One of Toronto’s great annual traditions over the last two weeks of August, “the Ex”, promises to be a much more interesting experience than usual for its 1 million+ visitors. The lock out of the workers who erect stages and move equipment started in late July and is building to a crescendo for the opening of the Ex on August 17
“Councillor Justin Di Ciano (on the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place) believes that hiring out-of-province is the new modern workforce down at Exhibition Place; paying their rate plus expenses, training to Ontario standards, transportation and their accommodations. Mayor John Tory, this seems contrary to your promise of creating jobs in Toronto. End the lock out now! Get those jobs back into the hands of Torontonians that have been doing them for almost a century!”
The Facebook page of IATSE local 58
Background to the dispute
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, during the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day. It gets about 1.5 million visitors each year, making it Canada’s largest annual fair. From its beginnings in 1879 as an event, largely to promote agriculture and technology in Canada and “to showcase the work and talent of the nation”, it has become for many working class people in the Toronto area an annual family tradition. But for the average Torontonian the Ex is less about technology and agriculture, it’s more about the midway rides, the music concerts at the Bandshell and the general fun of the fair.
The organizers of the CNE rent space from Exhibition Place which is a publicly owned (Toronto City Council) 197 acre site on the edge of Lake Ontario. The site’s facilities are used year-round for exhibitions, trade shows, public and private functions, and sporting events.
The site is administered. by a 9 person Board of Governors made up of 5 City Councillors and 4 others, all appointed by the Mayor who, currently is John Tory, a former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. Exhibition Place has around 130 full-time employees, going up to 700 during the CNE. Its economic value to Toronto is over $11 million a year.
The current dispute
The workers who do most of the physical work at the Ex are organized in local 58 of IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) which broadly represents technicians and craftspersons in the entertainment industry, including live theatre, movies, TV production and trade shows. They have been without a contract since January. The core issue is that the Board of Governors are out to attack the union and workers’ rights. After locking out the workers in mid-July, Exhibition Place has brought in its own scab workers from Quebec, some seen to be wearing flip-flops as footwear, to set up and supervise events there.
Both sides last met in mid-July and the union said it tabled the last proposal before it was locked out on July 20. The board has rejected a union proposal for binding arbitration. Over the past weekend, Councillor. Justin Di Ciano, vice chair of the board, right wing supporter of the Ford brothers and who is currently under police investigation for “irregularities” to do with donations to his last election campaign, said “the entertainment and convention site locked out the workers because it wants to be more competitive.” (Toronto Star). Mayor Tory himself was quoted with “We understand that Exhibition Place remains willing to return to the table, whenever IATSE Local 58 is ready to provide a meaningful response to the proposals which are necessary to move Exhibition Place forward within a very competitive marketplace,” (Toronto Star)
Between now and Labour Day
The CNE is slated to open, Friday August 17. The annual fair will be behind a picket line then, with union members handing out information to fair-goers if there is no return to the bargaining table. The last day of the Ex is Labour Day. Traditionally, the 20,000 strong Labour Day Parade makes its way from the assembly point downtown and marches 2 miles along Queen Street to the Ex entrance at Dufferin Gates. The marchers get a wristband giving them free entrance to the Ex. If the dispute is still going on then, the Parade organizers, Toronto and York Region Labour Council, have agreed to divert the march away from the Ex and into a local sports stadium. If that happens, the Ex, renters of the space from Exhibition Place, will lose a substantial amount of revenue as a result of this boycott.
Socialist Alternative interview
Tim Heffernan of Toronto Socialist Alternative spoke to Greg Feor, 20 year member of local 58 IATSE and Justin Antheunis, president of the Local, four days before the opening of the Ex. at a rally outside Toronto City Hall.
SA: I understand from talking to Greg that it was a 3;2 vote by the Board of Governors to lock you out.
JA: That is correct
SA: Who were the 2 councilors who voted against locking you out?
JA: Mike Layton and Jim Karygiannis
SA: How do you see things developing? The Ex starts on Friday and there are 7 entrances. Do you have them all covered?
JA: Well, there are 3 main entrances we have to cover, the other 4 are closed because rides will be set up there.
SA: How do you see it in terms of solidarity from other unions?
JA: It’s been very strong. They’ve helped us. They’ve all reached out to help us and make suggestions on how to move forward. It’s the first time local 58 has been through this for 7 years and then it was a much smaller affair – a local theatre. Where it was much easier to lock down.
SA: Labour Day is going to be critical (see footnote). Because that’s when 20,000 Parade marchers end up going through the gates to the Ex and giving them their business.
JA: That’s right. They’re going to be missing out on that business.
SA: Who does that hurt?
JA: The problem is that it hurts the CNE, not Exhibition Place. Exhibition Place is going to get their rent anyway. Our employer is Exhibition Place. The CNE is just a client, stuck in the middle of this. The CNE is near and dear to the hearts of many people in the city of Toronto. And it saddens the members of Local 58 that we can’t do the work we love doing every day.
SA: Thanks very much
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