By Toby Sanger In their election platform and in ministerial mandate letters, the federal Liberals promised they would “establish the Canada Infrastructure Bank to provide low-cost financing (including loan guarantees) for new municipal infrastructure projects.” This had the potential to be a positive initiative. The federal government can borrow at very low rates — significantly Continue readingCanada Infrastructure Bank paving the road for privatization
By Lesley Jamieson It has come as no surprise that employers and business interests across the province are swamping news outlets with predictions of pending doom. Prices will rise, jobs will be cut, and workers will be punished, they claim. Tim Horton’s franchise-owners in Cobourg recently announced that they will be punishing workers by eliminating Continue readingDon’t buy into the boss backlash
by David Bush, Gerard Di Trolio and Doug Nesbitt Five days into 2018 and the $14 minimum wage has a number of Ontario employers losing their minds. Meanwhile, Canada’s top CEOs made the average Canadian salary by 11 am on January 2. In Cobourg, Tim Hortons franchises owned by the children of the chain’s founders Continue readingDefend $14: Let’s make bully bosses pay
By Zaid Noorsumar The Fair Workplaces & Better Jobs Act may have been enacted by the Liberals, but the groundwork to create a political climate to make such a bold move possible was done by grassroots organizers. Kathleen Wynne, whose party froze minimum wage at $10.25 for four years between 2010 and 2014, wasn’t keen Continue readingWinning $15: Meet some of the leaders of the $15 and Fairness movement
By Robert Devet The Mill – Fifty years of pulp and protest published by Pottersfield Press and written by journalist Joan Baxter is a really good book, and don’t let Kathy Cloutier, the person in charge of communications at Northern Pulp, tell you otherwise. Cloutier famously sent an email to employees urging them to boycott Continue readingBook Review: The Mill – 50 years of pulp and protest
by Peter Hogarth This New Year’s workers across Ontario can celebrate the passing of Bill 148, which will give 1.7 million workers a pay raise on January 1. The victory was not a Christmas present from the Liberals but a product of campaigning, agitating, fighting and striking to win $15 and Fairness by workers across Continue readingIn 2018, keep fighting for $15 & Fairness
By Gerard Di Trolio The Canadian labour movement achieved some significant victories in 2017 but there are still major challenges on the horizon. The success of the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign is a victory that will be studied for years. Activists built a diverse and bottom up movement that included and built the Continue reading2017: The Canadian Labour movement in review
2017 was a record year for RankandFile.ca. We launched our newest publication, The Nine Hour Movement: How civil disobedience made unions legal and our organizer’s handbook, 15 and Fairness Now! sold roughly a 1000 copies. We published 310 stories, videos, interviews, news updates and job posting this year. 125 of those were original stories, news reports or Continue readingBest of RankandFile.ca in 2017
More civil servants may see ‘low pay or no pay’ after new glitch found in Phoenix pay system: official | Cafeteria workers at Halifax and Dartmouth Community College campuses join union | CUPE Ontario is shocked and appalled that OMERS pension plan is investing in tax havens | Exclusive: Secretive cabinet decision limits sick days Continue readingLabour News Update: December 26 2017
by James Wilt It’s a tale of corporate extortion and government negligence that has become all too familiar. For the past six months, OmniTRAX — one of the largest private rail companies in North America — has been holding the tiny northern Manitoba town of Churchill hostage after unprecedented flooding damaged much of the company’s Hudson Continue readingChurchill, Manitoba’s privatization nightmare
By Robert Devet It’s been a long and difficult battle for justice for former HRM firefighter Liane Tessier, but this coming Monday the City of Halifax and Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency will finally issue an apology. As well, Tessier will receive a settlement of an undisclosed amount. Tessier was an ambitious volunteer firefighter who Continue reading#MeToo Halifax firefighter vindicated
By Daniel Tseghay Released in September by Fernwood Publishing, Robyn Maynard’s Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present clearly details a long and, arguably, actively forgotten, history. It’s a history of the repression and exploitation of black people in this country – a country whose identity is largely formed by Continue readingBook Review: Policing Black Lives