by Emily Leedham To address the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other medical equipment such as ventilators, workers are demanding former General Motors plant in Oshawa be converted to produce these supplies to support frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s a dire shortage of that equipment, it’s being rationed,” Michael Hurley, President Continue readingWorkers demand Oshawa GM plant converted to produce medical equipment
OFL
The Ontario Federation of Labour’s biennial convention starts on Monday. In addition to the hundreds of resolutions that will be voted on and the action plan that will be hotly debated, this convention will see an open election for the position of OFL President as outgoing president, Chris Buckley, will not be seeking another term. Continue readingQ&A with OFL Presidential candidate Barry Conway
By David Bush The political ground in Ontario is shifting. On April 4, 150,000 high school students from 700 schools across the province walked out of class in protest of the Tory government’s proposed cuts to education. Just two days later, over 30,000 teachers, education workers, and allies rallied at Queen’s Park against the cuts. Continue readingHow is labour going to fight Ford?
By Peter Hogarth “I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! Doesn’t it feel good to say that and mean it?” Rejean Hoilett from Fight for Ryerson $15 and Fairness commented after leading the crowd in the chant at the Ontario Federation of Labour’s (OFL) Young Workers’ Assembly. The gathering of Continue readingYoung Workers Assembly shares lessons of the Fight for $15 and Fairness
By Denise Martins This week, the Ontario Federation of Labour will once again be debating whether or not to redefine young worker from “30 years old or under” to a vague definition that leaves it up to each affiliate to define. Young people need a labour movement that will stand up on their behalf more Continue readingYoung Worker for Life?
By David Bush As the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign rolls along in its struggle to raise living standards for Ontario’s workers, it has to be asked, where is Ontario’s NDP? The Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign was launched last spring in an effort to address the systemic problems facing low-wage and precarious Continue readingOntario NDP is MIA on the Fight for $15 and Fairness
By Chris Grawey, CUPE 4207 member and Vice-President Niagara Regional Labour Council for Niagara South I attended my first Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) Convention in Toronto last week as a young worker delegate representing the Niagara Regional Labour Council. The convention was an eye-opening experience that revealed the good, the bad, and the ugly Continue readingOFL Convention 2015: The good, the bad, and the ugly
By David Bush This past year has seen governments continue and extend their unprecedented assault on fundamental trade union and worker rights, while employers demand even more concessions at the bargaining table. At the federal level the Conservatives passed their omnibus Bill C-4, which stripped away basic health and safety regulations for workers. The legislation Continue reading2014: The Canadian labour movement in review
By Larry Savage and Stephanie Ross There is no shortage of reasons for the labour movement to organize against the re-election of the Harper government. On the labour rights front, the Conservatives have aggressively used back-to-work legislation to end or preempt legal strikes, attempted to undermine unions’ political capacity through onerous and one-sided financial disclosure Continue readingDivisions in labour movement undermine effort to stop Harper
Part 2 of How the WSIB is Failing the Injured Workers of Ontario By Samantha Ponting On Dec. 3, a group of injured workers and their allies gathered in front of the Ontario Ministry of Labour on University Avenue in Toronto to demand action on medical coverage for injured workers. The workers handed out band Continue readingThe WSIB’s Austerity Agenda: Deporting Injured Migrant Workers
Part one of a two-part series by Samantha Ponting On Jan. 1, 1915, a worker in Kearney, Ontario, employed by a lumber company, suffered a hand injury on the job. He was the first worker to receive benefits under the Workman’s Compensation Act, which came into effect the same day. The Workman’s Compensation Board–now named Continue readingHow the WSIB is failing the injured workers of Ontario
By Hassan Husseini At a time when the right is escalating its attacks on workers’ rights across the country, labour leaders seem to be a lot more interested in parochial turf wars than the deteriorating conditions of the working class. There is no place where this turf war is more pronounced than at the Ontario Continue readingDivided Ontario labour in need of a revolt