By Hanna Wallace and Billy May Similar to the community care movement that has sprung up during the COVID-19 pandemic, the workers at Lifestyle Markets decided to organize a union drive out of a sense of care and respect for our fellow workers. Lifestyle Markets has three locations on Vancouver Island. The first and largest Continue readingVancouver Island grocery workers go union and fight for hazard pay
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By Rawan Abdelbaki It has been just over two months since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. It was only a few days after that when the Conservative government of Ontario passed Bill 186, Infectious Disease Emergencies amendment to the Employment Standards Act. Bill 186 was designed to offer job protections to those workers who Continue readingEven in a Global Pandemic, Workers in Ontario Still Don’t Have a Right to Paid Sick Leave
Jim Brophy, occupational health expert, says guidelines are not based on scientific evidence By Zaid Noorsumar Gloria Turney, is incensed at the death of her fellow union member and home care worker, Arlene Reid. Reid, aged 51, tragically died a few days after contracting COVID-19. Her primary job was as a home care worker for Continue readingOntario PPE guidelines based on supply, not protecting workers
By John McCracken The largest and one of the deadliest outbreaks of Covid-19 in a long-term care (LTC) facility in Canada is raising serious questions about how Nova Scotia’s government has handled the crisis – and whether ignoring early warnings from frontline workers and their unions had deadly consequences. The Northwood Centre in Halifax is Continue readingNS authorities ignored early warnings from long-term care workers and unions
By Zaid Noorsumar The recent announcement by the Ford government to provide an additional $4 per hour for 16 weeks has been welcomed by home care workers, but they also say the sector needs fundamental transformation. “It’s a nice little bonus, but it’s not going to come anywhere close to fixing home care,” says Tammy Continue readingPandemic pay doesn’t cut it for Ontario’s home care workers
By Ryan Hayes A group of Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) with the Halton District School Board (HDSB) were in the midst of a union drive when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. With schools closed and physical distancing rules in effect, workers had to quickly shift gears and experiment with new approaches in order to win their Continue readingHow ECEs formed a union during COVID-19
by Anna Bianca Roach Foodora workers laid their bikes on the ground, stood two metres apart, and blocked Richmond Street traffic in front of the company’s office on Friday afternoon. The workers chanted and gave speeches protesting Foodora’s recent decision to withdraw from the Canadian market. Foodora couriers won the right to unionize roughly two Continue readingCouriers block traffic to protest Foodora’s withdrawal from Canada
By Zaid Noorsumar The Ontario Health Coalition is holding an online Day of Action today, May 1, to demand the Ontario PC government and Premier Doug Ford fix long-term care. The hashtag #FixLTCFord is being used by the Coalition and its supporters on Twitter and other social media platforms. In addition to demanding the elimination Continue readingDemands grow louder in Ontario to end for-profit nursing homes
By Rick Beer OSSTF member, Toronto District School BoardCandidate for Toronto Teacher Bargaining Unit president Some people believe that education workers should be grateful to have kept their jobs and their paycheques under the current circumstances – education workers should have gratitude for another contract containing real wage cuts. Some people believe that education workers Continue readingOSSTF tentative agreement: Why I’m voting NO
by Emily Leedham After two weeks of pressure from the Oshawa community, General Motors announced yesterday it would re-open a portion of the plant to manufacture one million masks per month for health care workers. Former Oshawa GM workers and health care workers held a joint-press conference on Thursday, April 9 demanding the Oshawa complex Continue reading“A great first step”: Workers respond to GM Oshawa plant conversion for PPE
These low-wage, essential workers in Ottawa are getting organized By Michelle Paquette and Doug Yearwood After large private sector grocery retailers introduced pay increases for frontline workers, Herb & Spice—a locally owned and operated grocery store in Ottawa— announced that its employees would receive a $1.50/hour hazard pay increase. Unlike other grocery stores who have Continue readingGrocery workers talk poverty wages and pandemic profits
By Emily Leedham Workers reveal fear, frustration, and doubt in Cargill’s ability to manage the COVID-19 outbreak at the High River meatpacking plant in a recent Telephone Town Hall. RankandFile.ca obtained an automated transcript of a Telephone Town Hall between members of Cargill plant management, the Alberta Government, Alberta Health Services, and Cargill plant workers Continue readingCargill workers’ frustrations revealed in telephone town hall