Assorted content for your weekend reading.
– Just as in this year’s federal election, the NDP will need to look to move voting intentions once the campaign is underway. But also just like in the federal election, there’s reason to like the party’s cha…
Continue readingAfter reading Rick Salutin’s column yesterday about the very real limitations of Canadian journalism even when juxtaposed against the scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch’s publishing empire, I had the opportunity to read a story from rabble.ca that confi…
Continue readingIssue of the DayMuch of the day’s debate was taken up with the final debate on the Cons’ budget legislation, with the NDP particularly highlighting provisions to subsidize private mortgage insurance – while the Cons responded at times by insisting that…
Continue readingMiscellaneous material for your Monday reading.- Janyce McGregor’s article on the perils of Senate reform is well worth a read in general. But let’s particularly highlight an issue I’ve raised before – if one which is no less glaring in the absence of …
Continue readingCan I get a “WOW”? Just look at all those women! I couldn’t stop grinning as woman after woman after woman rose and spoke. What happened to all the arrogant white dudes? Oh, they’re posturing and questioning. I guess someone noticed as the past few questions have been lobbed by female CPC MPs. Aside from […]
Continue readingWhile I wrote today’s column before word came out about the Harper Cons’ meddling in the negotiations between Canada Post and CUPW, it looks like the Cons’ desire to provoke a war with workers extended even further than I’d thought – including through …
Continue readingCanada Post union to challenge back-to-work legislation in court – thestar.comAs I was pointing out, the legislation is illegal, and the union is going to challenge it in court. Now the decision will depend on if Harper has stacked the Supreme Court wi…
Continue readingYour blogger with Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathgeber, in agreement for once … sort of.With locked-out postal workers being forced back to their jobs last night by the Harper Conservatives, I was surprised and interested to learn that Brent Rathge…
Continue readingI’ve pointed out before how the Cons’ deliberate attack on the Canadian Union of Postal Workers figures to create damaging incentives as federally-regulated employers consider how to handle future collective bargaining. But now that we’ve seen the Cons…
Continue readingBob Rae is quickly becoming more of a joke than he already was. He keeps talking about the NDP “taking the bait” on this issue, or “taking the bait” on another issue. What Bob doesn’t realize, because he has never developed that part of his anatomy rel…
Continue readingInspired by this story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/06/22/canada-post-toronto-rally658.html
Continue readingThis, just in, from Derek Blackadder at LabourStart. While it is addressed to trade unionists it should resonate with anyone who believes in democracy. The Conservative government’s decision to impose back-to-work legislation strikes at the heart of democracy; it is a form of forced labour, something expressly forbidden by the International Labour Organization of which […]
To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth: On back to work legislation. Whoa, deja vu.Excerpts:It’s worth noting that even lawyers aren’t evading it as much as they used to. In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada, in the BC Health Services case, overtu…
Continue readingInspired by this headline: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/06/21/postal-legislation-tuesday.html
Continue readingSometimes the Russian Television network has some good stories. By good stories I mean, news articles that would never seen the light of day within the media disciplined airwaves of the U.S. According the the RT report, US workers are working harder for less and less every year, and funny, business has never been better […]
Perhaps it is because I am currently reading The Trouble With Billionaires, by Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks, but I have become especially sensitive to the increasingly shrill anti-union rhetoric by CEO’s and some allegedly ‘ordinary’ members of the pu…
Continue readingIn uniondom we talk a lot about the ‘right to free collective bargaining’. I expect most of us realize the meaning of that phrase is lost on most people in the country and even on most amongst union members. If anyone asks me my professional opinion, I…
Continue readingYesterday I predicted that the tory government would not introduce legislation to end the contract dispute between Canada Post and CUPW. Today, it seems Labour Minister Lisa Raitt formally announced plans to do just that.
Continue readingCanada Post cuts home delivery to 3 days a week – thestar.com
I swear that I only get delivery 3 days a week now and in the past few months.
Long before this strike, there have been days when the building has got no mail delivery.
So, for me, this of…
I have nothing against postal workers or unions in general, but going on strike during the midst of an economic recession is, in my opinion, completely insane. Like many others I suspect, if Canada Post were to cease operations altogether, … Continue reading →
