Over 200 food service workers at York University in Toronto went on a one-day strike on February 2. The Aramark workers, members of Unite Here Local 75, walked off the job for increased pay, improved benefits and respect at work. There is a real possibility of a strike or lockout in the days to come. Continue readingWeekend Video: York unites for food service workers
Archives for February 2017
UPDATE: This article was published at 2:30am on February 10. Hours after publication Hassan Yussuff of the CLC sent a letter to Paul Thorp, President of ATU Canada, informing him that article 4 was being reinstated for Local 113 and the justification process would proceed. We also received a complaint and request from Unifor for Continue readingATU Trusteeship, Unifor Raid, CLC Crisis
By Aalya Ahmad, co-president of CUPE Local 1979 Workers at unions are strangely situated in the labour movement. On the one hand, many are in the enviable position of being paid to be union activists working full-time to broadly advance the interests of union members and, by extension, all workers. Because they work for unions, Continue readingSolidarity in Action? COPE 225 vs. Canadian Association of University Teachers
By Ben Sichel As teachers in Nova Scotia mull over their bargaining team’s third attempt at a tentative agreement in just over a year, here are a few observations about the dispute, and about teachers’ and workers’ power in general. 1) Teachers have a new idea of what is possible. Many of the issues teachers Continue readingTeachers unions can win. Let’s get to work.
By Brad Walchuk Roughly 1500 healthcare workers, allies, and community members rallied outside of the Hamilton General Hospital at noon on February 6. The rally is part of an Ontario-wide campaign by the Canadian Union of Public Employee (Ontario Division) and its component OCHU (Ontario Council of Hospital Unions) to increase the funding for hospitals and Continue reading1500 rally in Hamilton to increase healthcare funding
Right-to-work | York food workers | 10-23% wage hike at U of W | Bell layoffs | EI MP report | No answers for Nexon deaths | CUPE 32 on strike in Cambridge | NSTU work-to-rule | Mill River Resort union busting | Phoenix fail: $1.7m in union dues | Manitoba Hydro job cuts Last Continue readingLabour News Update: Feb. 6, 2017
The Party is over for China’s working class. In the boom-and-bust economy, it was the poor who lost out. Now unemployed and angry, millions of once-loyal Communist supporters are taking on Beijing. In 21st century China, the assurance of a job with cradle to grave care at a state-owned enterprise is a distant memory. Ghost Continue readingWeekend Video: Organising China’s Biggest Labour Strikes
By David Bush Incredibly loud and extremely joyous, that’s how over 200 food service workers at York University in Toronto kicked off their one-day strike. The Aramark workers, members of Unite Here Local 75, walked off the job yesterday for increased pay, improved benefits and respect at work. Malka Paracha, a food service supervisor at Continue readingAramark gets served: York food workers strike back
On February 1, Republicans in the House of Congress introduced a bill for a national right to work law. If passed, this represents a significant assault on trade union rights and power in North America. For international unions in Canada the impact of right to work would be felt immediately. For the Canadian union movement at Continue readingHow to maintain unity and membership under Right to Work
By Bob Barnetson I was recently involved in a discipline arbitration on the union side. The grievance centred on the employer failing to provide particulars when disciplining a worker. Particulars are the who, what, when, where and how of an incident for which the employer seeks to discipline a worker. That is to say, particulars Continue readingWhy might an employer fight a losing grievance?