by Emily Leedham In a move that shocked trade unionists across the country, the Regina Police Service arrested Unifor National President Jerry Dias and thirteen other Unifor members at Gate 7 of Regina’s Co-op Refinery Complex on Monday, January 20, 2020. About 730 refinery workers, members of Local 594, have been locked out for the Continue readingLabour unites around Unifor 594 after arrests at refinery lockout
Saskatchewan
Today on Rank & File Radio, an update on the Unifor 594 lockout at the Co-op Refinery in Regina, which is entering its second month. The workers were on the picket line throughout Christmas and New Year’s.
Alison McIntosh, Research Manager at the Parkland Institute breaks down Alberta’s new austerity budget from the United Conservative Party government. A short excerpt from the Chicago Teachers Union podcast CTU Speaks with CTU Chief of Staff Jennifer Johnson explaining the core issues 25,000 Chicago teachers are out on strike for. Lori Bossaer from the Saskatchewan Continue readingFrom Chile to Chicago to Calgary, it’s the same austerity
ATU Canada has sponsored an audio documentary called Still Waiting for the Bus: The Unnatural Death of Prairie Intercity Transit, made in partnership with Winnipeg-based documentary producer and RankandFile.ca editor Emily Leedham. This documentary explores the impacts of losing the Saskatchewan Transportation Company and Greyhound bus services in Western Canada. It also interrogates the claims that Continue readingATU demands a national public intercity transit service
About 5,000 workers for six Crown corporations and one Crown agency, who are all members of Unifor, went on strike Friday morning, October 4th. Later that day at 4 PM, Unifor members rallied outside of the Saskatchewan Party convention, including local national Unifor leadership Simon Enoch, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Continue reading5,000 Unifor Crown workers on Strike in Saskatchewan
Guest: Jamie Kirkpatrick, Program Manager, BlueGreen CanadaBlueGreenCanada.ca Blue Green Canada is an alliance between Canadian labour unions, environmental and civil society organizations to advocate for working people and the environment by promoting solutions to environmental issues that have positive employment and economic impacts. Student Climate Strikes Are Structure Testsbriarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view…ructure-tests Help RankandFile.ca get a new website!www.gofundme.com/f/rankandfile
By Bianca Cunningham “Three years ago I was at a union meeting and a member stood up and asked why we got such good pay and benefits as Saskatoon Co-op employees,” said Jodi Smith, a member of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1400. “Grant Wicks, now the general manager of the co-op, answered that Continue readingSaskatoon Co-op strike didn’t beat two-tier
This week, Alberta premier Jason Kenney introduced Bill 2, an Act to Make Alberta Open for Business. This bill overall reduces labour costs for employers by reducing holiday and overtime pay, and introducing a youth minimum wage at 13$ which is lower than the $15 minimum wage introduced by the NDP. The bill also removes Continue readingFighting for $15 on the Prairies
Today on Rank & File Radio, teachers and students fighting for quality, public education. We’ll hear from Megan Linton, from the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Federation of Students, on creating a prairie solidarity network for students to connect, share knowledge and organizing skills. And we’ll hear an excerpt of my interview with Eric Blanc, Continue readingBuilding Student & Teacher Prairie Solidarity
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
Well, quite a bit. The University of Regina Faculty Association which represents 1400 employees, attained a strike mandate in November 2018, seeking wage increases to match inflation and job security for sessional instructors, among other things. URFA’s contract expired in June 2017. URFA and Administration are currently in mediation. And the U of R Students’ Continue readingWhat is going on at the University of Regina?
Editor’s Introduction The Saskatoon Co-op strike has been on since November 1 with strikers fighting against an increasingly ugly employer that wants a two-tier contract that would sell out all future hires. Recently, the case for backing the strikers was made by Andrew Stevens and Charles Smith. A new opinion piece with a different view Continue readingSaskatoon Co-op Strike: Reply to Pohler