Alberta Premier Jason Kenney tabled Bill 1: The Critical Infrastructure Defense Act on February 25, 2020. The bill would crack down on Indigenous land defenders supporting Wet’suwet’en sovereignty, but also have implications for labour and other social movements – especially in light of Kenney’s recent austerity budget. University of Alberta professor James Muir explains more. Continue readingWhat does Kenney’s Bill 1 mean for Indigenous, labour and social movements?
Alberta
By C. Rockarts On Thursday, February 27, over 7,000 teachers, students, and public sector workers rallied in Edmonton in support of maintaining quality public services. The ‘March for What Matters’ was hosted by a coalition of teachers, parents, artists and students. It was organized in response to cuts to education, health care and the looming Continue readingChallenging Alberta’s Austerity
by Emily Leedham On Wednesday February 5, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. CEO Scott Banda gave a shout out to United We Roll, the group responsible for last year’s well-publicized but small convoy to Ottawa claiming to defend oil and gas workers. “…I kind of noticed that United We Roll was here as well,” said Banda. “Thank Continue readingStrange new allies for FCL CEO Scott Banda
by Romy Garrido Knox United Church played host to the newly formed Calgary Alliance for the Common Good, a strikingly diverse coalition of labour unions, religious groups, universities, and community organizations representing more than 30,000 Calgarians.
CUPW Local 730 has sent a letter to CUPW’s national office asking for support in defying back-to-work legislation. CUPW was legislated back to work nearly one year ago, which broke the postal workers’ rotating strike across the country. CUPW Local 730 President Roland Schmidt explains what lead up to this point. —- Alberta’s Bill 20 Continue readingEdmonton posties willing to defy back-to-work
On Thursday, October 24, the Alberta government released the provincial budget, which was nothing short of a brutal frontal assault on province’s public services, workers and the poor. The government outlined it would cut program spending by 2.8% over the next four years. This 2.8%, the largest cut to provincial program spending in 25 years, Continue readingKenney’s cuts
Alison McIntosh, Research Manager at the Parkland Institute breaks down Alberta’s new austerity budget from the United Conservative Party government. A short excerpt from the Chicago Teachers Union podcast CTU Speaks with CTU Chief of Staff Jennifer Johnson explaining the core issues 25,000 Chicago teachers are out on strike for. Lori Bossaer from the Saskatchewan Continue readingFrom Chile to Chicago to Calgary, it’s the same austerity
Kevin Bittman from Unifor 594 in Regina, Saskatchewan discusses impending lockout for Co-op refinery workers. www.unifor594.com/ Mike Espenell, from IBEW 2034 discusses how Brian Pallister’s cuts to Manitoba Hydro have impacted Hydro’s ability to respond to last week’s snow storm, which knocked out power for nearly 50,000 Manitobans. www.ibew2034.com/ Jeff Traeger, President of UFCW Local Continue readingBuilding worker solidarity across sectors
ATU Canada has sponsored an audio documentary called Still Waiting for the Bus: The Unnatural Death of Prairie Intercity Transit, made in partnership with Winnipeg-based documentary producer and RankandFile.ca editor Emily Leedham. This documentary explores the impacts of losing the Saskatchewan Transportation Company and Greyhound bus services in Western Canada. It also interrogates the claims that Continue readingATU demands a national public intercity transit service
In January 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that “[t]he right to strike is an essential part of a meaningful collective bargaining system” and effectively made blanket bans on public sector strikes unconstitutional. As was required of all provinces in the wake of the ruling, Alberta’s then-New Democratic Party (NDP) government enacted legislation in 2016—Bill 4, An Continue readingRethinking Alberta’s essential services legislation
James Hutt, senior manager of programming at the Leap, discusses ongoing work to connect labour and climate justice movements, including an upcoming webinar.
On June 28, Bill 9, The Public Sector Wage Deferral Act received royal assent and came into effect in Alberta. The bill affects approximately 180,000 public sector workers and 24 collective agreements across the province, and delays wage arbitration negotiations for public sector unions until after October 31, 2019. The impact of Bill 9 on Continue readingBattling Kenney’s Bill 9