I haven’t given a nickel to the Salvation Army since they last forced their grossly mistreated workers out on strike here in Ottawa many years ago. Now they’re at it again in all of their shameful glory, mistaking their own staff for the down-and-out unfortunates they serve.
More information on the strike here. And from a recent release:
Michael Maidment, the Salvation Army’s public relations guru, has lost his heart. This Valentine’s Day, let’s give him a new heart. Michael has been the Salvation Army’s official spokesperson during the entirety of the current labour dispute at the Booth Centre where workers have been on strike in protest of poverty wages.
For someone who works for an organization that claims to fight poverty, Michael’s been spending a lot of time defending the poverty wages earned by many striking Salvation Army employees.
But there’s more. Michael also happens to be the chair of the city’s Poverty Issues Advisory Committee (PIAC). What on earth is the chair of this committee doing publicly defending poverty wages?
And there’s even more…Michael has used the power he has as the chair of PIAC to deny a request by the workers of the Booth Center to speak to the committee at their next meeting, on February 14.
This is a total conflict of interest. Michael Maidment has sadly lost his heart.
…In support of the workers who have seen the doors of City Hall closed to them by a heartless Michael, the union, Ottawa community and Cupid himself have decided to lead a march to bring the workers of the Booth Centre to City Hall so that they can make a last appeal to present to the Poverty Issues Advisory Committee.
The march is tomorrow, Valentine’s Day. It will begin at 171 George St. (Byward Market) at 5:30pm, and arrive at City Hall at 6pm. Try to join it if you can. It’ll likely take more than one of these to install a heart in the Booth Street Tin Man, but if the workers can handle the weather, so can you.