CAW Durham Regional Environment Council

CAW DURHAM REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL PROFILE

Members

CAW D.R.E.C. is composed of members of CAW locals operating in the Greater Toronto Area: Local 80 (Scarborough), Local 112 (Downsview), Local 222 (Oshawa), Local 370 (Stouffville), Local 524 (Peterborough), Local 584 (Bramalea), Local 1136 (Oshawa), Local 1090 (Ajax), Local 1987 (Peterborough), and Local 1996 (Peterborough).

Many of D.R.E.C.’s members are autoworkers, employed by Big Three corporations and associated feeder plants. Some of our members work in aircraft and electrical assembly. Others are in service industries, or are clerical workers.

D.R.E.C. members also include interested individuals from the community at large – representatives from other environmental groups, as well as people who are concerned about environmental issues in general.

A survey of D.R.E.C. membership reveals wide-ranging environmental concerns. A few of these are:

• Air, Water and Soil Contamination
• Occupational Exposure to Carcinogens
• Nuclear Safety
• Land Stewardship
• Wetlands Preservation
• Protection of the Great Lakes

Campaigns

PESTICIDE REDUCTION

• CAW D.R.E.C. developed an information package outlining dangers of using commercial insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, and suggesting ‘kitchen sink’ alternatives to the dangerous toxins.
• We are presently lobbying regional Municipal Governments to enact an pesticide by-law.,
• We gathered signatures for our Petition to the House of Commons in support of Bill C-267, which asks for a moratorium on the cosmetic use of chemical pesticides.

PROSTATE CANCER AWARENESS

• In cooperation with the CAW Eastern Women’s Network, CAW D.R.E.C. organized and hosted a public information forum dealing with symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer specifically, but including other forms of cancer as well.

CANCER PREVENTION CONFERENCE IN OSHAWA

• We brought in Elizabeth May of the Sierra Club and three other guest speakers to tell us how to raise the bar on cancer prevention. Regional Cancer prevention organizations set up displays during the event. This was the starting seed for the Durham Cancer Prevention Coalition.

Re: L.O.H.R.

• As workers and as members of an education-oriented labour organisation, D.R.E.C. members have knowledge and practical experience of hazardous workplace chemicals. We recognise the connection between these chemicals and the onset of diseases like cancer, asthma and dermatitis.
• A committee has been formed to determine how a Lifetime Occupational History Registry can be introduced and staffed at Durham Regional Cancer Centres.

I.T.E.R. INFO

• Questioning the wisdom of the International Thermonuclear Experimental (Fusion) Reactor being proposed for Darlington, we organized a Public Information Forum. Speakers David Martin (Sierra Club) and Brian Charlton (former provincial NDP representative) outlined the dangers of embracing a mega-project whose safety could not be guaranteed, and whose expected benefits are purely theoretical.

WELL AWARE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP’S

CAW D.R.E.C. served as a “local partner” in setting up several information sessions (similar to the Prostate Cancer and Kyoto forums we have organized in previous years) dealing with well water safety.

Since a good many of our Local CAW members rely on wells for their families’ potable water, and since the safety of this source can no longer be taken for granted, we DREC members feel we would be offering a valuable service to the larger CAW membership in helping to set up these forums.

The Green Communities Association is a not-for-profit organization funded by Natural Resources Canada. This organization offers home and community environmental services in a growing number of municipalities throughout Ontario and the rest of Canada. Green Communities is well-established, having been in operation since the early 1990s, and they arrange delivery of community services through local partnerships with environmental organizations within the community. Activities of the Green Communities Association are a natural fit with our Regional Environment Council.

New Campaigns

Re: Run, Walk & Roll for Cancer Prevention

We are sending a group to the Ottawa National Capitol Race for the second time to raise awareness towards the need for Cancer Prevention initiatives. There are numerous events for people of all ages and abilities, from 2K Family Walk/Runs all the way up to Full Marathons (42.2K!) for runners, in-line skaters and wheelchair athletes. Free Bus to Ottawa! Thanks to the CAW Local 222 Executive Board, we have access to a 55 seat coach with nice seats, bathroom and a cargo area all for free. We have a special rate for accommodations. Anyone in the Durham area is welcome to take the bus with us as a R.W.R. participant.

The funds raised from the Third Annual Run, Walk & Roll for Cancer Prevention will be allocated to two major projects:

“To build and sustain a Canada-wide movement to generate both the resolve and the plan of action to eliminate preventable causes of cancer and other chronic diseases. Under the banner of Prevent Cancer Now, this initiative is already under way, spearheaded by Angela Rickman of Ottawa.

To convene a participatory, action-oriented conference for cancer prevention in Spring 2007, which will gather a wide range of skills and experience, inspire participants, and continue building, with Prevent Cancer Now, a strong Canadian movement for cancer prevention and environmental health promotion.

40% of the funds we raise will come right back into my own community so that we can continue to work our own Cancer Prevention Coalition in Durham similar to Toronto’s. Over 50 of us from Durham went to last year’s and we had a blast. We raised over $20,657 dollars collectively, with 40% = $8,500 coming back to Durham to used for Cancer Prevention initiatives spearheaded by the CAW Durham Regional Environment Council for the new forming Durham Cancer Prevention Coalition.

Re: E.P.R.

• D.R.E.C. members embrace the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility. We disapprove of sending products which have reached the end of their useful life to a landfill site, and endorse the idea of manufacturer responsibility for reclaiming, disassembling and recycling used materials.
• D.R.E.C. members are compiling information specific to the auto industry which can be used to lobby auto makers and governments.

Re: Kyoto Accord

We are aware that there has been noticeable climate change over the last decade, and are concerned about health, social and economic issues that are developing as a result. D.R.E.C. members are particularly aware of evidence linking auto emissions (and pollution from production processes) with global warming.

We have sent letters to the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Environment, urging the federal government to devise a workable plan for reducing greenhouse gases.

We are planning a vigorous campaign to raise public awareness of this global situation, to identify the most serious problems, and to propose practical solutions at the community level. Our first step in this direction has been to invite CAW Economist Jim Stanford to Local 222 Hall in Oshawa for a public information forum in January 21st, 2003.

Activities

• In pursuit of D.R.E.C. goals, members engage in letter-writing campaigns to the various levels of government. We also form deputations and present reports (or simply express opinions) at Town Hall Meetings and other public consultation events.
• Most D.R.E.C. members are also members of other environmental or community groups. As such, we act as liaisons between our labour-oriented Council and other environmental organisations.
• Research into environmental issues is a large part of our activism. This makes us a useful community resource as a repository of information.
• Heightening awareness of environmental issues in our respective workplaces is one of our most important, ongoing functions.

POLICY

Policy Statement

The purpose of forming the CAW Durham Regional Environmental Council is to unite the CAW locals of Durham County and surrounding area into one collective voice regarding environmental issues in both our community and in our workplaces. By drawing on our diverse experience and knowledge, our main objective is to integrate the environmental movement socially, economically and politically. Additionally, we will encourage vital and effective participation with all levels of environmental decision-making. Through education, political action, and community involvement we will strive to protect enhance and restore the quality of our environment.

Labour Working Toward Sustainability

• By encouraging networking with other unions, environmentalists, social justice coalitions, Health & Safety representatives and Durham District Labour Councils.

• By assisting other unions in setting up Local and Joint Environment Committees.

• By actively participating in educational programs in our schools, community and work places.

• By pressuring Municipal and Regional Governments through lobbying and creating an Environmental Emergency Action Plan.

• By providing an effective program for promoting the CAW principles and social/ environmental justice polices and an avenue through which to deal with these locally.

• By actively encouraging the formation of and/or the involvement of coalitions based on principals of social and environmental justice.

• By contributing to the formation of viable transitional programs for workers in regards to any job loss due to environmental, technological or economic changes.

• By contributing to the formation of a Labour Research and Development Centre dealing with environmental labour sustainability to ensure job security and a safe, healthy community.

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EMERGENCY RESOLUTION NO. 1 DECEMBER 2007

WHEREAS building a waste incinerator encourages the building of more waste incinerators as they need a minimum amount of rubbish to operate. To meet demand, local authorities are abandoning recycling and waste reduction plants; and

WHEREAS even incinerators that generate electricity aren’t an energy-saving option. The energy used to produce the product will get lost anyway and only a fraction of the intrinsic energy content of the materials will be recovered. Recycling saves far more energy because it means making less new things from raw materials; and

WHEREAS one of the most insidious aspects of incineration is the entirely new and highly toxic chemicals that can be formed during the combustion process. When fragments of partially burned waste chemicals recombine within incinerator furnaces, smokestacks and/or pollution control devices, hundred, even thousands, of new substances are created, many of which are more toxic than the original waste itself, during the combustion process; and

WHEREAS waste incinerators cause pollution, a wide variety of adverse health effects including cancer, respiratory disease, disruption of the endocrine system and congenital birth defects, according to scientific studies, surveys by community groups and local physicians. Studies indicate that distant populations can be exposed to pollution from incinerators by ingesting contaminated plant or animal products. The costs to society of these adverse health effects are rarely included in economic analyses and are indeed difficult to quantify but should not be ignored; and

WHEREAS incineration actually perpetuates the use of landfills because of the large quantities of leftover ash produced by incinerators. It is estimated that for every three tons of waste that is incinerated, one ton of ash is generated. And, this ash is very toxic, containing concentrated amounts of heavy metals and dioxins which, when buried, will eventually leach into the soil, potentially polluting groundwater; and

WHEREAS the CAW Campaign for Extended Producer Responsibility will suffer negative impacts due to incinerators taking away the incentive and pressure for corporations to redesign their products and packaging to reduce toxics and conserve resources. On the other hand, community efforts into waste separation reuse and repair, recycling and composting can create more jobs, both in the handling of the waste and in secondary industries using recovered material; and

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that CAW Local 1520 reaffirms its position of opposition to the principle of waste incineration; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be forwarded to CAW Council for support.

Respectfully Submitted By

CAW Local 1520 and the CAW Resolutions Committee

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