The working class Can kiss my ass I’ve got the foreman’s job Senate seat at last By Doug Nesbitt Within days of stepping down as Canadian Labour Congress president, Hassan Yussuff was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Rankandfile.ca readers will not be surprised or shocked. Yussuff’s love-in with the Liberals has Continue readingThe working class can kiss my ass…and other CLC stories
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by Emily Leedham In a move that shocked trade unionists across the country, the Regina Police Service arrested Unifor National President Jerry Dias and thirteen other Unifor members at Gate 7 of Regina’s Co-op Refinery Complex on Monday, January 20, 2020. About 730 refinery workers, members of Local 594, have been locked out for the Continue readingLabour unites around Unifor 594 after arrests at refinery lockout
Dear Brother Yussuff, We are calling on the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), in the most urgent terms possible, to express public opposition to the Government of Canada’s arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners are waging war in Yemen. The war has plunged the country into what the United Nations (UN) Continue readingOpen Letter to CLC President Hassan Yussuff on labour opposition to Canada-Saudi arms deal
By James Napier The membership of Unifor Local 222 has issued a stunning rebuke to Unifor National President Jerry Dias. At the Local 222 general membership meeting on February 1, two motions were passed that opposed the sudden, destructive action taken by Dias on January 16, to pull Unifor out of the house of labour. Continue readingUnifor local 222 opposes Unifor’s split from the CLC
By Jonathan Rosenblum Dear Canadian union sisters and brothers, There’s a lot to admire about your labor movement. With community organizing, creative street heat, and militant strikes, you’ve just scored the biggest win yet in the Fight for $15, forcing a pro-corporate Ontario government to raise wages for 1.7 million workers and grant new card-check Continue readingDear Canadian unions: Don’t let a union split tear the labour movement apart
By David Bush When Unifor left the CLC on January 16 it cited the inability of the CLC and its affiliates to properly handle the process by which workers can change unions. This process is outlined in Article 4 of the CLC constitution. The disagreement over Article 4 is the only reason that has been Continue readingArticle 4, a smokescreen for labour’s civil war
The following open letter was published on January 22, 2018. By John Cartwright On January 17, 2018 the Canadian labour movement was plunged into a crisis with the exit of Unifor from the Canadian Labour Congress and the launching of raids on bargaining units of UNITE HERE Local 75. This open letter is intended as Continue readingAn open letter to our movement
“We hadn’t set up a new organization in order to be cannibals in the Canadian labour movement.” — Bob White, first president of the Canadian Auto Workers (now Unifor). By Doug Nesbitt, Gerard Di Trolio, Evan Johnston and David Bush Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, has left the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Unifor’s website Continue readingUnifor-CLC split demands unity from below
By Joel Harden, CUPE 1281 At its best, the recent 28th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress demonstrated how far unions have come on Indigenous rights, Palestinian rights (more on that later), racism, queer or trans rights, mental health, and environmental justice. Delegates made passionate appeals to support these and other important struggles. Impressive Continue readingBeyond optics, towards politics: A report back from CLC Convention
By David Bush and Gerard Di Trolio On March 27, CLC Investigator Barry Thorsteinson submitted an 11 page report to CLC President Hassan Yussuff on the ATU Local 113 crisis. His report notes that with the March 17 withdrawal of Bob Kinnear’s request for the CLC’s justification proceedings, the case ends with the filing of Continue readingContentious CLC report on ATU crisis falls short
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
In the waning hours of Monday evening at the Canadian Labour Congress’s Young Worker Summit, a surprise guest was announced. The 400 young union activists who had gathered in Ottawa to address the issues facing their generation would be face-to-face with the most influential decision maker in the country: Justin Trudeau. As Prime Minister Trudeau Continue readingWhy we turned our backs on Trudeau