By Lisa Cameron A former employee of LaFarge Canada is accusing the company of gender discrimination after years of poor treatment she attributes to her sex. Cindy Lawrence* was hired in December of 2011 at Lafarge Canada’s Brookfield plant just south of Truro, Nova Scotia. She worked until January of 2019. Just four weeks into Continue readingFired while pregnant: Former LaFarge worker blows whistle on sexism
News
Editor’s note: The following is a statement from the Amazon Workers Collective. Rankandfile.ca is sharing this call-out in the interest of advancing the cause of mutual protection in the workplace, unionizing Amazon, and taking on Jeff Bezos and his corporate empire. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the rotten core of our economic system. Wall Street Continue readingAmazon workers in Canada call for workplace organization and power
By Zaid Noorsumar The Ontario PC government of Premier Doug Ford has rejected the Official Opposition’s call to remove profits from the province’s home care sector. During the standing committee meetings for Bill 175 on Monday and Tuesday, the government struck down all of the amendments proposed by the opposition parties. The NDP proposed 19 Continue readingFord government defeats amendment to remove profits from home care
By Zaid Noorsumar When she first began working as a home and community care nurse twenty years ago, Anne* had a regular 40-hours a week schedule. Today, Anne is working between 12 and 14-hour days at least three times a week and every other weekend. “I see 12 to 14 patients a day and am Continue readingPrivatization, two-tiered home care, and the burden on women
By C. Rockarts In March, cities across Canada implemented fare-free public transit and back door boarding to encourage social distancing and curb the spread of COVID-19. On March 20, the City of Edmonton moved to temporarily suspend fare collection on all Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) buses, LRT and DATS services. Now, as many cities ‘relaunch’ Continue readingThe battle in Edmonton for a new kind of transit
By Lisa Cameron Nova Scotia’s essential workers have been sustaining the province during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those on the front-line are Nova Scotia’s care professionals, whose employment requires that they jeopardize their health (and the health of their families) to tend to those most medically, financially, and structurally at risk. Care workers in Nova Continue reading“Now it is a disaster”: Nova Scotia long-term care worker speaks out
“If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing” – Malcolm X By Zaid Noorsumar The Ford government is back to overhauling Ontario’s home and community care system this month and Canadian media has nothing to say about it Continue readingMainstream media refuses to talk profits in Ontario home care
By Haseena Manek The Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System (OMERS) Sponsors Corporation Board of Directors will be voting on whether or not to scrap guaranteed indexing for members in favour of a proposal they call “Shared Risk,” on June 24. OMERS is a defined benefit plan for about half a million municipal workers in Ontario, Continue readingShared Risk? OMERS indexing dispute fits pattern of attacks
By Zaid Noorsumar Ontario’s new home and community care legislation will likely become law by the end of the month with virtually no public consultation, even as it impacts over 700,000 annual care recipients who require personal support services, nursing care, physiotherapy and other services. Instead of addressing the myriad problems that have plagued the Continue reading“We need a public, not-for-profit home care system”
By Zaid Noorsumar Premier Doug Ford and his PC government are moving ahead with their new home and community care legislation. According to the Ontario Health Coalition, the legislation will further enable privatization of home care and remove the existing provisions of public control and accountability. The legislation was being pushed through the Ontario legislature Continue readingFord government moving ahead with home care privatization bill
By Zaid Noorsumar Last month, Rankandfile.ca exposed extensive connections between Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives and the for-profit lobbying group, the Ontario Long-Term Care Association (OLTCA). Amidst growing public anger against the for-profit long-term care homes, a recent Huffington Post news report further highlights the ugly nexus between the for-profit long-term care industry, the Ford Continue readingOntario PCs aren’t alone: Exposing Liberal ties with corporate long-term care lobby
By C. Rockarts On Thursday, May 14, Alberta “relaunched the economy” and began the first phase of the plan to re-open golf courses, provincial parks, as well as some retail stores, daycares, and museums. While many of the prairie provinces have decided to re-open, the comparison of cases between Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba is stark. Continue readingProfits over health in Alberta