Sudbury Event in Campaign to Raise Welfare Rates

A section of the Canadian Union of Public Employees -- Ontario is holding a conference in Sudbury at the end of February. CUPE-O has decided to support the "Raise the Rates" campaign, a struggle to reverse the provincial cutting of the Special Diet Allowance (a provision whereby some people living in poverty in Ontario were able to obtain a little more money to meet their dietary needs, at least before the McGuinty Liberals abolished it) and to win a significant increase in the criminally low social assistance rates in the province. Because of this, when they hold their conference here, they are also holding an event to promote the campaign. There will be two speakers from Toronto, including OCAP's John Clarke and the "Raise the Rates" organizer from CUPE-O, and two local speakers with experience in anti-poverty issues.

Raise the Rates Event in Sudbury
Saturday, February 26, 2011.
6pm-8pm
Holiday Inn Sudbury, Main Floor (Room Geo A and B)
1696 Regent St., Sudbury, Ontario

Come and discuss how to continue to build the Raise the Rates campaign in Ontario:

Speakers:

John Clarke, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) organizer.
Ilian Burbano, CUPE Ontario Raise the Rates Campaign Organizer.
Julie Vaillancourt, author of Ontario Works - Works for Whom? An Investigation of Workfare in Ontario.
Gary Kinsman, former member of the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty.

*snacks/refreshments will be provided*

In its March 2010 budget, the McGuinty government introduced a wage freeze for public sector workers while at the same time approving a $4.6 billion corporate tax break over the next 3 years! As part of these same 'austerity' measures, the province announced a cancellation of the Special Diet Allowance (SDA), a benefit which provided up to $250 per month to persons on welfare and O.D.S.P. (Ontario Disability Support Program). This has been a devastating blow for countless people struggling to survive on substandard social assistance rates.

In response, at its May 2010 Convention, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario passed an emergency resolution endorsing the campaign to raise social assistance rates and to pressure the Liberals not to cut and to fully restore the Special Diet Allowance. This campaign, which is being organized jointly with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and other allies, aims to build a broad-based resistance to the McGuinty’s poverty measures negatively impacting workers and poor communities.

Organized by: CUPE Ontario’s University Workers Coordinating Committee Conference (OUWCC).

Co-sponsored by: CUPE Ontario, the Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy at Laurentian University & the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

More information: raisetherates@gmail.com/ 416-299-9739 ext 255

http://www.cupe.on.ca/doc.php?subject_id=236&lang=en

http://www.ocap.ca/

If you are in Sudbury at the end of February, please check it out!