January 2014
The fight for workers’ rights has a long and celebrated history in Toronto, as does the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts, now in its 29th year. This year, Toronto’s festival included a panel discussion, “The Struggle For Economic Justice,” about the campaign to raise Ontario’s minimum wage, as well as Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program rates.
The panel was about issues of poverty, as a whole, and how they affect racialized immigrants and working people in general. The speakers were Leticia Ama Boahen and Suzanne Narain of Toronto’s Jane-Finch community; Kaydeen Bankasingh, from the Lawrence Heights and Neptune communities; and Sonia Singh from the Workers’ Action Centre (WAC), a grassroots organization committed to improving the lives and working conditions of people in low-wage and unstable employment. Acsana Fernando, also from the Workers’ Action Centre, couldn’t take part in the panel but agreed to speak with Our Times.
Haseena Manek 