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
strategy & tactics
On April 1, 2014 Rankandfile.ca‘s Samantha Ponting interviewed Hassan Husseini who is running for the presidency of the Canadian Labour Congress at its May 5-9th 2014 convention. The interview took place at the Ottawa launch of his campaign for the presidency. He is a member of Unifor and a negotiator with the Public Service Alliance Continue readingInterview: Hassan Husseini, CLC presidential candidate
by Gerard Di Trolio Twenty years after the the first democratic elections in South Africa, the country stands at a crossroads. Racial based apartheid has been replaced by economic apartheid. The Tripartite Alliance of the African National Congress (ANC), South African Communist Party (SACP), and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), have not only Continue readingUnions and Politics in South Africa
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
From a string of regressive labour law reforms at the provincial and federal levels, to factory closures and the formation of Unifor, 2013 has been eventful for workers and organized labour. Check out some of the Rankandfile.ca highlights from the past year. Be sure to follow our upcoming series on labour and the environment, a Continue readingA Rankandfile.ca Reader: Reflections on 2013
By Doug Nesbitt, November 30, 2013 Reprinted from The Bullet The closure of the Leamington, Ontario Heinz factory by mid-2014 will result in 740 job losses in the industrial and agricultural region of southwestern Ontario between London and Windsor, Ontario. Over thirty tomato farms are losing contracts with Heinz which will also put 350 migrant worker Continue readingHeinz Leamington: Ripe for a Cooperative
By Gerard Di Trolio On November 14, the H.J. Heinz Company announced it was closing its plant in Leamington Ontario, putting 740 full time jobs and 500 seasonal jobs in jeopardy. Leamington is the “Tomato Capital” of Canada. Heinz has had a plant there since 1909 and it was Leamington’s largest employer. At one time Continue readingA Tale of Two Factories – Heinz and Boeing
By Herman Rosenfeld One would have hoped that Canada’s newest and largest private sector union – UNIFOR, made up of the former Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) unions – would have been out front in the growing movement against Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline reversal. This key new organization of Canada’s working-class Continue readingStop Line 9 Should Be Labour’s Demand
In September of this year Baristas Rise Up in conjunction with the Canadian Federation of Students-Nova Scotia held a panel discussion entitled Study, Work, Organize in Halifax, Nova Scotia as part of NSPIRG‘s rad frosh. The panel explored the problems facing students and young workers in Nova Scotia and creative strategies and tactics for fighting back. The Continue readingStudy, Work, Organize: Organizing Students and Young Workers in Nova Scotia
The 2012 Chicago teachers’ strike, which ended a year ago today in a victory for the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), was one of the most significant labour victories in North America since the economic crash of 2008. The seven day strike saw daily protests in downtown Chicago and mass pickets throughout the city. The CTU, under Continue readingThe Chicago Teachers’ Strike: A Reader
In our final installment of the Unifor Interview Series with union leaders, staff, and rank-and-file members, we speak with Gary Engler, Vice-President of Unifor Local 2000, the Media Union of BC. Gary also recently penned two articles at Rabble.ca, “Thoughts on Labour Day” and “Unifor and the potential rebirth of militant union activism.” He recently Continue readingUnifor Interview Series: Gary Engler, Local 2000
In our third installment of the Unifor Interview Series with union leaders, staff, and rank-and-file members, we speak with Roxanne Dubois about Unifor’s Community Chapters. Roxane is a staff member of the CEP and now Unifor, and is a former chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. She presented a discussion paper on community chapters Continue readingUnifor Interview Series: Roxanne Dubois on Community Chapters