by Lisa Cameron for the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre On April 1st, 2020, Nova Scotia’s minimum wage will increase to $12.55 per hour. Up by $1, this is the largest annual minimum wage increase the province has seen since 2010. Credit for the minimum wage increase is due, in large part, to the Fight for Continue readingOne dollar more is not enough for Nova Scotia
Fight for 15
In Nova Scotia, your boss can demand proof that you’re sick, even if it’s just a short term illness. Those requests make life miserable for workers and put stress on an already overburdened medical system. For many short-term sicknesses, a trip to the doctor is really not necessary. To recover from a common cold, for Continue readingGet rid of sick notes
On Wednesday afternoon, 125 labour and community activists assembled outside of Fiera Foods for a solidarity rally organized by Fight for $15 & Fairness and Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP). Last week, Enrico Miranda, a 57 year old father of two, was killed at work. As Toronto Star journalist Sara Mojtehedzadeh reported: “He Continue readingNo More Deaths: Rally at Fiera Foods
Earlier this year baristas employed by the Smiling Goat learned the hard way how vulnerable they are. This summer employees of a coffee shop in Bedford received a similar grim reminder. To the surprise of both its customers and its employees, The Nook Espresso Bar and Lounge closed its Bedford location in late July of Continue readingBaristas fight back after Halifax coffee shop closes
In August, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released their report “A Rising Tide to Lift All Boats”, making several recommendations to improve existing employment legislation in Nova Scotia. This 2019 report is a follow-up to the 2012 CCPA report, and provides and updated and in-depth critique of the laws currently governing employment relationships Continue readingNova Scotia’s workers are falling behind
It was a positive sign that on Labour Day the NDP came out in support of an immediate $15 minimum wage for federally-regulated workers. However, this one step forward was followed by another step backwards. The NDP’s Labour Day statement also tied further increases to the minimum wage to the concept of a “living wage”, Continue readingNDP’s living wage is a dead-end for workers
Some 60 protesters came out the afternoon of July 24 to picket the two entrances to Halifax’s historic Citadel Hill, the location of a fundraiser for the provincial Liberal party. Fight for 15 activists reminded fundraiser attendants and tourists alike that poverty in Nova Scotia is rampant, and that our minimum wage is one of Continue readingFight for $15 pickets Nova Scotia Liberals’ fundraiser
This week, Alberta premier Jason Kenney introduced Bill 2, an Act to Make Alberta Open for Business. This bill overall reduces labour costs for employers by reducing holiday and overtime pay, and introducing a youth minimum wage at 13$ which is lower than the $15 minimum wage introduced by the NDP. The bill also removes Continue readingFighting for $15 on the Prairies
By Simran Dhunna, Vidhya Elango and Talia Holy Only a few months ago, Premier Doug Ford’s Bill 47 repealed many of the labour protections won through advocacy by decent work coalitions across Ontario — including the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign. Workers lost two paid sick days; pay equity between full-time, part-time, and temporary Continue readingFord continues to attack workers with Bill 66
Today on Rank & File Radio, Darren Stebeleski, a graphic designer and graphic design educator working on Treaty 1 territory. He is also a union steward and a member of Spark Poster, a collective of graphic designers working to support worker’s movements and social justice causes. We’ll talk about the role of graphic design in Continue readingCampaign branding & graphic design in labour organizing
by Emily Leedham While we can share many facts and statistics about low-wage work as a feminist issue, our organizing practices within the labour movement needs to reflect the reality that women deserve autonomy in every step of this fight. You might know women represent over 60% of minimum wage workers across Canada. And that women Continue readingTowards a working class feminism in the Fight for $15
Rank & File Radio – Prairie Edition, February 17, 2019: Daniel Huber, founder of the Alberta Vanguard Association and Fairserve.ca, reacts to UCP leader Jason Kenney’s new proposal for a sub-minimum wage for youth and alcohol servers in Alberta. Kenney announced that idea at a recent meeting for Restaurants Canada, an industry lobby group opposed Continue readingCombating Alberta’s restaurant lobby | Worker-driven workplace inclusion