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
Manitoba
Transcript of Rank and File Radio – Prairie Edition audio of Basia Sokal’s resignation at the Winnipeg Labour Council, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (asides, audience reactions, some repetition, and speech fillers omitted). “I just wanted to talk about my report verbally. Normally, what I do is I report on what’s been going on in the Continue readingBasia Sokal Resigns as Winnipeg Labour Council President
On February 25, 2019, Millennium Library in downtown Winnipeg implemented new security measures – a bag check and metal detector at the front entrance. Library workers and management have cited safety concerns regarding weapons, substance use and “inappropriate behaviour.” To the general public, the security screening came as a surprise. Many library users were upset Continue readingLibrary Security & Harm Reduction in the Workplace
By Emily Leedham Amelia Deneka, a student and first time organizer disrupts a United Conservative Party meet and greet at the University of Alberta on Wednesday, March 6. In what could be a result of the protest, UCP leader Jason Kenney ended up not speaking at the event. Deneka shares why they organized the event Continue readingManitoba’s Austerity Budget & Protesting Jason Kenney
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
Deena Ladd, co-founder of the Worker’s Action Centre in Toronto and coordinator for Ontario’s $15 and Fairness campaign. Rank and File Radio – Prairies Edition wanted to talk to Deena because a group of workers here in Manitoba, including myself, are launching a grassroots Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign here to raise the minimum Continue readingFighting for $15 & Fairness in Manitoba & Ontario
by Emily Leedham Manitobans have been pushing for a $15 minimum wage for years. In 2016, students and labour organizers participated in a National Day of Action and delivered a petition to the University of Winnipeg. Last year, the Canadian Federation of Students ran a campaign on billboards and busses. In the media, the Manitoba Continue readingManitoba is Ready to Fight for $15 and Fairness
by James Wilt It’s a tale of corporate extortion and government negligence that has become all too familiar. For the past six months, OmniTRAX — one of the largest private rail companies in North America — has been holding the tiny northern Manitoba town of Churchill hostage after unprecedented flooding damaged much of the company’s Hudson Continue readingChurchill, Manitoba’s privatization nightmare
By Emily Leedham On September 19 the Manitoba Federation of Labour and Make Poverty History organized a rally calling on the PC government to raise minimum wage from $11 to $15 an hour. The event provided an important look at Manitoba’s political climate, and the challenges that face the formation of a sustained Fight for 15 Continue readingWomen and the Fight for $15
In the summer of 1987, grocery store workers at 12 Westfair stores in Manitoba went on a bitter 125-day strike against a company push to drive down the standards established by collective bargaining, introduce a two-tier wage structure, and smash up the union itself, UFCW Local 832. Rankandfile.ca spoke with Scott Price, a historian at Continue readingFighting for Survival: Manitoba’s 1987 Westfair strike
By Scott Price The Manitoba Tory government has introduced several bills over the last week that freeze public sector wages, reduce the number of bargaining units in health care, the introduction of “ride-sharing” companies like Uber, election law changes and changes to various regulatory acts. All of this is ahead of the provincial budget set Continue readingManitoba Tories ready legislative assault on labour
By James Wilt The Winnipeg Labour Council (WLC) has been stagnating for decades. The WLC has a storied history of radical union activism, including playing a key role in the legendary Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. But in recent years the WLC settled for a corridor politics approach, opting to hang around City Hall, getting Continue readingAn interview with Basia Sokal, the new Winnipeg Labour Council president