10) SOLIDARITY AGAINST AUSTERITY BUILDS IN OTTAWA

By Larry Wasslen, Ottawa

     Following Ottawa's most successful May Day protest in recent memory, labour, community, and student activists met to continue the momentum gained from a dynamic day of rallying, marching, teach‑in, community dinner, and cultural presentations.

     The Solidarity Against Austerity committee grew out of the labour outreach action spawned by the Occupy Ottawa anti‑capitalist movement in the autumn of 2011. The labour outreach committee, described by activist Phil McGavin as "immensely positive", met weekly after the police violently broke up the peaceful occupation of a park in downtown Ottawa. About two months in advance, a sub-committee was struck with the purpose of planning for May Day.

     An estimated 3,000 people converged on Stephen Harper's office to denounce his attacks on the working class, First Nations peoples, women, students, the poor, and the environment. PSAC delegates from their National Convention marched west to meet the community groups that were marching North. Led by CUPW, the demo took over Wellington Street, marching past Parliament to Quebec in a show of solidarity with the Quebec students' strike.

     An impromptu speech of solidarity between the labour and student movements in a common battle against austerity was given by Dennis Lamelin, President of CUPW, as workers waved their support from their work stations. At least two of the major bridges between Quebec and Ontario had to be shut down, as the police did not know which bridges the demonstrators were going to cross.

     The follow‑up gathering included workers from CUPE, PSAC, ONA, CAW, CUPW as well as community activists such as ACORN, anti-poverty groups, Rally for Truth, and student activists from the U of Ottawa. This meeting provided an opportunity to review all aspects of the May Day effort: planning, preparation, communication, languages, accessibility, education and implementation.

     The significance of choosing May Day was underlined. A tremendous amount of work was undertaken barely two months before the event, and while the results were truly impressive given the short lead time, the consensus was that we can do better with more time to plan. Since most of the organizers are working, that organizing was done in their "spare time". The late addition of two paid staff was highlighted as an important element that greatly improved efficiency in the last weeks of planning for May Day.

     All aspects of the event were reviewed, including capacity building and where do we go from here. It was decided to have a half day planning season, tentatively on June 9, while continuing solidarity actions.

     Two actions were identified for immediate attention: a solidarity march from to Gatineau in support of students' fight against the pro‑austerity Charest Liberal government's tuition fee increases, and a June 23 action by Rally for Truth, a broad‑based movement denouncing last spring's electoral fraud and the corruption which has accelerated under the the Harper Tories.

     It is evident that the ruling class intends to press forward with its plans to attack the working class, students, First Nations Peoples, women, the poor and the environment. But it is also clear that austerity can be blocked, as demonstrated in Greece, where the Conservative/Social Democratic alliance parties were clearly defeated. May Day 2012 was just the beginning.

(The above article is from the June 1-15, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)