Unions are one of the only remaining democratic institutions under capitalism strong enough to take on neoliberal policies. But are unions rising to the challenge? Especially when it comes to young workers? Faced with an increased casualization of work and chronic unemployment, young workers have less and less access to unions and to unionized workplaces. Continue readingWeekend Video: Unions, capitalism, young workers
Nova Scotia
Hassan Yussuff| Halifax Nurses | BC Teachers | Home Mail Delivery | Justice for Janitors | Canadian Football League | Fight for 15 | Rana Plaza | 14 Dollar Minimum Wage | Hudak’s 100,000 Job Cuts Hassan Yussuff and the ‘war on labour’ CBC, The Current May 22, 2014 Two weeks ago, Hassan Yusseff was Continue readingRankandFile.ca Weekly Labour Update – May 26, 2014
By Toni MacAfee, CUPW Atlantic region education and organization officer The campaign to “Save Canada Post” has been ramping up over the last couple of months with more CUPW members, allies, unions and Canadians joining in on the fight. In any one community, we are seeing more lawn signs and window signs pop up this Continue readingCUPW Antigonish Local is Organized and Fighting Back
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
By Ben Sichel The provincial budget was tabled in Nova Scotia earlier this month, with education funding being increased by $18.6 million.I don’t have time to crunch the numbers here to analyze what they really mean. (e.g. to what extent do they compensate for cuts to the P-12 education budget in recent years? And what year Continue readingUnion Concerns Are Community Concerns
CLC Presidential Race | Temporary foreign workers | BC sawmill explosions | BC teachers | Crown Holdings Toronto strike | Chinese shoe factory strike | Toledo autoworkers strike | Federal job cuts | Tuition fees & work hours | Nova Scotia & right-to-strike CLC Presidential Race CLC Presidential Candidate Primer Candidate websites Hassan Husseini: “Take Continue readingRankandfile.ca Weekly Labour Update – April 21 2014
By David Bush In the dead of night on March 31 the Liberal government of Nova Scotia skulked into the provincial legislature and introduced essential service legislation, Bill 37, that stripped nearly 40 000 workers of their right to strike. The immediate context was a looming strike by nearly 2400 nurses in the Capital District Continue readingA Major Blow to the Right to Strike in Nova Scotia
The Nova Scotia Liberals have passed Bill 37, cutting labour out from the knees, and attacking a healthcare workforce of mainly women in a province recently rocked by a string of incidents exposing how deeply sexism is rooted in our institutions and our daily lives. In the first video, nurses speak out about how Bill Continue readingWeekend Videos: Fighting Bill 37
By Chris Parsons A version of this article first appeared on his blog A Culture of Defeat The gendered dynamics of work and labour rights don’t exist in a vacuum. The context, including the regional context, also matters. And in Nova Scotia this has been a horrible year for sexism and gender-based violence in the public Continue readingOn Gender, Work and Bill 37
By Larry Haiven The following is the presentation Larry Haiven gave to Law Amendments Committee, Nova Scotia legislature, on Bill 37 “Essential Health and Community Services Act,” 1 April, 2014. Last July, the opposition Liberals challenged the NDP government’s strike ban against ambulance workers; if anything, this piece of legislation is even more cynical and Continue readingBill 37 – Cutting Nova Scotia’s Unions Off At The Knees
A Look At The Health Impacts Of The Nova Scotia Liberal’s Attack On Workers’ Rights By Jason Edwards On Saturday, Nova Scotia’s legislature, led by Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil, came together to pass essential service legislation, forcing home-support workers from Northwood Homecare back to work (and stripping 700 nurses from the Victorian Order of Nurses Continue readingThe Right to Strike is Good For Your Health
By David Bush and Jason Edwards Wages, working conditions and fair treatment are, above all else, determined by workers’ collective power. For the majority of workers, collective power, and consequently industry standards, is defined in large part by their ability to bargain collectively. The uneven power relations between workers and employers within the capitalist system Continue readingThe Labour Board of Nova Scotia: Stifling Free Collective Bargaining