By Jeremy Appel Workers at numerous Amazon warehouses in Canada are aiming to build on the momentum of the first successful Amazon union drive in Staten Island. On Staten Island, the independent Amazon Labour Union (ALU) successfully built a grassroots organization at the JFK8 “fulfillment centre” culminating in a 10-percentage point victory over the anti-union Continue readingAmazon targeted by Teamsters Canada & CSN
union drive
By Doug Nesbitt Three notable labour policy changes were made in the first week of April, 2022: April 4: The federal government announced a significant loosening of Temporary Foreign Worker restrictionsApril 6: British Columbia’s government announced Bill 10 to deliver “card check” or single-step union certificationApril 7: Ontario’s government Bill 88 became law, imposing sub-minimum Continue readingLabour laws in Canada do the Backwards Shuffle
Two workers detail management’s dirty tricks during a union drive Editor’s note: We have kept the authors’ names anonymous Steamworks is a chain of five bathhouses across Canada and the USA, catering primarily to gay men. The Toronto location opened eighteen years ago in the heart of the gay village, taking over a space previously Continue readingBoss Fight at the Bathhouse
By Doug Nesbitt Editor of Rankandfile.ca If you want a union in your workplace, it’s hard to know where to start. Talking union on the job will get you shushed by co-workers, or worse, fired my management. The fear of retaliation is real. So here’s some basic advice on how to get things started. The Continue readingCrash course: Starting a union in your workplace
Conditions in home care were getting worse. One PSW decided to organize a union. By Zaid Noorsumar The drive north from Oshawa to Haliburton County in Central Ontario takes two hours. There were times when Laura Borden* would travel that distance to meet her co-workers – and end up sitting alone at Tim Horton’s. “Sometimes Continue readingShe wanted a union
Over the past summer, Montreal had heatwaves. Temperatures approaching 40 degrees with humidity prompted the city to issue warnings—stay hydrated, don’t spend too much time outside. Mohamed Ahmed was working during one of them, as a driver for Aux Vivres Cuisine. His job was to bring the company’s well-known vegan food to retailers across the Continue readingUnionizing a Montreal Kitchen
By Tannara Yelland Bike couriers deliver food in cold weather and hot, and when the weather is the worst, demand for their services is highest. Nobody wants to be outside when it’s -40, but for workers doing a precarious job with no security, that demand often translates into feeling compelled to work in unpleasant or Continue readingGig economy workers strike back
By Bob Barnetson It is expected that the Alberta government will introduce legislation this week containing changes to the Employment Standards Code and Labour Relations Code. Employers are expressing concern with the possibility that Alberta will re-introduce card-check provisions that govern how workers can unionize. Currently, unionization is a two-step process. First, workers sign a Continue readingThe argument for card-check certification in Alberta
by Errol Salamon Gawker Media’s editorial staff ratified their first union contract on March 1 with their collective bargaining representatives at the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE). In addition to including important economic gains, the contract features innovations for workers at media startups that could set sector-wide standards. But digital media workers in the Continue readingDigital media workers are unionizing like it’s 1999
by Errol Salamon Workers at Vice Media are leading efforts to unionize digital media workplaces. These efforts have spread internationally from the United States to Canada and the United Kingdom. Earlier this month, Vice UK workers announced that they’re campaigning to unionize with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). In August 2015, Vice US editorial employees Continue readingVice Media unionization goes global
By Samantha Ponting Margarito López, an undocumented worker from the Hot & Crusty café in Manhattan’s Upper Eastside, opens up an envelope. Inside is $290 in cash. Counting out the bills, he says this is pay for a total 60 hours of work. This is our first glimpse into some of the realities facing undocumented Continue readingHasta la victoria! The Hand that Feeds inspires hope for workplace organizing
By Robert Devet KJIPUKTUK (HALIFAX) – The safety record of the American owner of the Donkin coal mine in Cape Breton is far from stellar. An online database search reveals that in the last four years, four underground coal mines owned and operated by coal magnate Chris Cline in Illinois were fined $6 million for Continue readingSafety record of Donkin mine operator causes concerns