Left: Activists including Susan Sutherland (second from right) met with NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. Centre: Misty Camick (NSGEU), Ceilidh Lavalette (NSGEU), Nicole Mallette (IBEW) and Susan Sutherland (IAM) met with MP Lenore Zann. Right: Susan Sutherland (IAM), David Watts (NSGEU), Darren McPhee (NSGEU) and Misty Camick (NSGEU) met with MP Darrell Samson.
Local Local 2797’s very own Susan Sutherland headed to Ottawa on February 25th to join the Canadian Labour Congress’ lobbying efforts on Parliament Hill.
Labour representatives and activists from all over Canada lobbied our politicians to create a National Pharmacare Program; establish a $15 federal minimum wage; secure workplaces against violence and harassment; and protect workers and pensioners when employers file for bankruptcy. In total, we had 378 participants meet with 184 MPs and Senators.
Last week, on #GivingTuesday, members of our Women’s Committee and local lodge members packed up shoeboxes for The Halifax Shoebox Project‘s annual drive.
The lodge made a cash donation to help purchase supplies and items, and members also made donations of items and helped pack up the boxes today during our lunch break! All told, we filled 21 boxes this year!
Members of our Women’s Committee volunteered at Feed Nova Scotia yesterday over their lunch hour on Tuesday, October 1st. They sorted onions that will be delivered around the province.
If anyone is interested in donating to Feed NS, some of the items that are in need of most are baby food, canned meat, canned vegetables and soup.
Thanks to all of the members who turned up to lend a hand! 🚺✊
Fundraising is an essential part of preparing for the 40th IAM Grand Lodge Convention September 7-11, 2020 in San Diego. You can help by entering our gold raffle, with all proceeds going to support the convention.
Food
insecurity is a real issue in Nova Scotia. According to Feed Nova Scotia, more
than 41,000 Nova Scotians were supported by food banks in 2017, and 1/3 of
these recipients are children.
Kim Clarke, Sarah Covey, Janet Baker & Zita Hildebrandt helped out at Feed Nova Scotia.
Women’s Committee Chair Sarah Covey and Executive Liason Janet Baker.
Janet & Sarah sort and pack milk cartons for distribution.
A pallet of donations is moved at the warehouse.
Kim packs a container with milk cartons.
It’s a sad
reality that 15.4 per cent of Nova Scotian households are considered “food
insecure,” which means they lack reliable access to enough affordable,
nutritious food.
This is why IAMAW Local Lodge 2797’s Women’s Committee
decided to support Feed Nova Scotia.
“It’s important that we look at all issues that have to do with family dynamics within the home,” explained Sarah Covey, Chair of our Women’s Committee.
“And we try and focus on local organizations that benefit all of our communities.”
1,970,623
kilograms of food was distributed through Feed Nova Scotia in the 2017/2018
year: this includes non-perishable goods, perishables, pet food, and even
menstrual supplies, which are provided through a partnership with Dignity
Period. All of the items that are donated or purchased by the organization need
to be checked to ensure they are fresh/undamaged, then sorted and packaged to
be distributed throughout the province.
It’s a task
that requires a lot of helping hands.
Enter the volunteers: more than 30,000 volunteer hours were donated last year to the organization to help make sure food gets to people who need it. Our local lodge is just one of 123 volunteer groups that are trying to help with the task. So far, our Women’s Committee has visited Feed Nova Scotia on three separate occasions to sort and package donations.
On Tuesday,
June 11th, they repackaged 250 ml milk containers, checking their
expiry dates, making sure the cartons weren’t damaged, sorting them into 15
kilogram groups and moving them onto pallets to be distributed throughout the
province. On past visits, our group has helped sort imperfect produce that has
been donated by farmers (approximately 15 per cent of Feed Nova Scotia’s
donations come directly from farmers).
Our Women’s
Committee plans to meet again in September and will probably hold another
volunteer date with Feed Nova Scotia after that meeting. Anyone interested in
joining the committee or volunteering with any of their events should contact
Sarah Covey at scovey@nsgeu.ca.
You still have time to make your voice heard in IAM CREST’s second annual workplace violence survey. The survey is available in English, French, and Spanish.
The survey will close on March 31, 2019. Results will be published in April 2019.
The survey will help IAM CREST work toward solutions to improve workplace safety. The survey is completely anonymous and data will be shared with other partners to develop broad strategies.
You can also text IAMSAFETY to 55-000 to complete the survey on your mobile device. Workplace violence can take the form of a physical or emotional attack.
Nearly 17,000 workers experienced trauma from nonfatal workplace violence in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Five-hundred Americans were victims of workplace homicide victims in 2016.
Questions or concerns about the survey can be directed to IAM CREST Project Coordinator/Instructor Michael Oathout at 301-967-4707 or moathout@iamaw.org.
Before the holidays, members of IAMAW Local 2797 got together on their lunch break to put together 18 shoeboxes full of goodies for The Halifax Shoebox Project. Such a great initiative, and one we were proud to take part in during the holiday season!
