subject of complaints on this issue, perhaps the whole profession will wake up and treat this seriously.
If your company employs a CA find your provincial Chartered Accounting organization by visiting The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants or if your company employs a CGA visit The Certified General Accountants of Canada to find your provincial association and complaints process.
Has a Canadian employer deprived you of contributions to EI and CPP?
If you’ve been a victim of the growing problem of false self-employment there IS something you can do.
While legitimate self-employment has some benefits for workers, too many vulnerable Canadian workers are being deprived of access to EI benefits when their jobs end and also deprived of employer contributions to their CPP making affected workers poorer when they retire.
When this happened to me I was very discouraged to find very little information available to help me. When I did find out that I could ask CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) for a determination of employment status, I was still discouraged by reports that this process could take 1 or 2 years before making its way through the bureaucracy.
I was angry. My employer was a non-profit, charitable organization supposedly concerned with social justice yet was treating employees inequitably and additionally ripping off the social safety net of the country. After friendly persuasion and patience got me nowhere, I decided to take action. I had been vocal about the inappropriateness of a staff member being paid as a self-employed contractor for some months without any notice being paid.
When I presented my employer with “Employed or Self-Employed a document from CRA, I succeeded in having my employer contributions started but the employer was still resistent to paying back contributions owing. I followed up by filing the appropriate CRA form to request an employment status ruling. So I am happy to report that my case was settled in a mere one month with the employer required to pay back CPP and EI payments.
Ornstein Report : Ethno-Racial Groups in Toronto, 1971-2001: A Demographic and Socio-Economic Profile–Laidlaw Panel Discussion April 25,2006
On April 25, 2006 the Laidlaw Foundation presented a forum at Innis Town Hall focusing on the findings of Dr. Michael Ornstein published in his report: Ethno-Racial Groups in Toronto, 1971-2001: A Demographic and Socio-Economic Profile, conducted and published by the Institute for Social Research at York University.
I really appreciated the way Ornstein addressed various myths and surmises that even people of great good will might have about the difficulties faced by both visible minorities and immigrants in Toronto. And it was great to hear the distinction made by panel participants between the problems of immigrants and the problems faced by visible minorities–where those problems are shared and where they are separate issues. Commentators were correct that the waters get muddied where these issues are confused.
Dr. Ornstein’s report is available for download on the Institute for Social Research web site: . Panelists discussing Dr. Ornstein’s findings and responding to audience questions were: Rick Eagan (St. Christopher House and the MISSWA project), Debbie Douglas (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants) and Amanuel Melles (United Way of Greater Toronto).
Ornstein remarked that the role of social research statistics are to “provoke, intimidate and encourage” which he elaborated to suggest that such research provokes discussion of solutions, intimidates those who would promulgate myths and undermine positive initiatives and encourages community-builders.
For the most part the report and panel presentations were well-received by audience members, although one member of the audience criticized the report and presentation in not examining the roots of white privilege sufficiently and suggested that certain initiatives were racist in their intention and/or results. In this regard the audience member named the Safe Schools Initiative as unfairly excluding black students from school. Hmm. Since all students have an equal right to be free from bullying in their schools, this lone commentator’s remarks seemed rather off-base and out of step with the positive community-building spirit of the forum and subsequent efforts likely to gain momentum through the Ornstein report. Other commentators congratulated Ornstein on exposing the myth that the difficulties faced by visible minorities in Toronto were solely those of settlement due to recent immigration.
Congratulations to the Laidlaw Foundation on funding this research and making the public panel discussion possible.
Ageism
Michael Franti: I Know I'm not Alone
Michael Franti’s journey to the Middle East is recorded in the film I Know I’m Not Alone . His trip to play some music, chat to some people, jam with other musicians and see for himself what’s happenin’ seems like such an ordinary thing for an artist to do. However when it is the war zones of Iraq and the Gaza strip that he is touring to, the normalcy of many of his encounters seem abnormal. Yet in crossing the ocean and the barriers of war it seems that he shows the absurdity and unnecessary nature of war.
He makes it seem so easy, just take the step, reach out to individual human beings–victims of war and agressors– and make peace happen in the world.
I wiewed the film tonight at the Friends Meeting House in Toronto with some people from other peace groups. Members of Christian Peacemaker teams were there also, poignantly mourning the loss of Tom Fox in Iraq. The fact that peacemaking could also be very personally dangerous was very much in the room with the small group of about 30 gathered around the TV monitor. The film was introduced by a woman who had been in Iraq in 2004 with CPT. She struck a note that was harmonious with the film when she said that she never felt more unsafe than at times when she was near people with guns. She gave an example of travelling for a time with a NY Times reporter to report on CPT work there. The NY Times provided armed guards, a convoy of armed vehicles and everyone wore flak jackets. The site of the group travelling provoked hostile reactions and looks from many people as they travelled. Going about Iraq unarmed felt much, much safer.
I left the film wondering if a critical mass of people like Franti really could make a difference by refusing to be frightened of reaching out to those we’ve been told we should fear. I was reminded of other symbolic acts of peace that I had witnessed in my life, some even by people I was privileged to know. I don’t know if it will make a difference but it seems like the only thing that one can do. I hope Franti is right–that he is not alone.
Amnesty communicates with style and wit
I love the internet when it communicates important messages with style, wit and all the bells and whistles of the medium. This video from Amnesty International entertains, informs and horrifies and has an important message but its send up of tele-shopping is also hilarious!
http://www.protectthehuman.com/teleshop/guns/
Here from There
In the picture on the right here are some of the littlest protestors. Their signs proclaim their “Right to Play”
This photo was taken at International Children’s Day celebrations in Varanasi India. In such a world it seems hard to justify the time to blog.
Whenever anyone would talk to me about their blogs, they’d often talk about it as a way of living an examined life and a way of making sense of the past by constructing some sort of linear narrative about their life.
Makes sense. Perhaps a worthy goal but . . . Why did that make me feel tired?
I guess when you are at or past the halfway point of a lifespan as I am, you really want to live in the NOW more. You also want to look ahead and plan the best use of the future. Enough of looking back already.
Besides how much of life is linear?
Not my life. It has been one of flying off madly in all directions or gently falling from place to place in the currents of change and happenstance.
I am currently working for an organization called World Literacy of Canada. The picture above was taken at one of our programs in India. It’s a bit of a departure after having worked in the Arts exclusively for the past decade. But on the whole I am feeling more myself these days. It was one of those falling backwards by mistake into something that works, at least for a time. While I came in applying for one job and was hired for something entirely different, there’s been a lot about the past year that has been a great “fit”. I’ve met some wonderful talented and inspiring people and there have been many high points.
Right now I am really hoping that I will be able to apply for and receive funding for a pilot project that would link some literacy programs in India with classrooms in Canada. The goal would be to share stories about children’s daily lives between Canadian children and some of the poorest kids in India. The kids in WLC tutoring programs cannot afford to attend regular schooling.
So my starting point is Now.
Maybe along the way how I got here from there might be relevant.