If you were to believe Jerry Dias, president of Unifor Canada, you’d conclude the Northern Pulp issue is easily resolved. 350 direct jobs will be lost if the Northern Pulp plant in Pictou County closes, and 2,700 full time spinoff jobs will also be gone. That was the message Dias delivered at a press conference Continue readingNorthern Pulp and Unifor
First Nations
by Emily Leedham From May 8-11, 2019, Winnipeg unions hosted the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike Centenary Conference: inviting union members, labour activists and leaders from across Canada to reflect on the history for the General Strike, and apply its lessons to the present and future of the labour movement. This episode will explore the relationship Continue reading1919-2019: Labour, Colonialism & Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples
As activists organizing with the Our Time campaign put together town halls in cities across Canada to discuss what a Green New Deal would look like for Canada, the wildfire season had already begun. Alberta’s High Level fire forced over 4,000 town residents and nearby First Nations communities to evacuate their homes. What does wildfire Continue readingWhat is it like to fight wildfires?
On the latest episode of Rank and File Radio – Prairies Edition, host Emily Leedham speaks with Gina Smoke, Unifor’s new Indigenous Liaison, who will be travelling across Canada to start projects to support Indigenous communities. On the second half of the show, Charlene Matheson, president of Unifor Local 830, talks domestic violence leave in Continue readingInterview with Gina Smoke, Unifor’s Indigenous Liaison
By Denise Leduc Organizing on social media brought a group of Saskatchewanians together to travel south to North Dakota to visit Standing Rock earlier this month. Amongst this group were several union members and labour activists. Speaking with four from the group – Cat Gendron, Darin Milo, Nathan Schneider and Chelsea Taylor-Flook, they share why Continue readingSaskatchewan workers in solidarity with Standing Rock
Krishna Pendakur Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University, who has studied inter-ethnic disparity in earnings, discusses how the wage gap in the Canadian labour market for indigenous workers is the largest earnings gap within it. “Once you see a number like one-third lower earnings, it is hard to care about other forms of inequality Continue readingWeekend Video: Aboriginal People in the labour market
By Robert Devet, Rankandfile.ca writer & organizer In Nova Scotia labour circles David Ladouceur is widely known as an outspoken and effective union and indigenous rights activist. Ladouceur, an Ojibwe, moved from Ontario to Nova Scotia in 1990. After doing odd jobs for several years, he ended up doing ship maintenance work with some small Continue readingIt’s not working for us. An interview with David Ladouceur, indigenous rights activist
By Gerard Di Trolio The Trans-Pacific Partnership has quietly emerged as an issue during the federal election. It should receive the scrutiny it deserves. First we learned that Canada would continue to be part of the negotiations during the election with Canada’s Privy Council declaring that this was possible so long as no “drastic” actions Continue readingCan this election halt NAFTA on Steroids (a.k.a. the TPP)?
On July 5, thousands of First Nations activists, trade unionists, environmentalists and members of many social movements assembled in front of Queen’s Park in Toronto to march for action on jobs, justice, and the climate. These videos by Nadine McKinnon highlight the various speakers who addressed the crowd.
This July 11, marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Oka Crisis which became one of the most publicized land claim disputes between First Nations and the Canadian government of the late 20th Century. The Mohawk in Kanehsatake have been challenging land claims since 1868 and colonialism before that. On a July day Continue readingWeekend Video: Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
Thousands march in Montreal to protest Radio-Canada job cuts Nov. 17, 2014 Toronto Star MONTREAL—Supporters of CBC’s French-language service Radio-Canada have a message for the federal government: no more cuts. Thousands marched through downtown Montreal on Sunday as part of a series of protests across Quebec as well as in Moncton, N.B. Nicolas Bedard, who organized Continue readingR&F.ca Labour News Update – November 17, 2014
BC teachers | Baristas Rise Up | Bombardier strike | Federal minimum wage | Federal PS bargaining | Regina pensions | Cameco lockout | Native court workers | Edmonton senior care layoffs | Temporary foreign workers | Ontario mines safety report | Kellogg’s London Striking BC teachers 99.4 percent for binding arbitration Tamsyn Burgmann, CTV Continue readingRankandFile.ca Weekly Labour News Update: September 15, 2014