By Jonathan Rosenblum Dear Canadian union sisters and brothers, There’s a lot to admire about your labor movement. With community organizing, creative street heat, and militant strikes, you’ve just scored the biggest win yet in the Fight for $15, forcing a pro-corporate Ontario government to raise wages for 1.7 million workers and grant new card-check Continue readingDear Canadian unions: Don’t let a union split tear the labour movement apart
Archives for January 2018
By David Bush When Unifor left the CLC on January 16 it cited the inability of the CLC and its affiliates to properly handle the process by which workers can change unions. This process is outlined in Article 4 of the CLC constitution. The disagreement over Article 4 is the only reason that has been Continue readingArticle 4, a smokescreen for labour’s civil war
By Joe Allen This Monday, negotiations began between Teamsters and the package giant UPS for a new national contract. The formal exchange of proposals was in preparation for July, when the national master UPS contract will expire. Teamsters general president James P. Hoffa — son of the infamous Jimmy Hoffa Sr — refused to release Continue readingWill There Be a Fightback at UPS?
By Kevin Taghabon, Samantha Connolly, Bradley Hughes, Tom Leonard On Friday, January 19 the Fight For $15 and Fairness and labour movement allies launched actions at 50 Tim Hortons locations from Vancouver to Halifax. The actions are part of a continued pushback against Tim Hortons bosses who have come out of the gate openly abusing workers Continue readingNational Day of Action brings mass support to Tim Hortons workers
By Alexandra Bradbury It’s Friday morning, and you’re starting another 12-hour shift in the bitter cold. At least you know the end is in sight, because tomorrow is Saturday and you’re almost to the 60-hour weekly limit. That is, until your manager hits you with the news: UPS has decided to exploit a loophole in Continue readingUPS drivers beat forced overtime during holiday rush
The following open letter was published on January 22, 2018. By John Cartwright On January 17, 2018 the Canadian labour movement was plunged into a crisis with the exit of Unifor from the Canadian Labour Congress and the launching of raids on bargaining units of UNITE HERE Local 75. This open letter is intended as Continue readingAn open letter to our movement
By Nora Loreto On April 9. 2015, Andy Sokhan texted Gordon Graham saying that he thought that the crane that he was operating was dangerous. Graham, a supervisor for the construction company Forma-Con told Sokhan that if it the crane could be dangerous to use, it should be shut down. The crane was being used Continue readingBrampton: The most dangerous place to work in Ontario
By Melissa Graham I’m going to get right to the point here. An increased minimum wage is not harming disabled people. It is however doing a great job at highlighting the ableist and saneist bias that continues to exist within employment in Ontario and social services. When Bill 148 was still being debate, there were Continue readingEmployment, the minimum wage and ableism
By Christo Aivalis On January 1 of this year, the Ontario government instituted a minimum wage increase to fourteen dollars an hour, with a pledge to increase it to fifteen dollars by January 2019. While 60% of Ontarians support the increase, numerous businesses have retaliated against their workers by retracting things like benefits and paid breaks. Continue readingTim Hortons and the need for demand-side economics
“We hadn’t set up a new organization in order to be cannibals in the Canadian labour movement.” — Bob White, first president of the Canadian Auto Workers (now Unifor). By Doug Nesbitt, Gerard Di Trolio, Evan Johnston and David Bush Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, has left the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Unifor’s website Continue readingUnifor-CLC split demands unity from below
By Lydia Dobson The minimum wage increase across Ontario has sparked a series of reactionary cutbacks from bosses. One of the many ways that employers have managed to download the cost of the minimum wage increase onto the backs of workers is through tip pools. Last week, a public debate took place in Ottawa where Continue readingHands off our tips!
By Kevin Taghabon The second week of Ontario’s minimum wage hike brought with it large pickets against Tim Hortons bosses and owners across the province. Coordinated actions were held province-wide in Cobourg, Dundas, Guelph, London, Peterborough, Ottawa, Windsor, and nine locations in Toronto. The actions were held in response to widespread reports of benefit clawbacks Continue readingThe People vs. Tim Hortons, Round One