Artwork for podcast Blueprints of Disruption
Rabble Rants: Lessons from People's Circle for Palestine
Episode 1408th July 2024 • Blueprints of Disruption • Rabble Rousers' Cooperative
00:00:00 01:04:53

Share Episode

Shownotes

The University of Toronto student encampment, named the People's Circle for Palestine, dismantled their tents after an Ontario Superior Court judge ordered an injunction against them.

Our hosts break down the ruling, what it means for other encampments and bring up lessons learned from the end of just "one tactic in the toolbox" of students demanding their institutions disclose and divest.

________________

All of our content is free - made possible by the generous sponsorships of our Patrons. If you would like to support us: Patreon

Follow us on Instagram

Resources:

Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome to Rabble Rants. I'm Santiago Gelo Quintero, and alongside Jess McLean, we're going to unpack

Speaker:

the stories that have us most riled up and challenge the narratives around them. This is the first

Speaker:

time ever since the inception of the LCBO for folks outside of Ontario. That is the Liquor

Speaker:

Control Board of Ontario. So they operate what we call our liquor stores right across the

Speaker:

province. So yeah, that's 9,000 workers in like hundreds of stores. But as Ford likes to remind

Speaker:

us, it's not the only place that you can buy alcohol. And that is part of the reason these

Speaker:

workers are on strike. Okay, so on top of your typical bargaining items, you know, they're

Speaker:

looking for better pay, they're looking for better job security and access to benefits,

Speaker:

because Opsu released a statement, they tell us that 70% of their workers are casual. that

Speaker:

would be like precariously employed. You know, they can't control how many hours they're going

Speaker:

to get, which makes them unable to cross the threshold of qualifying for benefits. And this

Speaker:

is a tactic used quite often, especially with public sector work forces where newer employees

Speaker:

are hired on a part-time basis, even though they're almost working full-time hours, but

Speaker:

they're kept at a level that prevents them from getting all of the benefits of that union.

Speaker:

So. Obviously that's on the table. There's a lot of things that they're bargaining for their

Speaker:

employees, but they're also on strike for something that's really partly outside of their collective

Speaker:

bargaining agreement, but completely related to their job security and revenue streams for

Speaker:

the province. Premier Ford is planning on and has taken the steps necessary to make it possible

Speaker:

to

Speaker:

corner stores, grocery stores where they already are. And he's talking about expanding this

Speaker:

even further. I mean, Santiago, the liquor store makes bank, bank! Like $2.5 billion just in

Speaker:

profits go back into the province. That doesn't even include like the taxes that you pay on

Speaker:

alcohol. We pay a sin tax. I don't know if that's federal or not, but either way, there's provincial

Speaker:

taxes on alcohol as well. That's not what I'm talking about. Like just the profits from operating

Speaker:

those stores and the markup that they're putting on the booze and whatnot, that's all gonna

Speaker:

be gone. So like $2.5 billion is kind of even a drop in the bucket when you're talking about

Speaker:

the entire provincial budget. Like if you look at it, for example, Toronto schools alone have,

Speaker:

I think, a backlog of repairs that are $4.7 billion. Damn. So I mean, it's not like this

Speaker:

is the be all end all, but it is part of a larger pattern that neoliberals have been instituting

Speaker:

for years now, but Ford has a real taste for it. And that is the privatization of public

Speaker:

revenue streams. Public services in general, right? A lot of them are put over to the private

Speaker:

sector to so-called like save money or to build on efficiencies. We're horrified when it happens

Speaker:

to our healthcare and whatnot for kind of separate reasons. But then we have services or crown

Speaker:

or provincial entities that actually generate a revenue stream, an impressive one on top

Speaker:

of employing unionized workers. So it's kind of a plus for our community. I mean, we could

Speaker:

look at alcohol sales kind of like separately on whether that is helpful to the community,

Speaker:

but folks are kind of getting on the whole alcohol bit. You know, like, yes, we. This man has

Speaker:

just been pushing beer down our throats from the day he was elected. I mean, he won on Buck

Speaker:

a Beer for those who don't remember. Still waiting on Buck a Beer. Blocked it out. Yeah. Well,

Speaker:

we did. I think there was a few weeks where a single brewery was offering a dollar a beer

Speaker:

because it was based on agreements that he had to make with brewer retail. And we never did

Speaker:

get Buck a Beer, but we did get Doug Ford and we've had him for so long. It's a basic attack

Speaker:

on the public sector. And another one on Opsu. So it's no wonder their workers are on strike

Speaker:

facing this kind of prospect. Right. Because if you look at the revenue reports for the

Speaker:

LCBO, they've been steadily kind of dipping as Ford allows booze to be sold in other places,

Speaker:

because like those private retailers, they take 10 percent of the profit instead of it going

Speaker:

into the province. So he's quite literally taking money out of our pockets and handing it over

Speaker:

to retailers like fucking Loblaws. We're always back to fucking Loblaws and the Westins and

Speaker:

that crew, you know, the usual suspects already making serious bank and contributing almost

Speaker:

none of it back to the public sector. I kind of had a feeling walking into this one that

Speaker:

it's like, what do I say about this other than like attack on workers, you know, because it's

Speaker:

obvious that like, Doug Ford doesn't operate under. He's always operating for some private

Speaker:

interest or another, right? Like everything he does, it's not because it's the better way

Speaker:

to run things. It's always he made a deal with someone and he's going to get them some extra

Speaker:

money. And you know, like this isn't in the interest of the public at all. Well, at least

Speaker:

the public interest is not at all what he's focusing on. And so, like, we know that, like,

Speaker:

he has been... against the LCBO for a long time. But at the end of the day, this isn't really

Speaker:

about whether or not alcohol should be sold in corner stores, grocery stores, or government

Speaker:

regulated storefronts, like the LCBO, right? It's about like the workers here who are asking

Speaker:

for better working conditions, better pay, you know, and what the f*** The Premier of Ontario

Speaker:

does in response to that, because the Conservatives have been cosplaying recently as being pro-worker,

Speaker:

as being pro-labour, right? They know that that's a popular thing, so they've been trying to

Speaker:

capitalise off of that, but then immediately, the second that labour issues actually come

Speaker:

into play here, the second that the LCBO workers stand up and ask for better, what does he go

Speaker:

and do? Films a video with a map that he puts out about all the different storefronts that

Speaker:

you can get alcohol at while The LCBO is on strike. Yeah, it's just as much about dismantling

Speaker:

the social safety net as it is like public sector unions And I'm sure JP Hornick is smart enough

Speaker:

to have sensed this coming with this type of government, which is in part likely why Opsu

Speaker:

was so defiant during the almost general strike to support education workers against Ford when

Speaker:

he used the notwithstanding clause. Not only could they foreshadow this happening to them,

Speaker:

like as in those tactics being used against them, but any public sector union under a conservative

Speaker:

government is in big trouble. And we just need to look at the last few weeks in terms of Opsu,

Speaker:

they're the folks. that lost 50 employees when the science center was just shuttered overnight.

Speaker:

Those were OPSU workers. They've got 320 children's aid workers on strike in Ottawa right now because

Speaker:

of the situation and the provincial government has put those kind of agencies in with underfunding

Speaker:

and treatment of workers and whatnot. And this is just like this week, this past like week

Speaker:

and a bit. And so it's refreshing to see a union operating under the larger picture as well.

Speaker:

Openly saying we're not just doing this for the better working conditions, but because

Speaker:

this is part of a larger pattern, because this will eat into public revenue streams and forcing

Speaker:

that conversation on, this is a man that talks about being a good businessman and paying down

Speaker:

debt and not running a deficit, which is all bullshit, right? It's all bullshit. But they're

Speaker:

the ones that also constantly eat into the only revenue streams we have. And they refuse to

Speaker:

tax the rich to replace those revenue streams. So the only other side of the equation is to

Speaker:

completely strip the public sector. And a lot of the releases by OBSU encourage people to

Speaker:

ask, you know, your MPP, where do you think that replaced revenue will come from? And that's

Speaker:

really not the question because they won't replace that revenue. They want they're aiming for

Speaker:

smaller government, as in like smaller private public sector. The idea is to not replace that.

Speaker:

revenue, but to use it as an excuse to make further cuts to the things that make a healthy

Speaker:

working class. And so this man has been pushing gambling and booze and I'm not here to make

Speaker:

judgment. I mean, I play the lottery, I drink, but those are his priorities in pushing this

Speaker:

out. And at the same time, limiting access to addiction counseling or just healthcare in

Speaker:

fucking general. And, you know, I'm talking about school backlogs and repairs and like,

Speaker:

there's an endless list of the public sector paying for this other end. The LCBO workers

Speaker:

in Opsu are really pissed off about the idea of putting it in corner stores. And folks have

Speaker:

kind of crunched the numbers. Bonnie Cromby, the leader of the Ontario Liberals, she's blowing

Speaker:

these numbers up even larger. But for all we know, she's right. I don't trust Bonnie, but...

Speaker:

Either way, CBC kind of crunched some numbers on that. And it's shocking how much money is

Speaker:

just directly being transferred to the private sector, openly, because it's a deal with the

Speaker:

beer store as well. So if folks need to understand, the LCBO is provincially run, they're unionized

Speaker:

workers. So is the beer store, but the beer store is owned by Brewers Retail, which is

Speaker:

a collection of the major brewers in Ontario, and maybe a couple of small ones. I imagine...

Speaker:

I don't know if craft breweries are represented there at all, but it's all private. That is

Speaker:

private profit 100%. The only thing we get is from the taxes that are made from those sales.

Speaker:

And in order to sell beer in corner stores, Doug Ford is paying the beer store. They're

Speaker:

gonna pay them so that their own products are available in more places. They are paying a

Speaker:

private company. money to essentially distribute their shit. Now they won't actually be shipping

Speaker:

it to the corner stores themselves, but they're facilitating it. They're giving them more venues

Speaker:

to sell their booze. They just won't be able to make it at the beer store locations. But

Speaker:

the beer store, they don't care. The brewers don't care. If it's sold at the corner store,

Speaker:

they don't have to pay the employees there. The only thing they have to do is make sure

Speaker:

the corner store can get their goods. They only have to create a distribution system for it,

Speaker:

but they don't have the headache of having to have brick and mortar stores anymore. They

Speaker:

likely want this fucking, these changes, but Ford is going to pay them about a hundred million

Speaker:

dollars. And the revenue stream lost just from this is going to be 150 to $200 million a year.

Speaker:

From no fiscal standpoint, does this make sense? Unless you understand that Doug Ford is engaged

Speaker:

in class warfare. is making his friends money. And same with the Science Center. That move

Speaker:

is 100% to make his friends money. We not done an episode on it, but long story short, the

Speaker:

land around the Science Center is owned by the same folks who bought the kiddie corner at

Speaker:

that intersection, is a developer friend of his, someone who lost money on the green belt

Speaker:

deal being rolled back, okay? And so all these folks are connected, not to mention the Science

Speaker:

Center's trying to be moved. to Ontario Place where he's then doing favors for Therma Spa

Speaker:

because we know that he is fiscally involved with the investment firm that owns them. And

Speaker:

how coincidental is it that new Ontario line just happens to go from the former site of

Speaker:

Ontario Place to the former site of the Science Centre? I'm sure that there was, that's just

Speaker:

a coincidence. Yeah. You know, like I was going to talk about the LCBO strike just because

Speaker:

we should be talking about it as part of this larger pattern. It's not just like another

Speaker:

strike in Ontario and across Canada, which I'm happy to see. But it was when Ford recorded

Speaker:

and released this new ad and map that I really said, no, I absolutely need to go into the

Speaker:

studio and vent about this. I almost wish I hadn't seen it. It's so enraging. So because

Speaker:

you won't be able to buy liquor. at the LCBO, Ford's team created a map. I'm not sure what

Speaker:

ministry was responsible for this, but they created an interactive map where you can like

Speaker:

basically plug in your postal code and it will direct you to where to find alcohol. And you

Speaker:

can even select what kind of alcohol do you want coolers, do you want wine, do you want

Speaker:

beer? And the closest location to you will pop up. And no, I am not gonna share the link because

Speaker:

that is scab behavior. No, it's not sending a worker across a picket line. We call these

Speaker:

virtual picket lines. And by purchasing alcohol online or going skirting the picket line or

Speaker:

essentially devaluing their strike, right? If you are making less the impact of their strike,

Speaker:

I consider that scabbing behavior. It's dishonorable. I mean, like to be clear here, like alcohol

Speaker:

withdrawal kills, if people... need to go buy alcohol because that's just where they're at.

Speaker:

You know, I'm not so harsh. I'm going to be like, you're a scab. But if you have the ability

Speaker:

to make decisions here that are in support of the workers, that's what you should be doing

Speaker:

always. And like this ad wasn't that, you know what I mean? It's Ford standing at a barbecue

Speaker:

with all these strategically placed craft. You know, it'll be these breweries that he had

Speaker:

a relationship with, I'm 100% sure. And so he has these beers on display and he's talking

Speaker:

about parties and barbecues. And then he talks about this fucking map. And apart from the

Speaker:

awful behavior that is coming from the premier of a province, like encouraging you on how

Speaker:

to subvert a strike and also like just pushing booze on top of that, you have to remember

Speaker:

this is the same man. who puts zero resources into say a map that would show ER closures.

Speaker:

If you remember, we did an episode with Ghost Gurney. If you don't follow them on socials,

Speaker:

you should, because they're the only people that are routinely announcing and then mapping

Speaker:

the closures of our emergency rooms that are happening on the regular. The Ministry of Health

Speaker:

is not doing this. There is no map that came out of the provincial government to help you

Speaker:

with this at all. there is not even a sounding board. You know, there's not even an announcement

Speaker:

system for this. And when we were all looking for COVID vaccines and people are still having

Speaker:

trouble finding COVID vaccines, there is nothing that the provincial government put out to help

Speaker:

you navigate that either. And I'm sure this list goes on and on in the amount of interactive

Speaker:

maps that could have, should have been and never was. But the second the strikes started, this

Speaker:

map was launched and an ad was created to go along with it. which tells us not only that

Speaker:

Ford is a piece of shit, but that he definitely did not negotiate in good faith having all

Speaker:

of this up his sleeve. Frankly, it's probably something they've been working on for a while

Speaker:

because it's the only thing he has to tell people, look, I gave you booze in more places. He also

Speaker:

changed the hours that you could serve at bars. He increased them or got rid of them. I should

Speaker:

know if I'm gonna talk about it, but all I know is they weren't what they were. You know what

Speaker:

I mean? Like he's pushing this shit on us. And... Every element, every layer to this shit is

Speaker:

a direct attack on the working class. Yeah, if anything, he might be happy that there's

Speaker:

a strike. He sees this as an opportunity to further his agenda, right? Absolutely, because

Speaker:

now, you know, everybody who's out there that needs to plan a party that knows about this

Speaker:

map is learning the other places you can actually buy booze and beer. So maybe they had just

Speaker:

habitually still been going to the beer store and the liquor store, the grocery store is

Speaker:

selling it. But now they're forced to go to these new locations, make them their new locations.

Speaker:

And so yeah, this will eat into the LCBO revenue stream to begin with, which would just allow

Speaker:

him to further his agenda by saying, well, see, it's not making the same amount of money it

Speaker:

was. You know, and he always likes to pretend that these are small business owners, like

Speaker:

the corner stores. We're really talking about like Circle K. Yeah. That's really who's going

Speaker:

to be getting the bulk of these sales and have the space to display it and whatnot. It's the

Speaker:

larger convenience stores that are owned by massive chains that are then owned by millionaires

Speaker:

and billionaires. Well, that's a wrap on another Rabble Rants. Be sure to share the episode

Speaker:

if you liked it. If you're not also subscribing to our other podcast, Blueprints of Disruption,

Speaker:

you are missing out. That is where you'll find the stories and strategies of the people fighting

Speaker:

back against all of this. Until next time. support those striking workers, and keep on disrupting.

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube