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 Powering the Labour Movement since 1987 |
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A project of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council in partnership with George Brown College.
[COPE 343]
1992 - 1996
By 1992, the original Massey Ferguson office was slated for demolition and LEC had grown to such an extent that a move was inevitable. Led by Executive Director Trish Stovel, LEC moved into expanded facilities in Barrymore Carpet's old factory at the corner of King & Dufferin in Toronto's Parkdale district.
Assistance to laid off workers remained an urgent priority. And though workplaces of all types and sizes were affected, it was not uncommon for LEC to be called upon to help in mass layoffs such as when General Motors closed its Scarborough Van Plant.
"LEC has always been there when we needed them. We could count on LEC. If it hadn't been for LEC we would have bounced about like a rubber ball" - Bill Devine, Adjustment Committee Coordinator (now retired) GM Van Plant/CAW Local 303.
LEC was starting to have an important role in helping other unions and labour organizations start their own programs, ones uniquely suited to their own needs and environment. In 1993, LEC worked intensively with the Brampton and Mississauga Labour Council to help them establish their own Brampton Labour Action Centre. BLAC is till operating today.
During this period LEC enjoyed a special relationship with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) National Office. Through staff secondments and special projects, LEC assisted UFCW to set up many of its own projects, including an Ontario-wide adjustment program for retail workers and was available for consultation to UFCW labour training centres in Halifax, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and British Columbia.
LEC also conducted a pilot project at Spar Aerospace in Toronto in conjunction with the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) and the Ontario Training and Adjustment Board (OTAB) to develop a flexible and unified labour adjustment model.
Formally affiliated since 1989, LEC worked closely with George Brown College to develop a Prior Learning Assessment and Portfolio Development course to assist workers in obtaining credit for their work and life experiences.
Our centre was one of four "action link centres" selected by Ontario's Health Sector Training and Adjustment Programme (HSTAP) to provide services to unemployed and underemployed hospital workers in Toronto. Through this programme LEC assisted hundreds of healthcare workers to upgrade their job skills.
Our staff worked on a pilot project with the Ontario Training and Adjustment Board and the CAW to train onsite "peer counsellor/trainers" at Standard Products so that union members could deliver labour adjustment services to their co-workers.
We conducted training on "Conference Planning and Design" for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union's (CEP) First National Women's Conference.
In 1996 we worked with members of CAW Local 112 at DeHavilland Aircraft conducting an extensive workplace "needs assessment". A demonstration project was undertaken on "Early Warning Signs of Plant Closures" in the food processing sector in Toronto.
We also published "Heritage of Struggle: Canadian Labour History Workbook". This was a workbook on the history of the Canadian labour movement designed to be used in English as a Second Language, literacy and upgrading classes.