Tag: unions
bastard.logic: The New 1% Doctrine in Action (Electro-Motive Diesel Edition)
While many the US were celebrating seemingly positive job numbers yesterday, for London, Ontario residents such news was caustic, rock salt poured into a gaping wound. WSWS: Caterpillar subsidiary Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) has announced that it is transforming the lockout at its London, Ontario diesel-locomotive manufacturing facility into a plant closure. Six
Continue readingcmkl: Electro-Motive plans to close its London plant
So a handsomely profitable corporation buys a London Ontario locomotive factory in June 2010 and promptly tells the 465 or so members of the CAW local there that they’ll have to cut their wages in half and give up their pension plan to keep their jobs. Things lead to things
Continue readingcmkl: C’mon people now, smile on your brother everybody get together try to love one another right now
A line from a cheesey hippie song from the sixties. À propos of nothing, really, except this. No, I’m not expecting Stephen Harper will start getting together and trying to love all the low-income seniors he’d screw out of two years of OAS even as the F-35s scream overhead.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: When Management Locks the Doors
Quick: what do U.S. Steel, Rio Tinto, and Caterpillar all have in common? They’re all enormous, flexible global companies, given carte blanche by the Canadian government to purchase important long-standing profitable assets here with few if any conditions, who promptly locked out their Canadian workers in an effort to extract
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Political Roots of Inequality
Last Thursday I was at an event on the issue of rising income inequality, sponsored by Canada 2020. It featured one of the authors of the recent OECD report on inequality, who highlighted the “skills biased technological change or SBT ” hypothesis so favoured by mainstream economists who desperately avoid
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2012-01-12 21:30:00
VISIONS: THE PRODUCER CO-OP OPTION: There are basically two types of cooperatives, consumer and producer. The former is a mutual aid society of purchasers banded together to get the best possible value for their dollar by cutting out the capitalist middleman. By banding together the members of such co-ops not
Continue readingknitnut.net: Salvation Army goes on strike
Sixty unionized workers at the Salvation Army Booth Centre went on strike at 3:00 pm today. The Booth Centre provides emergency shelter and food to homeless men in Ottawa. PSAC Local 73100 members are demanding a wage increase which would bring them up to parity with their counterparts at the
Continue readingRandom Ranting Raving and Ratings: The Myth of the Greedy Union Thug
I can’t help but notice how Stephen Harper and his Members of Parliament have been running rough shot over unionized workers lately. There have been several instances of the Federal Government abusing its powers to interfere with collective bargaining. In the case of Canada Post,… ..
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Economic Climate and Inequality
The December issue of the quarterly Economic Climate for Bargaining publication I produce is now on-line. This issue has a number of pieces on issues of inequality, including: Rising inequality is hurting our economy Labour rights, unions and the 99% Canadian economy bleeding jobs; public sector cuts to intensify Recession
Continue readingcmkl: Gerry Nicholls has my blood boiling
This Postmedia item has had me in a lather all day. It’s not just that they’re whipping up the faithful against the people I work for. That always bothers me but it’s ah… not new to me.
Continue readingcmkl: CAW and CEP talking merger? Wow
So this is me talking from a great distance, I hedge. I remember when CEP was formed in 1992. It was, itself the product of a merger of three unions: Canadian Paperworkers Union, the Communications and Electrical Workers of Canada and the Energy and Chemical Workers.
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: Molly’sBlog 2011-12-14 12:30:00
CANADIAN POLITICS: CONSERVATIVES ATTACK UNIONS ONCE MORE: Well, this probably counts as non-news as nobody should be suprised that a Conservative Party wants to gut the power of organized workers to fight back. The following articles (English and French) from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) warns of this
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: OECD on Inequality
Following concern expressed by the IMF, the Conference Board and of course thousands of protesters around the world, the OECD has just released an extensive 400 page report on the problem of growing inequality: Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps on Rising. I haven’t read through it yet, and it
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