Ottawa Panhandlers' Union
| Founded | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Industrial Workers of the World |
| Country | Canada |
The Ottawa Panhandlers' Union (French: Syndicat des clochards d'Ottawa) is a union for panhandlers, the homeless and others formed in Ottawa, Canada in early 2003. It is a shop of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Ottawa-Outaouis General Members Branch. The union fights systematic oppression faced by street people in Ottawa; this includes the homeless, panhandlers, buskers, and people with a fixed income who are part of the street. Andrew Nellis was spokesperson for this union, roughly from 2005 until his resignation in April 2011. The next spokesperson was Karen Crossman.
The union has adopted 'Working For Change' as its official motto.
The organization is largely a collaborative effort by lead organizer, IWW delegate and spokesperson Karen Crossman, and other long time anti-poverty Ottawa activists.
Some of the main pieces of legislation which motivated activists to form the Panhandler's Union was the Safe Streets Act and a piece of legislation dubbed Brian's Law which was eventually found to be unconstitutional as it was used to pick up homeless people up off the street and put them in jail or mental institutions without due process. Other pieces of legislation objected to include the Vending on Highways Law, passed by Ottawa City Hall. Aside from one of its members, the panhandlers' union dues are paid for by the Industrial Workers of the World through donations and various organized events.
The Panhandlers' Union is not a conventional labour union in that its members perform their labor in non-traditional ways. This led to ridicule of the union, including an article critiquing the union in the Ottawa Citizen which asked if the panhandlers were fighting for "wider sidewalks?" The newspaper granted the union a chance to respond with their own op-ed piece, and their editorial, "Why Panhandlers Need a Union", appeared in the newspaper on March 20, 2006. In May 2007 union and its organizer Andrew Nellis were featured in a multi-page article in the Ottawa City Journal. The newspaper also interviewed panhandlers and the executive director of the Bank Street Business Improvement Area.
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