Labour’s big Southern win
Employers in the American South have long had a thing about cheap labour. In fact, for the first 90 years of the country’s history they got it for free, and…
labour unions
Housing As A Right
Should housing be a right. That is the question. But the real question is what would that mean and how do we make it more than a token right but…
Housing As A Right
Should housing be a right. That is the question. But the real question is what would that mean and how do we make it more than a token right but…
UCP to loosen reins on unions … charitably
Alberta’s UCP government likes to keep a tight rein on labour unions. One of the first pieces of legislation brought in after their election in 2019 was the infamous Bill…
Generative AI—threat or opportunity?
“No contract! No content!” and “Here’s a pitch: Pay us, Bitch!” Thus the Hollywood members of the Writers Guild of America colourfully voice their views during their strike against the…
Congratulations to Ms. Payne
In the first contested election in a decade, the members of Unifor elected Lana Payne their new president last week. Representing over 300,000 workers, Unifor is the largest private-sector union…
Unionizing Apple
I have long been a fan of Apple products. In fact, I have never bought another desktop. I am also a great believer in labour unions. So reading about an…
Smalls vs. Amazon as David vs. Goliath
The recent success of employees at Amazons’s New York fulfillment centre in forming a union might be the best example of David defeating Goliath since the biblical incident. The union,…
Billionaires 1, Unions 0
The richest man in the world wins again. Earlier this week, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, voted overwhelmingly against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.…
Joe Biden—union man
During Joe Biden’s election campaign, he promised he would be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen.” This may be the most important promise he made, at least on the…
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…
On Being a “Boomer”
Generations When I was growing up in the 1950s and onward there was not all this talk about generations that seems to have become a fascination of the last twenty…
Promise of a Collective Voice for the Precariat
Along with much else, the workplace has seen a transformation. Fifty years ago, workers looked forward to full-time, secure jobs with good wages and benefits. Often, the quality of their…
Trump is no Substitute for Unions
The major reason Donald Trump was elected to the job he is manifestly unfit for was his appeal to electors in the Rust Belt states. These states had seen a…
Corporate Micro-shilling for Dollars…
The microfinance delusion: who really wins?
Prentice makes nice to labour
When governments find themselves in a financial bind they tend to make the civil service their first budget target. Overpaid public servants is a popular cliche. Alberta Premier Jim Prentice,…
Started Enjoying Our New Community Mail Box Last Week
I know as a progressive I am supposed to oppose the transition to community mailboxes (CMBs) for all urban and suburban residents but logic prevents me from doing so. Indeed…
Started Enjoying Our New Community Mail Box Last Week
I know as a progressive I am supposed to oppose the transition to community mailboxes (CMBs) for all urban and suburban residents but logic prevents me from doing so. Indeed…