2 Responses to “Buy Benicar Without Prescription”

1. Rachelle Says:
   August 20th, 2009 at 21:30

   Hey,

   Curious what are the details regarding this incident?

2. keb Says:
   September 10th, 2009 at 16:47

   Here are details of the allegations about GlobalAware.
   I met one of the employees at a bookfair and confirmed the letter.
   As far as i know the case is in process of investigation by the
   Ontario Labour Relations Board. GlobalAware did not answer email.

   Krishna
   Exile collective member

   ———- Forwarded message ———-
   From: Ben Hackman
   Date: Fri, May 8, 2009 at 2:42 AM
   Subject: Boycott GlobalAware!

   Dear Friends,

   We write to you today requesting the boycott of GlobalAware. We are a
   group made up of ex-GlobalAware employees and members of Toronto’s
   activist community in solidarity with the ex-employees. We are contacting
   all those who do business with GlobalAware in the hopes that you will
   reconsider your affiliations upon learning of the inner goings-on of the
   organization. We ask that you read this letter and add your voice to the
   growing network of those concerned about labour rights violations,
   mis-represented not-for-profit status, and flawed, non-existent financial
   policies.

   For the past five years, the GlobalAware Independent Media Organization
   has existed under the pretenses of a not-for-profit activist organization.
   To the public, GlobalAware advocates social justice; the inner workings,
   however, are a much different story.

   GlobalAware is located in Kensington Market, an area of Toronto where
   businesses suffer an annual economic lull as a result of winter. Business
   owners in the Market accept this as an unfortunate reality and prepare for
   it accordingly. Rather than anticipating and preparing for the annual lull
   by, for example, putting aside winter funds for its employees during more
   lucrative seasons, GlobalAware’s standard business strategy for the past
   several years has been to lay off its employees. In January of this year,
   five staff members were laid off without notice of termination nor one
   week’s termination pay in lieu of it. This is illegal in the province of
   Ontario (and unethical everywhere). Since the conception of GlobalAware,
   this annual winter firing has occurred numerous times. Some people to this
   day are still owed back pay, and not a single person has yet to receive
   her or his termination pay. In addition to all this, email accounts of
   staff members were deleted without notice, resulting in the loss of
   hundreds of invaluable contacts, other information pertaining to secondary
   jobs and secondary financial records, as well as our own GlobalAware
   financial records. This, as you can imagine, is particularly vexing now
   that the executive director, Clive Shirley, has made claim that many of us
   were never employed by GlobalAware.

   The cycle of termination and mis-treatment of loyal staff members has
   given way to a number of acts of resistance. One staff member in 2006 made
   attempts to unionize the organization. This was met with complete
   resistance by the executive director and president of the organization and
   the movement was dissipated.

   In 2007 after staff were again illegally terminated, one member applied
   for an organizational grant; the funds were to be used to restructure the
   organization and bring transparency to the inner workings of GlobalAware.
   The goal of this grant was to make GlobalAware into a real cooperative,
   one whose inner workings reflected the ideals and goals that it advocated
   to the public. While the executive director did meet with a consultant, it
   is extremely unclear how the funds from this grant made any changes to the
   way GlobalAware operates.

   As some of you are well aware, GlobalAware does not readily, nor in a
   timely manner, pay suppliers for their merchandise. Like staff members and
   resident photographers, suppliers have to continually ask for what they
   are owed, and are made to feel guilty for it. GlobalAware does not keep
   clear, accessible financial records, making things all the more difficult.
   We understand that some of you are still owed money by GlobalAware. While
   this is most certainly not a resistance rooted in getting our money,
   being paid for our work shows that the work is valued and respected, and
   we believe a healthy activist community must be founded on respect.

   The actions of GlobalAware not only violate the law, but they crush the
   very ideals the organization is purportedly built upon: justice, equality
   fairness and respect. These are ideals we know your organization is built
   upon and does embody through its actions. We would ask: can you continue
   to support an organization that breaks labour laws when it pleases,
   misallocates grant funding, and disrespects other activist organizations
   by not paying them for their merchandise?

   You can make your voice heard by sending letters to Clive Shirley and the
   Board of Directors expressing your solidarity with terminated employees.
   You can terminate your relationship with GlobalAware and state that you
   will not buy nor sell any merchandise to GlobalAware until it changes its
   labour policies. However you and your organization decide to respond to
   these acts of injustice, please consider calling GlobalAware and demanding
   that you be paid in full for your merchandise.

   GlobalAware is open everyday from 11am-7pm

   You can call the shop at 416.204.1984, or speak to Clive Shirley, the
   director of GlobalAware directly at 647.405.1984

   You can also email Clive at cshirley(at)globalaware.org
   If you email, please Cc the Board of Directors:
   kathy.gruspier(at)utoronto.ca, ljermyn(at)globalaware.org,
   djolliffe(at)osstfd12.com, richardb.lee(at)utoronto.ca, wlem(at)trentu.ca,
   schrauwe(at)yorku.ca,gavin.gav(at)gmail.com

   Thank-you for the work you do, and for your support in this matter.

   Feel free to forward this email.

   In solidarity,

   Ben Hackman ~ Ex-employee
   Margarita Osipian ~ Ex-Employee
   Emily Adam ~ Ex-Employee
   Sarah King ~ Ex-Employee
   Theo Merson ~ Ex-Employee
   Siue Moffat ~ Local Activist
   Shawn Pelletier ~ Local Activist
   Karol Orzechowski ~ Local Activist
   Scott Thorn ~ Local Activist
   Bryn Roshong ~ Union Organizer
   Wesley Hannah ~ Union Organizer