Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation of Hamilton-Wentworth
--- Notice to members of OSSTF District 21 ---
Nearly 70 buses already booked for Saturday rally to support Electro-Motive/Caterpillar workers. Saturday’s rally against Electro-Motive Canada and its parent company Caterpillar Inc. is expected to be the largest ever to take place in London.
Dubbed a “London Day of Action Against Corporate Greed,” the rally to support the members of Canadian Auto Workers Local 27 is slated to start at 11:00 am on Saturday, January 21 at Victoria Park in downtown London, Ontario. The park was the site of last year’s Occupy London tent city and serves as a powerful symbolic connection to a movement inspired to defend the interests of “99 percent.” The protest will target Electro-Motive/Caterpillar, which locked-out workers at its London-based diesel train plant on New Year’s Day in an attempt to slash benefits and cut wages in half, after a year in which Caterpillar enjoyed billion dollar profits and a 20 percent boost in productivity.
The audacity of Caterpillar in demanding a $30 million annual cut from these workers, their families and our city has inspired the community to come together to say ‘enough is enough,’” said Patti Dalton, President of the London and District Labour Council. “Caterpillar thought they could simply bulldoze the 500 employees at their London plant, but they didn’t anticipate how passionately other Canadian workers and community members would support these workers.”
Please record the following information and keep it with you if you are travelling out of Ontario during the holidays:
Your HWDSB Employee ID - paystub
Your Division Number - 102
Your Policy Number - 136993
Great West Life Phone - 1-800-957-9777 (Canada & US), 1-204-946-1190 (anywhere else)
If you travel with your Benefits card, it can serve as proof that you have benefits in some countries where they may make you purchase health insurance upon entering the country if you do not have coverage.
You should also get in touch with Paul Baldwin, the HWDSB benefits officer for any major incidents that will go through the benefits plan. He can often act as an advocate with Great West Life to get problems cleared up. His number is 905-527-5092 X2666.
Wherever you are travelling on the holidays, be safe and have fun!
Paper copies at your branch by October 28th or 31st.
1423 Upper Ottawa Street
Units 2 & 3,
Hamilton, Ontario L8W 3J6
Phone: 905-574-8285
Fax: 905-574-8166
'Let us not take thought for our separate interests, but let us help one another.'
