The world’s richest man is not amused. Elon Musk, CEO and biggest shareholder of automaker Tesla, is annoyed at a series of strikes against his company. He calls them “insane.” He has simply encountered a culture which takes workplace democracy seriously. When Tesla set up in Sweden, Musk attempted to
Continue readingTag: organized labour
Views from the Beltline: C-58, a victory for workplace democracy
People have fought for rights in their workplaces as long as there have been workplaces. The first labour strike in recorded history took place in Egypt in the reign of Ramesses III (1184-1153 BC) when tomb-builders at a site in Western Thebes, frustrated at delays in receiving their wages, laid
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Can unions restore a stable America?
A stable US is important to all of us. A very imperfect democracy but nonetheless by far the most important, it is the central pillar of global liberty. Recently that pillar has been looking shaky. The election of the neo-fascist Donald Trump in 2016 and the threat of his return
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Conservatives and the working class
During the 2019 provincial election UCP leader Jason Kenney rambled about Alberta in a big blue pickup truck for all the world like a toiler in the oil fields. The new premier likes to present himself as one of the boys. Whether he succeeds or not, it worked electorally. He
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Happy Alberta Day, fellow Albertians! Don’t count on having two days off in September, though
Happy “Alberta Day,” my fellow Albertians! Does Jason Kenney have a plan to erase Labour Day and replace it with something called Alberta Day on or about September 1? It certainly wouldn’t be out of character. U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons). Labour Day celebrates labour, which
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Trade unions take on the extreme right in northern France
It is Saturday afternoon and the Christmas market in Hénin-Beaumont is deserted. A light rain is falling on the town, adding a layer of sadness to the place. In front of the town hall, on Place Jean-Jaurès, the PCF (French Communist Party) office has closed its shutters. A small notice pasted to the door urges… More Trade unions take on the extreme right in northern France
Parchment in the Fire: Collective Bargaining and the Eurozone Crisis
Since the beginning of the Eurozone crisis in 2008, most attention has been focused on the recurring and persistent struggles against ‘austerity’. Austerity, in this sense, refers to the politics of cutting public spending – primarily in the areas of social programs like unemployment benefits, disability benefits, ‘public goods’ such
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Das Auto is Awesome.
The rednecks in the state government did everything underhanded they could to keep Tennessee Volkswagen workers from going union. It was a move that pitted the company against, not its workers, but the government. Volkswagen had to come out and dispel the lies, announcing that it welcomed a union but
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Pierre Poilievre – Silencing Dissent through Intimidation
In 1946, Justice Rand determined that even though employees working in a unionized work environment were not required to join the union they were required to pay union dues because all workers in the workplace benefited from the contract negotiated by the union on the workers behalf regardless of… ..
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Pierre Poilievre – Silencing Dissent through Intimidation
In 1946, Justice Rand determined that even though employees working in a unionized work environment were not required to join the union they were required to pay union dues because all workers in the workplace benefited from the contract negotiated by the union on the workers behalf regardless of… ..
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: Pierre Poilievre – Silencing Dissent through Intimidation
In 1946, Justice Rand determined that even though employees working in a unionized work environment were not required to join the union they were required to pay union dues because all workers in the workplace benefited from the contract negotiated by …
Continue readingpunditman: Chomsky: Only a Massive Uprising Will Change Our Politics
Are there enough progressives to stage a mass uprising in the U.S.A? Wisconsin seems to be the test. And in Wisconsin a majority of the citizens apparently elected a Republican/Tea Party dominated legislature. The eviseration of the labour movement in Wisconsin, and in your state or province might just be
Continue readingpunditman: Chomsky: Only a Massive Uprising Will Change Our Politics
Are there enough progressives to stage a mass uprising in the U.S.A? Wisconsin seems to be the test. And in Wisconsin a majority of the citizens apparently elected a Republican/Tea Party dominated legislature. The eviseration of the labour movement in Wisconsin, and in your state or province might just be
Continue readingpunditman: Chomsky: Only a Massive Uprising Will Change Our Politics
Are there enough progressives to stage a mass uprising in the U.S.A? Wisconsin seems to be the test. And in Wisconsin a majority of the citizens apparently elected a Republican/Tea Party dominated legislature. The eviseration of the labour movement in Wisconsin, and in your state or province might just be done democratically. That one percent of the U.S. that controls over 99 percent of the wealth, seems to have convinced the 99 percent that that is a normal and just state of affairs. Is this the last gasp of the labour movement in the U.S. (and soon in Canada), or is it the beginning of a re-birth. Peacenik is not feeling good about what is going down in Wisconsin. Editorials about Tea Party over-reach are not going to get it done. This is the pitch fork moment. But wait, who is on Dancing with The Stars. And did J-Lo really cry on American Idol this week. Is Charlie Sheen finished? Will Lindsay go to jail?
Chomsky: “What has to be done is what’s happening in Madison, or Tahrir Square. If there’s mass popular opposition, any political leader is going to have to respond.
NOAM CHOMSKY: We were talking about unions before. Union busting is criminal activity by the government, because they’re saying, “You can go ahead and do it; we’re not going to apply the laws,” effectively. And the COINTELPRO, which you mentioned, is actually the worst systematic and extended violation of basic civil rights by the federal government. It maybe compares with Wilson’s Red Scare. But COINTELPRO went on from the late ’50 right through all of the ’60s; it finally ended, at least theoretically ended, when the courts terminated it in the early ’70s. And it was serious.
It started, as is everything, going after the Communist Party, then the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Then it extended—the women’s movement, the New Left, but particularly black nationalists. And it ended up—didn’t end up, but one of the events was a straight Gestapo-style assassination of two black organizers, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, literally. The FBI set up the assassination. The Chicago police actually carried it out, broke into the apartment at 4:00 in the morning and murdered them. Fake information that came from the FBI about arms stores and so on. There was almost nothing about it. In fact, the information about this, remarkably, was released at about the same time as Watergate. I mean, as compared with this, Watergate was a tea party. There was nothing, you know?
