CGT DECLARES UNLIMITED STRIKE IN SPANISH ‘UNIPOST’ OVER HOLIDAYS The following is a translation from a Spanish language article at Rojo y Negro, the organ of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist union the CGT. I have had to rat…
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Molly'sBlog: Spanish Syndicalism (1) CGT Strike in Unipost
CGT DECLARES UNLIMITED STRIKE IN SPANISH ‘UNIPOST’ OVER HOLIDAYS The following is a translation from a Spanish language article at Rojo y Negro, the organ of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist union the CGT. I have had to rather “freely translate” as the particulars of Spanish labour practices are quite different
Continue readingcmkl: Why we should we post our collective agreements on our websites
I was conferring with comrades from a sibling union this week. They’re going through almost the exact same website re-engineering process I did where I work. It was very therapeutic. I thank them. But we got into what I thought was an old discussion. Turns out it’s not.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A challenge for the Redford Government: use Section 33 of the Charter to impose your unconstitutional laws
Queen Elizabeth II signs the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 as a smiling PM Pierre Trudeau looks on. Now null and void in Alberta? Below: The Charter, premiers Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein from an old news shot found on the Internet, looking suitably appalled. Here’s a
Continue readingBlevkog: Right to work… for less
As the Conservative Party of Canada skulks from Ottawa to the friendlier confines of their heartland for their party convention, right to work legislation is going to be one of the top items for discussion. At its core, right to work legislation allows workers in unionized workplaces to opt out
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Raising Ontario’s Minimum Wage
On Friday, the United Steelworkers made the following submission to Ontario’s Minimum Wage Advisory Panel. The United Steelworkers union endorses the Ontario Federation of Labour’s (OFL) call for a minimum wage of $14 per hour, to ensure that Ontarians who work full-time earn appreciably more than the poverty line. As
Continue readingcmkl: Dear sisters and brothers: stop using your employer’s email
I am amazed that in 2013 I am still feeling the need to write this but Kathryn May in today’s Citizen is covering a PSLRB (the board that handles issues related to federal government labour-management relations) decision upholding management’s right to stop the union from using its email system. So
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Untangling the Temporary Foreign Worker Knot
Banks as predators? Surely, no! Temporary foreign workers have become a lightning-rod topic in Canadian labour in recent months with the high-profile news of the Royal Bank of Canada replacing staff with TFWs. But the issue is not about RBC, which is merely the latest flashpoint. The temporary foreign worker
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 readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Unifor: Canada’s Newest Union
I am still catching my breath from one of the wildest weeks in my life: all the events that culminated in the founding convention last weekend in Toronto of Unifor (formed from the combination of the CAW and the CEP). The new union will represent over 300,000 members working in
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The New Attack on Unions
The latest issue of the York University e journal Just Labour is now available. In addition to three articles on youth and labour, it includes my paper “Up Against the Wall: the Political Economy of the New Attack on the Canadian Labour Movement” and thoughtful responses from Sam Gindin, Ken
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Sloppy reporting on unions from Globe and Mail & Canadian Press
The Globe and Mail (regurgitating the Canadian Press, apparently) gets it wrong about unions in a story in today’s print edition. They claim that “Union membership has declined in Canada in recent years”. In fact, as the easily available Statistics Canada chart copied below shows, union coverage has grown by 164,000
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Labour Day 2013: Say Hello to the Pavement!
Workers in Canada and around the world have been under assault for decades, but most of our recent tactics to stop the bleeding have been ineffective. Are we lazy, complacent, overworked, obedient, compliant, subdued, afraid, docile, or fully tamed and intimidated by the one per cent? If we don’t get
Continue readingA Different Point of View....: Article touches on sensitive union issues
Should union members give up some of their seniority rights to make the movement more appealing to a critical public? This is one of the controversial points touched on by an Ontario union rep, Glenn Wheeler, in an article in The Toronto Star. Wheeler also questions whether unions are spending
Continue readingUndoing democracy democratically
As the Egyptian military brutally dismantles democracy in their country, other losses of democracy tend to pale in comparison. Yet when they involve people electing to disband their own democracy, they are nonetheless disheartening. At least to a democrat such as myself. Thus I felt no little disappointment when I
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Hudson’s Bay Retail Sweatshop
Sweatshops ‘R Us! Ripping off employees by paying them less than a living wage [the Metro Vancouver 2013 living wage is $19,64], all to pad shareholder profits, is the glory of exploitative capitalism! Long live capitalism! Oh wait, what happens when your own employees can’t afford to shop at your
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: New Leadership Team Proposed for Unifor
The CAW and CEP have created a team of union leaders proposed to lead Unifor, Canada’s new super union, after its founding convention on September 1. The post New Leadership Team Proposed for Unifor appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Occupy Movement Vs. Maquiladoras
Workplace justice: a pipe dream, or something to build solidarity to fight for? I had the distinct, and creepy, pleasure of sitting in front of a group of fellows yesterday in, ironically, the cheap seats at the Seattle Mariners game. They were discussing business. One fellow, who of course may
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Funding Cuts to Alberta’s PSE Sector: There Are Alternatives
It has recently been reported that the University of Alberta wants to “reopen two-year collective agreements” with faculty and staff “to help the university balance its budget…” This appears to be in direct response to Alberta’s provincial government announcing in its March budget that there would be a “7% cut
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Are You Just Too Tired? We’ve Known Why for Decades
You actually do deserve a break today. What ails us? A large proportion of the total produce goes to a small minority of the population, many of whom do no work at all. Owing to the absence of any central control over production, we produce hosts of things that are
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