By Lisa Cameron As businesses continue to re-open across Nova Scotia, workers adjust to employment during the time of COVID. The unprecedented nature of the pandemic has raised several legal questions about an employer’s duty to respect health and safety protocols for the sake of their staff, and the public. The Halifax Workers’ Action Centre, Continue readingFired for quarantine
workers' rights
On June 28, Bill 9, The Public Sector Wage Deferral Act received royal assent and came into effect in Alberta. The bill affects approximately 180,000 public sector workers and 24 collective agreements across the province, and delays wage arbitration negotiations for public sector unions until after October 31, 2019. The impact of Bill 9 on Continue readingBattling Kenney’s Bill 9
LGBTQ workers continue to face discrimination and unemployment at higher rates than the population as a whole. Nine percent of LGBT people in the United States are unemployed, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute, compared to 5 percent of the entire U.S. population. And 27 percent have limited access to adequate food, compared to 15 percent. Continue reading50 years after Stonewall: LGBTQ Workers Seek Equality
Poor working conditions? Your rights violated at work? A new organization in Halifax offers support if you have nowhere to go By Robert Devet People who get paid the least and work in the most unstable jobs are often the people most vulnerable to abuse by their bosses. And without a union or money to Continue readingHalifax has a Workers Action Centre!
By Bob Barnetson There was an interesting post the other day about how workers in a US restaurant took direct and collective action to protect their health and safety when confronted with (1) unsafe temperatures and (2) a potentially lethal carbon mono-oxide leak. In both cases, the workers walked off the job until the employer Continue readingOn the absence of concerted-activity protections in Alberta
By Stan Pickthall, IAMAW Canada General Vice President In the span of a mere thirty days, disastrous events have taken place with devastating consequences for workers and communities. 2500 jobs will be lost in GM’s Oshawa plant, 1500 at Maple Leaf’s three plants in Ontario and another 2500 as a result of Bombardier layoffs in Continue reading30 Days of Devastation: Layoffs, Closures, Erosions of Worker’s Rights and Communities
By Zaid Noorsumar On the evening of November 15, the Ontario government announced that it would side with the OHL on the issue of player pay. The OHL was quick to issue its own press release thanking the government for their stance. The government will move to exempt OHL players from the Employment Standards Act. Continue readingThe CHL class action lawsuit
By David Bush On June 27 the United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling on the Janus v. AFSCME case. In a 5–4 decision the court ruled that public sector union fees to non-members is a violation of First Amendment rights. In effect the ruling obliterated closed shop unions in the public sector across Continue readingWhat Janus means North of the border
By Bob Barnetson Last week, Alberta announced new Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) rules affecting 14,000 paid farm workers on 4200 Alberta farms and ranches. These rules represent a significant win for farm workers by setting out minimum safety requirements. The announcement of new OHS rules concludes at two-and-half-year struggle over the degree to which Alberta’s employment Continue readingNew Alberta farm safety rules an improvement but leave workers vulnerable
By Judy Haiven KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – Recently, two Halifax restaurants , the Athens Restaurant and the Old Triangle Irish Alehouse, have been repeatedly targeted by people who have ordered and eaten a meal, only to leave without paying their bill. It’s called “dine and dash” – and it’s probably every server’s nightmare. The server at Continue readingDine and dash – gouging restaurant servers
By Gerard Di Trolio On February 10 at the IBEW Local 353 offices, the Tamil Workers Network held a community forum on workers’ rights. The forum’s goal was to reach out to the Tamil community in Toronto and let them know how their rights at work are changing because of Bill 148 and involved speakers Continue readingTamil Workers Network raising its community profile
By Judy Haiven On Remembrance Day morning, I drove to a gas station near downtown Halifax to fill up the car for a trip to the Annapolis Valley At the cashier’s counter a woman customer said, “wish me luck. I have to work today and it’s going to be busy.” She said she worked as Continue readingBosses breaking the law on Remembrance Day