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
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Simon Black, professor at Brock University and organizer with Labour Against the Arms Trade, discusses labour’s role in the anti-war movement, opposing Canada’s arms trade with Saudi Arabia, and a just transition for arms manufacturing workers.
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.
by Andrew Stevens The lockout of 700+ workers at Regina’s Cooperative Refinery Complex has now entered its third week. On the table: another round of pension concessions and the elimination of a co-funded savings plan. Under the guise of a “business continuity plan,” the Refinery has for months been preparing for what Unifor Local 594 Continue readingRegina refinery lockout is no “tea party”
By Doug Nesbitt and Andrew Stevens With near unanimous support from the membership, Unifor Local 594 provided the Co-operative Refinery Complex (CRC) with job action notice on December 4, 2019. The employer immediately responded by locking out over 700 workers – from process operators, building trades, lab technicians, to administrative support workers. The battle is Continue readingLocal 594 and the Lost History of Oil Worker Unionism
Kevin Bittman from Unifor 594 in Regina, Saskatchewan discusses impending lockout for Co-op refinery workers. www.unifor594.com/ Mike Espenell, from IBEW 2034 discusses how Brian Pallister’s cuts to Manitoba Hydro have impacted Hydro’s ability to respond to last week’s snow storm, which knocked out power for nearly 50,000 Manitobans. www.ibew2034.com/ Jeff Traeger, President of UFCW Local Continue readingBuilding worker solidarity across sectors
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
If you were to believe Jerry Dias, president of Unifor Canada, you’d conclude the Northern Pulp issue is easily resolved. 350 direct jobs will be lost if the Northern Pulp plant in Pictou County closes, and 2,700 full time spinoff jobs will also be gone. That was the message Dias delivered at a press conference Continue readingNorthern Pulp and Unifor
Read Part 1 of this look into the conditions of long term care in Ontario here. By Zaid Noorsumar On Jan. 23, 2007, 73-year-old Betty Moseley-Williams testified to the legislative standing committee about Bill 140, the Long-term Care Homes Act. Moseley-Williams, who had worked as a nurse for 50 years, harkened back to a conversation Continue readingIs it Time to Care Yet?
By Kevin Taghabon “General Motors is not the solution. General Motors is the problem,” loud applause followed autoworker Tony Leah’s declaration at the front of the room at IBEW Hall. His speech was part of an event, Nationalize General Motors: Oshawa’s Green New Deal. The evening served as the first organizing meeting for a grassroots Continue readingNationalize GM
By Sam Gindin Following an aggressive public relations campaign in which union officials questioned GM’s loyalty to ‘Canadian taxpayers’, General Motors has apparently agreed to keep its Oshawa facility partially open. No official announcement has yet been made, but there are rumours of a revised plan to retain 600-700 workers by investing $100-million to stamp Continue readingGM Oshawa: Lowered expectations, unexplored opportunities