This Saturday, thousands of trade unionists and their supporters will be protesting at the Ontario Liberal Party leadership convention at Allen Gardens in Toronto. The use of the now-repealed Bill 115 and the prorogation of the legislature will be the target. The action is being coordinated by the Ontario Federation of Labour and many other unions.
This will likely be the largest labour rally in Ontario since the OFL-sponsored rally against the provincial budget in April 2012. It will be a good sign for the labour movement if the turnout is is significantly higher than ten thousand people. The last three large OFL-led protests – Hamilton in January 2011, London in January 2012 and Queen’s Park in April 2012 – all attracted ten thousand people. While the event may prove to be symbolic, it will still have an energizing effect on many of the trade unionists attending. It will also be a test to see how labour’s mobilizing capacities are faring, and how angry people are.
The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty is organizing an anti-poverty march to meet up with the OFL rally. It begins at noon in Moss Park at Sherbourne and Queen. OCAP is looking for labour participation. Labour endorsers include the OFL, PSAC-Ontario, the Rank and File Education Workers of Toronto, and the Toronto Workers Action Centre.
Labour activists associated with Rankandfile.ca will be at the rally, and distributing the flyer below, available in PDF.