OPSEU to screen labour film as part of its series of forums on the economic<br>crisis

TORONTO, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) will host a free public screening of the landmark 1954 film, Salt of the Earth, followed by a panel discussion on the relevance of the film to the economic realities of today.

    
    Date:  Tuesday, November 3, 2009

    Time:  Doors open at 6:30 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m.

    Place:  Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto, 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto
    (a five-minute walk south of St. George subway station)
    

Salt of the Earth recreates the events of the 1950 strike by the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico. The strike is ultimately won as the result of the solidarity shown by nearby mill workers and the actions of the miners' wives who take over the picket lines after a court injunction bans the miners from picketing. Miners and their families from the strike are actors in the film.

A panel discussion will follow the screening, answering the question: how is this film relevant to today's social, political and economic environment?

    
    Moderator: Ted Montgomery, Executive Board Member, Region 5, OPSEU

    Panelists:
    Dr. Nic Sammond, Associate Professor, Cinema Studies Institute, Innis
    College, University of Toronto

    John Humphrey, Manager, Steelworker Toronto Area Council, organizing
    solidarity for the Vale Inco strike

    Sima Zerehi, Immigrant and Refugee Rights Organizer

    John Cartwright, President, Toronto and York Region Labour Council
    

This screening is a lead-in event to the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLiFF), Nov. 22 - 28 in Toronto and Nov. 28 - 29, Canada-wide.

OPSEU has held 12 community forums across the province to tackle the economic crisis.

OPSEU represents 130,000 employees of the Ontario government, community colleges, the LCBO and more than 500 employers in the Broader Public Sector.

For further information: Ted Montgomery, Executive Board Member, OPSEU, [phone]