An Adjunct Tragedy | The Nation. The proletarianization of higher education, according to the associate general counsel of the United Steel Workers Union, has now claimed a life. In a moving op-ed published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Daniel Kovalik, wrote this week of Margaret Mary Vojtko, a French teacher at
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Parchment in the Fire: Rethinking the Industrial Revolution
Five Centuries of Transition from Agrarian to Industrial Capitalism in England Michael Andrew Žmolek, University of Iowa In Rethinking the Industrial Revolution: Five Centuries of Transition from Agrarian to Industrial Capitalism in England, Michael Andrew Žmolek offers the first in-depth study of the evolution of English manufacturing from the feudal
Continue readingCanadian Dimension | Articles: Beyond the Economic Crisis: The Crisis In Trade Unionism
Discussions on the left about the economy might be summarized as warning that things are going to get a lot worse before they get…worse. This is not just a matter of the sustained attacks on the labour movement but as much a reflection of the crisis within labour. For some
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Republicanism and wage-labour
In a previous post, I presented a criticism of republicanism’s inability to adequately address the problems of power exerted in the modern capitalist economy. This should come as no surprise really, given that the republican notion of liberty as ‘non-domination’ was articulated within the context of pre-capitalist economies characterized by
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Dean Baker discusses the strong relationship between union organization and the elimination of poverty: A simple regression shows that a 10 percentage point increase in the percentage of workers covered by a union contract is associated with a 0.7 percentage point drop in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Toby Sanger asks who really bears the risk when governments agree to hand over billions to the private sector through P3 arrangements: While Canada may be one of the leaders in the market for P3s, we’re far from a leader when it
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the U.S.’ movement for fair fast food wages might be explained in part by greater recognition that many workers will be in the service sector for the long haul – while any Canadian equivalent may be suppressed by the use of temporary foreign workers. For further reading…–
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tavia Grant reports on the most recent world happiness report from the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. And David Doorey points out a rather striking similarity among the countries at the top of the list, while Dan Gardner highlights Stephen Harper’s longstanding
Continue readingNorthern Insight: In the dining room, an OOPs moment
Link to copy of original job offer
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Jordon Cooper writes about the dangers of growing income inequality in Saskatchewan and around the world: Income inequality is driven largely by market forces. Technology has changed the job market, and globalization has moved markets overseas or driven down wages. It’s also driven
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Richard Seymour rightly calls out right-wing lobby groups in the UK for distorting the facts in order to attack social programs: The report calls for benefits to fall in real terms, and refers to “the regrettable 5.2% blanket benefit increase put through in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On benefits at stake
Martin Regg Cohn is right to note that there’s no empirical support for attacks on unions when it comes to jobs or economic development: Why then is Hudak trying to turn the clock back? He points to the rise of Right to Work states in the U.S., where right-wing legislators
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Naomi Klein urges unions to join climate change fight
In a speech delivered at the founding convention of Canada’s new super-union, UNIFOR, award-winning journalist, best selling author and activist, Naomi Klein, urged unions to take action on climate change and stopping free trade. The post Naomi Klein urges unions to join climate change fight appeared first on The Canadian
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Frances Russell laments the state of Canada’s Potemkin Parliament (and the resulting harm the Cons are inflicting on our political system and our country alike): Poll after poll show a majority of Canadians regularly confuse their parliamentary system with the American presidential-congressional system.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Mariana Mazzucato points out that important inventions tend to come from public financing aimed at the greater good – while noting that we should also look to ensure greater public returns on our collective investments: Images of tech entrepreneurs such as Mark
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
This and that for your Labour Day reading. – Jared Bernstein writes about the fight for fair wages in the U.S. fast food and retail industries. And Karen McVeigh notes that political decision-makers are starting to try to get in front of the parade of workers seeking a reasonable standard
Continue readingwmtc: labour day 2013: low-wage workers rising
This week, port truckers went on strike in California, and fast-food workers in more than 60 cities walked off their jobs. Today in the US, Labor Day is Walmart’s last day to respond before Walmart workers intensify their nationwide actions on September 5. In Toronto, hotel workers won a huge
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Labour Day, 2013, in North America: Facing up to improving society for everyone
Striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. Martin Luther King played an active role in their struggle. Below: Striking Fast food workers in New York in 2013; Dr. King addressing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963; marchers on the National Mall in Washington. With Labour
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Emily Badger discusses how poverty affects people who are forced to use their physical and mental resources on bare survival: Human mental bandwidth is finite. You’ve probably experienced this before (though maybe not in those terms): When you’re lost in concentration trying to
Continue readingwmtc: happy labour day: thank a union, and thank the men and women who made unions possible
If you’re enjoying a long weekend, take a moment to acknowledge the blood, sweat, and tears of the women and men who made that possible. This page from a regional AFL-CIO affiliate has a partial list of what we enjoy thanks to organizing labour. 36 Reasons Why You Should Thank
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