By Nora Loreto The thing about the Ontario Liberals is this: they’re clever politicians. They understand what is popular and how to win elections. When you’re a social movement activist, this means two things: it’s near impossible to force their hand in years two and three of a mandate, but in years four and one, Continue readingThe political anemia of the Ontario NDP will be their demise
strategy & tactics
Teachers in West Virginia went on strike on February 22 against low-pay and attacks on their healthcare. After nine days of a statewide strike which shutdown public schools in West Virginia teachers won a substantial pay increase. This victory is significant because the teachers struck and won in the heart of Trump country. West Virginia Continue readingThe West Virginia Teachers’ Strike Reader
by David Bush, Gerard Di Trolio and Doug Nesbitt Five days into 2018 and the $14 minimum wage has a number of Ontario employers losing their minds. Meanwhile, Canada’s top CEOs made the average Canadian salary by 11 am on January 2. In Cobourg, Tim Hortons franchises owned by the children of the chain’s founders Continue readingDefend $14: Let’s make bully bosses pay
by Peter Hogarth This New Year’s workers across Ontario can celebrate the passing of Bill 148, which will give 1.7 million workers a pay raise on January 1. The victory was not a Christmas present from the Liberals but a product of campaigning, agitating, fighting and striking to win $15 and Fairness by workers across Continue readingIn 2018, keep fighting for $15 & Fairness
By Robert M. Schwartz Bosses are in love with zero tolerance policies. One arbitrator calls them “the last refuge of weak managers.” Zero tolerance policies authorize employers to discharge workers who commit specified infractions without consideration of the surrounding circumstances, length of service, or the employee’s lack of prior discipline. Unfair punishment Zero tolerance policies Continue readingConfronting Zero Tolerance
Editors introduction: This is the first article in a two-part series by Blake McCall, a Hamilton bus operator, and Caitlin Craven, a member of CUPW Local 548 and organizer with Hamilton’s Fight for $15 and Fairness. In this first article, McCall and Craven take a look at the big picture of campaigns against privatization and argue Continue readingKeeping Transit Public in the Age of Austerity
By Brad Walchuk, CUPE 1281 With Labour Day approaching on Monday, it will sadly be close to 51 weeks before many folks to care about labour again. Labour Day presents an important time to reflect upon the important struggles and victories that the labour movement has helped to bring about in the past, but it Continue readingLabour Day: Recognizing labour’s ongoing successes
By Nora Loreto In Charlottesville, Virginia, when a car ploughed into a crowd of anti-racist activists killing Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others, many people linked that tactic to recent terror attacks, especially in Europe. Indeed, driving a truck into a crowd of protesters has become a favoured tactic for some who seek to murder. Continue readingRe-engaging unions in the fight against fascism
By Jonathan Rosenblum Arshiya Chime is a union member helping to rescue the world from climate change. Once she gets her doctorate degree later this year from the University of Washington, she will become a highly prized mechanical engineer, helping economies become less dependent on oil while protecting the environment and creating jobs. But Chime, Continue readingAn Injury to One is an Injury to All? U.S. Labour’s Reactions to Trump
By Ben Sichel As teachers in Nova Scotia mull over their bargaining team’s third attempt at a tentative agreement in just over a year, here are a few observations about the dispute, and about teachers’ and workers’ power in general. 1) Teachers have a new idea of what is possible. Many of the issues teachers Continue readingTeachers unions can win. Let’s get to work.
By David Bush and Gerard Di Trolio This January marks the fifth anniversary of the struggle to save the Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) factory in London, Ontario. Despite public outrage and political controversy, EMD was shut down in February 2012 after its owner, Caterpillar, demanded 450 EMD employees take a 50 per cent pay cut. The Continue readingRustbelt Blues: Electro-Motive closure 5 years later
By Sam Gindin The profound defeat of the U.S. labour movement over the past three to four decades is usually measured by the loss of things that workers once took for granted like decent wages and benefits. A less quantifiable but ultimately more decisive indicator is the retreat from possibilities. By extension, the labour movement’s Continue readingThe power of deep organizing