You won't want to miss this conference!

The 2025 Organizing for Power Assembly is taking place in Toronto from Friday, September 26 to Sunday, September 28. You can view the program here for more details on sessions and speakers.

We have three special guests from the US joining us to share their organizing strategies as they resist the ongoing attacks from the Trump administration. Margarita Hernandez is the Labor Director of the US-based Grassroots Power Project; Veronica Mendez is the co-founder of the Minnesota-based Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL, United Workers’ Center); and DeAngelo Bester is the Executive Director of the Workers Center for Racial Justice, based in Chicago.

Each of these leaders has years of experience in the trade union and workers’ movements. We have much to learn and share with them as we prepare for our own fights here in Canada. Indeed, across North America—and the world—workers need to stay united against corporations and politicians who are determined to pit us against each other, to line their own pockets. 

The 2025 Organizing for Power Assembly is an opportunity for us to come together across sectors to strengthen our networks, share analysis and organize ourselves for the challenges ahead. You don’t need to attend the whole weekend. You can come to the Friday night opening panel “Building grassroots resistance: Lessons from Trump's America” or any of the sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Just let us know which sessions you’d like to attend by filling out the detailed registration form. 

Friend, will you join us in Toronto over the September 26 to 28 weekend?

Why join us at this month's Organizing for Power Assembly?

Migrants are being scapegoated for problems our government and corporations created. The housing, jobs and cost-of-living crises were created by intentional government decisions, and by corporations squeezing profits from workers, customers and renters.

Our governments should tax the rich to meaningfully fund our social services and protect workers rights. But instead, our governments are giving tax cuts and handouts to their corporate buddies.

Federally, Prime Minister Mark Carney has called for across-the-board cuts of 15% in all federal departments—except the military, which will see a staggering $9 billion budget increase by next April. This is on top of Carney's previous promise to pour more than $46 billion over the next five years into the Department of National Defence (DND). Of the more than 130 existing federal departments, DND already has the single largest budget. Even the Royal Bank of Canada warns this strategy risks diverting resources from more productive sectors of the economy. 

Yet, despite the fact unemployment is already rising due to economic uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump's tarriff policies, Carney plans to deliver an "austerity budget" this fall. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives estimates Carney's cuts will lead directly to another 60,000 job losses. For the rest of us, austerity means fewer people delivering services we depend on, longer waiting times and fewer decent jobs in our communities. 

Meanwhile, provincially, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been passing new laws that benefit bosses and corporations, while making it harder for the rest of us to make ends meet. 

In the college sector, the Ontario government transferred over a billion dollars to corporations for niche training schemes, while cutting essential college programs in rural and northern communities. More than ten thousand Ontario faculty have received layoff notices and further cuts are planned for college staff. 

But, when we fight together, we can make a difference!

As we recently saw from the huge public support for Air Canada workers who defied a government back-to-work order to challenge wage theft, most workers understand the need for fair wages and decent working conditions.

Similarly, we see consistently high levels of public support for government action on deeply affordable housing, health care, child care, education, and good jobs. 

So while Ontario’s public colleges are under attack by Premier Ford’s cuts, the good news is college support staff and faculty are fighting back. They want to keep the programs students need and preserve decent jobs. As it stands, college support staff may be forced to strike as early as September 11. Public support for this fight (and all the upcoming fights) are crucial.

That’s why this September’s Organizing for Power Assembly is coming at just the right time. This conference will strenghthen our skills, confidence and capacity to meet the challenges ahead. 

Please register right now so we can make sure you have all the support you need for a fantastic weekend, including lodging and out-of-town transportation.