Media Release-Seniors and the OFL Are Currently Occupying 21 Ontario Tory Offices: Threats to Old Age Security Ignite New Movement of Blue-Grey Power

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 9, 2012) - Labour activists who have teamed up with seniors, retirees and supporters are currently occupying 21 Tory MP offices across Ontario, while other actions take place elsewhere in Canada. The Harper government's recent threat to cut Old Age Security (OAS) benefits has inflamed a new movement of workers and pensioners, calling itself a movement of "Blue-Grey Power," that is bringing the fight against the Conservative assault on retirement security directly to Tory constituency offices.

"Prime Minister Harper's hypocrisy is stunning. He chose to announce his plans to cut Old Age Security in front of the one percenters in Davos, Switzerland when he knows full well that if he were to retire in 2015, he would have a Platinum-Plated, taxpayer-funded pension of $223,517 a year," said OFL President Sid Ryan, from the sit-in taking place in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's Whitby constituency office.

At 1:00 pm today, outraged pensioners, soon-to-be pensioners and supporters have resorted to constituency office occupations to demand that Conservative Members of Parliament abandon plans to push back the OAS eligibility age from 65 to 67, or make any reductions to benefits. Instead, they are calling for the Harper government to introduce modest increases to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions that would double benefits for all retirees and seniors.

Occupations are currently taking place at the following Conservative MP constituency offices:

MP OFFICE	OFFICE ADDRESS		LEAD OCCUPIER	TEL #
Hon. Jim Flaherty	701 Rossland Road East, Unit 204, Whitby		Jim Freeman	905-431-5607
Hon. Bal Gosal	8500 Torbram Road, Unit 44, Brampton		James McDowell	416-587-8809
Kyle Seeback	160 Main Street South, Unit 29, Brampton		James McDowell	416-587-8809
Phil McColeman	3-108 St. George Street, Brantford		Gary MacDonald	519-751-9371
Hon. Gary Goodyear	1425 Bishop St North Unit 3, Cambridge		Len Carter	519-239-7692
Guy Lauzon	621 Pitt Street, Cornwall		Elaine MacDonald	613-330-3117
Hon. Michael Chong	5-200 St. Patrick Street E, Fergus		Janice Folk-Dawson	519-766-8376
Peter Braid	22 King St. South, Waterloo		Len Carter	519-239-7692
Harold Albrecht	153 Country Hill Dr, Unit 2A, Kitchener		Len Carter	519-239-7692
Stephen Woodworth	12-300 Victoria Street North, Kitchener		Orville Thacker	519-893-3974
Barry Devolin	68 McLaughlin Rd Unit 1, Lindsay		James Mulhern	705-344-0287
Susan Truppe	546 King Street, Main Office, London		Len Elliott	519-671-9320
Ed Holder	200-390 Commissioners Rd West, London		Jim Kennedy	519-697-0360
Hon. Rob Nicholson	2895 St. Paul Ave, Unit 11, Niagara Falls		Heather Kelley	905-993-2078
Jay Aspin	100-133 Main Street West, North Bay		Henri Giroux	705-471-7746
David Tilson	229 Broadway, Unit 2, Orangeville		Primrose Short	519-938-6030
Dean Del Mastro	1875 Lansdowne St W, Peterborough		Doug McDonald	705-740-3489
Gary Schellenberger	544 Huron Street, Stratford		Dave Jasper	519-801-5409
No Tory MP in Thunder Bay	Service Canada, 975 Alloy Drive, Thunder Bay		Melanie Kelso	807-620-0396
Jeff Watson	186 Talbot Street South, Essex		Dino Chiodo	519-995-3603

"By cutting Old Age Security, Stephen Harper is attacking the most vulnerable Canadians. The majority of seniors are living on $25,000 a year or less after paying a lifetime of taxes. OAS pensions are what pays for food and rent for seniors living on a fixed-income and it helps the others get by with a little bit of dignity," said Orville Thacker, President of the Ontario Federation of Union Retirees (OFUR). "We are fed up with a government that seems committed to undermining basic rights and living standards at every turn. First Harper came after women's rights, then he came after workers' rights, and now he is coming after seniors' rights. He's about to learn the same lesson that seniors taught two Prime Ministers before him: if you touch seniors' rights, you do so at your peril."

"There is no excuse for Prime Minister Harper to cut the meagre incomes of pensioners or consign the working poor to two more years of poverty. Nearly every economist and the government's own Parliamentary Watch Dog, Kevin Page, are forecasting the long-term sustainability of public pensions," said Ryan. "If Harper thinks that he can take on retirees and seniors in this country without a fight from the labour movement, he is sorely mistaken. Harper has touched the third rail of Canadian politics and in doing so he has unleashed a labour and seniors movement of 'Blue-Grey Power' that is prepared to mobilize the public to defend the income security of the retirees of today and tomorrow."

The Ontario Federation of Labour will be working with seniors groups and retirees to host town hall meetings in Ontario communities to provide an opportunity for the public to voice its opposition to the Conservative cuts to Old Age Security. The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario.

www.OFL.ca

www.Twitter.com/OntarioLabour

www.Facebook.com/OntarioFedLabour