Photo via REUTERS/Chris Wattie by Cole Rockarts On Saturday, March 28, two days before workers were set to return from Spring Break, the UCP government announced the province’s largest mass layoff in history, with $128 million in cuts to funding for 26,000 educational assistants, bus drivers, substitute teachers and other K-12 support staff. The government Continue readingLargest layoff in Alberta history proves workers aren’t Kenney’s priority
Jason Kenney
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?
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
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
Chloe Rockarts reflects on conversations with public sector labour leaders in Alberta for a RankandFile.ca article called The Past, Present and Future of Workers’ Power in Alberta. We reflect on tangible steps needed to build worker capacity to fight public sector cuts and privatization, build solidarity between unionized & non-unionized workers, and fight white supremacy. Continue readingFighting Back in Jason Kenney’s Alberta
Workers in the oil and gas industry have been used as a talking point by the Alberta NDP and United Conservative Party, both parties say they are the best choice for workers to get the Trans Mountain pipeline built and create more jobs in the industry. Albertans go to the polls on Tuesday, April 16. Continue readingWhat is it actually like to work in Alberta’s oil patch?
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
A RankandFile.ca series on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program By Andrew Stevens Nearly two years after the provincial government launched its consultation paper on labour law reform, the Saskatchewan Employment Act (SEA) was finally proclaimed at the end of April. With it, the province’s symbolic Trade Union Act was put to an ignominious end, and Continue readingIs the Saskatchewan Employment Act ready for modern realities?
Workplace safety | Rana Plaza | Temporary Foreign Workers Program | CLC Presidency | Art Gallery of Ontario | UPS wildcat | Bill C-377 & C-525 | Labour-Community Alliances April 28: Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job Workplace safety by the numbers CBC News, April 28 2014 In 2012, the Continue readingRankandFile.ca Weekly Labour Update – April 28 2014
Changes to Canada’s federal temporary foreign workers program: Is there any difference? Foreign Workers Canada: Tories Change Course On Controversial Program Wildcats in Alberta: Is labour militancy on the rise in Wildrose country? Alberta jail guard wildcat strike leaves main courthouses in gridlock Alberta jail guard union fined, found in contempt of court Workers on Continue readingLabour News Update, 30 April 2013
Jason Kenney, at a press conference in Calgary, July 4, 2012 source: http://www.therecord.com/print/article/755089