User:Abtract/Ottawa Panhandlers' Union
The Ottawa Panhandlers Union was formed in early 2003. It is a shop of the Industrial Workers of the World, Ottawa-Outaouis General Members Board. Andrew Nellis is the lead organizer of the union and its current IWW delegate and spokesperson.
Andrew Nellis
(see main article from Anarchopedia: Andrew Nellis
Andrew Nellis is the current delegate for the IWW. Andrew has been involved with organizing panhandlers in Ottawa, encouraging them to unionize. The Panhandlers Union is a modest success and has received coverage in the Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun. The Panhandler's Union has also been mentioned as a human interest story in many of CanWest Global's other newspapers including the Winnipeg Tribune. Nellis is a Canadian anarcho-syndicalist, writer, CG artist, and an organizer with the Industrial Workers of the World. He advocates the dissolution of all present forms of government through direct action and the introduction of anarchist ideals. Nellis has represented the Panhandlers Union and appeared on various talk shows and news segments, generally on radio, with a few appearances on television. His television appearances include one on Rogers Community Television 22 and a segment on the CHRO news. Andrew has spoken on both of Ottawa's university's radio stations: CKCU and CHUO. On July 22nd 2005 Andrew was featured on the cover of the Ottawa Metro, a free daily newspaper available in Ottawa. The picture featured Andrew in a confrontation with a member of the Ottawa Police after Andrew had written anti-war slogans on a wall with chalk. The incident ended without arrest. The cover of the newspaper from that day can be viewed here: Andrew is confronted by the Ottawa Police One of Andrew's comrades in the Ottawa branch of the IWW is Jane Scharf who is currently running for mayor of Ottawa in the 2006 municipal election. Scharf is also an organizer in the Ottawa Panhandlers Union, but is currently on hiatus during her election campaign.
History of the Union
The Panhandlers union is not a conventional labour union in the sense that its purpose is not to bargain with a third party for a collective contract and higher wages. This misconception has led to a great deal of ridicule including an attack against the group by the Ottawa Citizen which asked what the panhanders were fighting for -- "wider sidewalks?" The union had a chance to respond to these accusations with their own op-ed piece, "Why Panhandlers Need a Union" which appeared in the newspaper on March 20th 2006. The editorial was a collaborative piece written by several members of the IWW. It was credited to panhandler Proshanto Smith.
The purpose of the union is intended to bring together panhandlers, street artists, buskers and any other "street-affected" person to lobby city hall for individual rights and reverse the laws which the city of Ottawa has passed. The union has continually stressed that its aim is to create an "entrepreneurially spirit" which aims to have panhanders sell arts and crafts, books, compact discs or other donated material for money which they will use to support themselves.[citation needed]
The creation of the Panhandlers Union may or may not have encouraged other activists and members of the IWW to create their own unions for special groups which included the creation of a Transit Riders Union in Ottawa. The Transit Riders Union was created by the Under Pressure Collective.
On May 1st, 2006, Nellis, with the coordination and support of the Ottawa branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, organized a May Day protest by the panhandler's union to shut down Rideau Street. The action shut down Rideau Street in front of the Rideau Centre for more than one hour and was completely peaceful. The action targetted the Rideau Centre because of incidents of violence against homeless youth by mall security. The direct action also targetted the Safe Streets Act which the Panhandler's Union has criticized for being Draconian legislature which unfairly targets the poor. It also targetted a by-law passed by Ottawa City Hall which outlawed selling newspapers on street corners [1]. Panhandlers and the homeless in Ottawa had been selling the alternative, Halifax-based Dominion Newspaper. New laws which came into effect on May 1st restricted this action.
A June 1st 2006 protest included a mass panhandle. It protested a law pass by Ottawa city hall which banned the vending of arts and crafts and the distribution of newspapers by the poor. The media picked up quotes by Nellis and the Panhandlers Union for that day's events -- "Ottawa's homeless say they will disrupt business in this city if business insists on disrupting our business".[2]
On July 1st 2006 as a continuation of the events on the first of every month the union organized a "No Justice No Peace" action. This action consisted of Panhandlers Union members and any other party interested in chalking "NJNP" on all the businesses located on Rideau Street. The Rideau Street Business Improvement Area (BIA) was just one group lobbying for the removal of panhandlers and the homeless from in front of their businesses. This action was meant to show that as long as it wasn't "business as usual" for the panhandlers, it would not be business as usual for the business owners. The event was largely successful as many of the "NJNP" chalkings were visible months after the event ended.
Laws and the Panhandlers Union
- By-Law No. 2005 - 358:
This is a by-law which was passed by Ottawa city hall which restricts vending on "highways". Highway in this case is a misnomer as the law in this case defines "highway" as "a common and public highway, and includes any bridge, trestle, viaduct, or other structure forming part of the highway and, except as otherwise provided, includes a portion of a highway."
The by-law was passed August 24th 2005 without any public consultation. [3]
The law prohibits selling of arts and crafts, flowers, street newspapers as well as prohibiting busking and street theatre. Oddly, the selling of newspapers by homeless was one of the agreements made with Ottawa's homeless after the Homeless Action Strike on City Hall. [4] The Homeless Action Strike was a political action by Ottawa's homeless whereby 15 homeless strikers camped out at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa for more than 400 days. In the end the strikers were forciably removed by police.
- Safe Streets Act:
The Safe Streets Act was a law passed by the former Conservative government of Mike Harris in 1999. It applies to all of Ontario. The act aims to stop "aggressive" panhandling but the law is vague in what it defines as "aggressive" panhandling. The law states that "aggressive" means "a manner that is likely to cause a reasonable person to be concerned for his or her safety or security." This is vague because not all people may feel threatened by the same situations. Some "reasonable" people feel threatened by merely being solicited by a panhandler for spare change while others have no problem with stopping to give a panhandler money. The pandhandler's union feels that the Safe Streets Act aims not to curb aggressive panhandling but to eliminate all panhandling whether it is aggressive or passive.
In Ottawa, panhandlers in the Panhandlers Union have been able to respond to harassment by the Ottawa Police is by keeping a copy of the Safe Street Act and showing it to police to prove they are not in violation of the law. Nevertheless, panhandlers find themselves having to pay tickets for panhandling which they cannot afford.
Furthermore, the act does not apply to charities which solicit people for money. This is particularly true of the Shinerama[5] campaign held every fall by university students which raises money for cystic fibrosis. The fact that charities are allowed to solicit for money on medians and on sidewalks shows the inherent classism of the Safe Streets Act.
It is not unusual for panhanders in Ottawa to have dozens of tickets because of the Safe Streets Act. The Ticket Defence Program[6] was formed in response; social activists attempt to have fines against panhandlers dropped. The program has been largely successful in the cities where it has been implemented.
External Links
- Ottawa's Homeless Fight Back
- Ottawa-Outaouis IWW
- First union, then dominion
- Ottawa Homeless Action Strike
