Once again, Saskatchewan’s NDP leadership campaign has focused largely on recent debates and other candidate forums (and I’ll be discussing those individually as I get a chance to view them). And for those interested in immediate coverage of those, Tra…
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Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Thomas Walkom discusses what the Cons’ attack on unions through bill C-377 is ultimately designed to do:Finance department figures show that the tax exemption for union and professional dues does indeed cost the fed…
Continue readingwmtc: buy nothing day: support striking walmart workers near you
One more paper plus one fundraiser for the Children’s Book Bank will equal one more term behind me. Until then, I leave you with this excellent image of cultural imperialism, from The New Internationalist: another kind of D-Day.Today, occupiers all ove…
Continue readingwmtc: friday in the u.s.: support walmart workers
This Friday, on the biggest shopping day of the year (also known as International Buy Nothing Day), hundreds of courageous Walmart workers will stand up to their bullying employer and demand their right to organize, free of retaliation. The workers of …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Laura Ryckewaert reports that Elections Canada’s response to Robocon is now including an unprecedented level of public consultation, while Stephen Maher and Glen McGregor are digging deeper into voters’ complain…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.- Peter O’Neil and Tara Carman report on the Cons’ strategy of importing temporary foreign workers to drive down wages across Canada. And Craig McInnes juxtaposes that plan against the need for viable care…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #skndpldr Roundup
A few observations about the Saskatchewan NDP leadership race in advance of tonight’s first debate… The main news over the past week has involved the release of the candidates’ October donation and expense numbers – which have been documented by Alic…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Andrew Potter highlights the difficulties in practicing and encouraging truth-based politics at a time when entire parties make a deliberate strategy of lying – as well as the one technique that seems to be wor…
Continue readingwmtc: european general strike: "end this downward spiral"
Four European workers explain why their union is participating in the general strike: “Why we are striking against austerity in Europe” in The Guardian. In many sectors, union “leadership”, content to settle for crumbs, were dragged along by the organi…
Continue readingwmtc: n14: european general strike!
In a few hours, people all over Europe will wake up and begin their days. Many will find it difficult to get anywhere or do anything. Many more will not report to work or school, and will instead take to the streets.November 14, 2012 will mark a histor…
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: Canada’s Laws Fuel Migrant Worker Exploitation: Report
by Metcalf Foundation Canada’s reliance on low-wage migrant workers with temporary immigration status is growing but our laws make them vulnerable to abuse, says a new report published by the Metcalf Foundation. Made in Canada: How the Law Constructs…
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: Ontario Teachers Begin Strike Actions November 12
by OSSTF/FEESP After postponing sanctions for five days, Ken Coran, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation announced early this morning that discussions with the Provincial Government have ended without an agreement. OSSTF/FE…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Barbara Yaffe writes about the continual rise in food bank use and the underlying political choices which have brought it about:(I)n the last decade food banks have been helping Canadians through both good time…
Continue readingAlberta Diary: There is a God: Merit Contractors, advocates of Bill C-377, would be caught in its web
Tory MP wonders about Bill C-377: “Is anybody really interested in breaching Sally the Receptionist’s privacy because she earns 40k answering the phones at the Union Hiring Hall?” Below: Stephen Kushner. Surely it is one of life’s little ironies that among the groups certain to be caught in the web
Continue readingAutonomy For All: Labour Organizing As Warfare
Matt Stoller tweeted a link to this excellent piece on recent changes to the US labour organizing strategic landscape. In one of the most remarkably under-reported stories I’ve ever seen, Walmart workers across 12 cities in 9 states staged a series of wild-cat strikes in early October and unlike almost
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Stephen Maher follows up on this week’s Supreme Court ruling on Etobicoke Centre by pointing out where we should be most worried about our electoral system: Fraudulent voting is far from the biggest problem facing our democracy. Disengagement is. Voting rates are declining
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta Premier Alison Redford gets warm reception in union lions’ den
Alison Redford speaks to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees’ convention in Edmonton yesterday. (AUPE photo.) Below: Ms. Redford with AUPE President Guy Smith. Is she trying to build an alliance with public service unions? It’s tempting to say Alberta Premier Alison Redford walked boldly into the lions’ den yesterday
Continue readingwmtc: "all they talk about is taxes, but all people want is jobs": thoughts on why there are no good jobs and why no one is creating them
We visited family in the US this past week, and because of this, ended up hearing more about the election in two days than either of us have read, seen, or thought about in months, if not years. Which is not to say people talked non-stop about the election, only
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Tim Harper slams the Cons for yet another omnibus abuse of parliamentary democracy: Stephen Harper didn’t invent prorogation and omnibus legislation, but he has made two arcane polysyllabic political terms part of our everyday lexicon, improving our vocabulary but diminishing our democracy. His
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On grassroots input
Saskatchewan’s NDP has released a report on its labour and employment consultations. And between the 700 participants and the report’s drafters, there are plenty of noteworthy suggestions and recommendations worth discussing. Let’s start with a few of the more detailed points. On process, a couple of observations about the Sask
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