Public sector wages lag private sector
Conservatives often suggest that public sector settlements are out of whack with private sector settlements. In fact, the evidence from Ontario over the last couple of decades proves the opposite.…
unions
This song against the recently deceased former British prime…
This song against the recently deceased former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is “Oxford Lady” by the Manchester-based post-punk/New Wave band The Brigade. Lyrically, it’s a bit more subtle than…
Summit tackles growing unfairness in Canada: Unions resolve to be part of solution
Canadian Labour Congress | Press Release: More than 350 labour leaders met for a one-day summit on Friday, March 22 in Toronto to talk about how their members can advocate…
Inconvenient Truths for White Men
Men, especially white men, sleep too easily at night while women earn 70 per cent of what we do. Secretly, I think we’d prefer to not have to talk about…
Harper Conservatives must back track on Employment Insurance changes
By: Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union | (Press Release) | Mar 2, 2013: OTTAWA – Changes to Employment Insurance (EI) affecting thousands of seasonal workers and their communities must be…
ObamAnt’s State of the Union Address
Inspired by the U.S.A.’s State of the Union Address last night.
A Timely Reminder From Linda McQuaig
Fanned by a corporate-dominated media, it is hardly a surprise that anti-union sentiment seems to be rampant today. Everywhere we look, there are articles decrying the ‘unchecked power’ of union…
Foundation Skills Assessment: Another Dirty Trick
By Rachel Goodine The FSAs, or Foundation Skills Assessment tests, administered annually in British Columbia since 2000 to students in grades 4 and 7, are once again under way. They…
How Millennials Can Improve Everyone’s Job Satisfaction
Quack. It’s 9am, do you know where your millennial employees are? No? No worries. It’s all good. They’re not factory chickens. People who study characteristics of different generations have some…
Ignorant scapegoating: a feel-good pastime for the thick-headed…
Ignorant scapegoating: a feel-good pastime for the thick-headed and big-mouthed Anyone who doubts that racism and religious bigotry are alive and well in Canada in 2013 simply needs to read…
National labor union urges Harper to meet with hunger striking Chief Theresa Spence
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), one of Canada’s largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members, is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to meet with hunger…
The Not-So-Hidden-Hand of Harper
Although I believe unreservedly in the vital role that unions play in both protecting and promoting workers' rights, I make no apologies for the times that I have been critical…
There’s fish in the lake
Two unions are in court to overturn Temporary Foreign Worker Program permits that allow 200 Chinese coal miners to work in northern BC. The labour organizations claim the permits were…
ConCalls: Giving In
At what point can Canadians no longer claim to be a democratic people? We widely recognize when other countries were running sham elections, but our closeness to our own has…
A claymation version of Ed Broadbent makes a clear and logical…
A claymation version of Ed Broadbent makes a clear and logical 3.5-minute presentation on income inequality and politics in Canada.
Bill C-377: and here I was thinking the Tories hated red tape
Imagine a law that said every corporation that got a tax subsidy, a grant, a low interest loan or some other fiscal incentive had to publicly disclose every expenditure of…
To my friends at SFU – a message about the strikes
To my APSA, TSSU, and SFUFA friends at SFU: Today, CUPE 3338 is picketing Burnaby Mountain. They’re doing so because they’ve been trying to bargain with SFU for two years,…
Labour Organizing As Warfare
Matt Stoller tweeted a link to this excellent piece on recent changes to the US labour organizing strategic landscape. In one of the most remarkably under-reported stories I’ve ever seen,…
CAW Major Auto Bargaining 2012: Lessons Learned
I am now finally emerging from the mental fog induced by the 24-7 triennial marathon otherwise known as “CAW major auto bargaining.” To close the circle, here are my thoughts…