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NUPGE president James Clancy and OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas lead large contingent in peaceful protest through downtown Toronto.
Toronto (27 June 2010) - Members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE), wearing unmistakable green shirts calling for a Robin Hood tax on financial institutions, made their presence felt at a major rally by labour and other progressive groups Saturday at the G-20 summit in Toronto.
"Small change for the banks - big difference for the world," read the brightly coloured t-shirts worn by the large contingent from OPSEU. The t-shirts also advertised the web address citizens can visit to add their support to the global campaign to place a tax on financial transactions: www.robinhoodtax.ca.
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Led by James Clancy (right), president of the National Union of Public and General Employees, and Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of OPSEU, the delegation also carried a banner that read, "People need good jobs ... all around the world."
OPSEU is NUPGE's largest Component. The rally was well organized and it drew thousands of peaceful demonstrators.
The rally also focused significant attention on women's rights and the failure of the summit to fully address maternal health. A large contingent listened to speeches at Queen's Park and then paraded through the streets, chanting, "Maternal health care includes abortion."
The peaceful nature of the rally was praised by Toronto Mayor David Miller and Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. However, it was overshadowed by a small violent minority whose tactics of destruction, including the burning of several police cars, attracted much of the media coverage.
CLC president Ken Georgetti condemned the destruction but said organized labour will continue to speak out in peaceful protest on important issues of the day.
"We were exercising a democratic right to tell G20 leaders that there can be no recovery from the economic crisis unless they place a priority on the creation of good jobs," Georgetti said. "We are urging the leaders not to move too quickly to austerity measures and warning them not to chop public services."
Thomas added that it was "extremely important" for OPSEU members to take part in the demonstration.
"I think it is pretty clear that we are living in one world now and that decisions leaders make in one part of the world affect all of us no matter where we live," Thomas said.
"A lot of countries are going straight from bailing out reckless banks to cutting public services for people," he said. "We need to make it 100% clear that we don't support that agenda, not in Canada and not in Ontario. People need strong public services, people need good jobs, and that's why we're here."
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE