Report from David Bush, CLC convention delegate and RankandFile.ca editor As the CLC convention kicked off yesterday there was an unexpected energy at the conference. Early on an amendment to the agenda to allow for candidates debate before the Thursday election caught the Chair, Ken Georgetti, off guard. The amendment was overwhelmingly passed despite his Continue readingCLC Day 1 Recap
privatization
Rankandfile.ca spoke with Peter, a long-serving conductor at CN, Canada’s largest rail company. In part one of the interview, Peter discusses the transformation of labour relations and downsizing at CN under the leadership of Hunter Harrison (1998-2010), who is now the chief executive at CPR. By some accounts, Harrison spearheaded the “Americanization” of CN shortly Continue readingWhistleblowers, downsizing, and safety at CN: Interview with a CN conductor
Cutting back service dramatically and the elimination of home mail delivery, at the same time as a huge increase in postage rates, is not the way to go to improve the postal service in Canada. Scare stories, reported in the media, about financial losses, declining letter mail and employee pension difficulties are used as justification Continue readingHamilton postie: Canada Post’s Invented Crisis
“All I would have to say is we’re coming for Stephen Harper and he better be ready for postal workers because Mulroney sure wasn’t.” That was Arlyn Doran’s concluding comment in a wide-ranging interview with Rankandfile.ca. From the local campaign in Winnipeg to save Canada Post from cuts, layoffs and privatization, to management and media Continue readingWinnipeg postal worker: We’re coming for Stephen Harper
In this week’s update: the campaign to save Canada Post Ten months: the strike at Labatt’s in St. John’s Public service showdown with Tories in 2014 Concessions at Boeing CUPE National squashes drive in Ottawa Cambodian garment workers murdered by police New dangers for foreign workers in Canada Top CEOs rake in average salary in Continue readingLabour News Update – 6 January 2014
by Doug Nesbitt Nearly a month has passed since Canada Post’s management announced, without warning to either the public or the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, that home delivery for five million Canadians would be cut, at least 8,000 jobs eliminated, and service costs increased. As many have pointed out, including the Canadian Union of Continue readingSaving Canada Post: The struggle so far
By David Bush The announcement this morning that Canada Post Corporation will end home delivery in urban areas, increase the cost of postage and layoff between 8,000 to 10,000 employees over the next five years is shameful. Management at the Crown Corporation cites the decreasing volume of mail and the losses accrued since the lockout Continue readingThe Battle At Canada Post And The Future of Our Public Services
Workplace safety rules will ‘kill people’, union says By Chris Cobb, Ottawa Citizen, November 20, 2013 Proposed changes to a federal labour law governing worker safety are diluting a good system for no reason and will “kill people,” a national labour union official charged Wednesday. The comments from Agricultural Union president Bob Kingston were part Continue readingLabour News Update: 25 November 2013
The privatization of Canada Post has long been discussed but times are changing. Across the Atlantic, Britain’s coalition government of Tories and Liberal Democrats is privatizing the Royal Mail. Privatization is being rammed through ahead of potential strike action by postal workers, while defenders of the public service are warning that privatization will see a Continue readingA postal worker warns of Canada Post privatization
On September 9, Rankandfile.ca visited the picket lines in Kingston, Ontario outside the Providence Care mental health hospital where 70 healthcare workers – or 1/5 of the workforce – are being laid off. We interviewed nurses, paramedics, anti-poverty activists and union officials. This is what we found: Organized by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Continue readingP3s & layoffs: Kingston workers expose Liberal healthcare cuts
by David Bush and Doug Nesbitt As in 2009, a last minute deal was reached between the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), a provincial crown corporation, and the Liquor Board Employees represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). Details of the tentative agreement and the date of the ratification vote will be Continue readingAnother Round at the LCBO