Nova Scotia teachers | Hamilton Steel | Dias funds Tory bigot | UMFA strike | FFAW and FISH-NL fight | OPSEU hired anti-union lawyer | Alberta oil workers | Ford-Unifor deal | Essex County library workers | Federal Liberal corporate agenda
Alberta oil workers want retraining for renewable energy jobs
Gordon Kent, Edmonton Journal
November 1 2016
A climate plan released Tuesday by Iron & Earth, an organization started last year by oil industry tradespeople, calls for short-term training and expanded apprenticeships, as well as retooling existing facilities to increase Canada’s renewable energy manufacturing. The plan also proposes incubator programs for unions, contractors and others moving into the renewable energy sector, and using renewable technology in existing infrastructure.
Nova Scotia teachers and government workers say not to austerity
Robert Devet, Rankandfile.ca
November 2 2016
Nova Scotia’s wild and wacky world of labour relations just got even stranger. Twice now the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) leadership recommended that its members accept a negotiated deal, and twice the teachers said no thanks. On October 25 the teachers backed that rejection up with a 96 percent strike mandate.
Essex library workers still striking
Teuila Fuatai, Rankandfile.ca
November 4 2016
Fifty-eight library workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), have been on strike for more than four months over a contract offer attempting to overhaul sick leave and short-term disability entitlements for members.
Federal Liberal corruption and privatization
The Great Rentier Give-away: Unpacking the Liberal infrastructure plan
Michal Rozworski, Political Eh-conomy
November 1 2016
Why an international consulting firm is advising the Trudeau Liberals – for free
John Geddes, Maclean’s
October 31 2016
Federal infrastructure bank loans will come at a higher cost
David Macdonald, Behind the Numbers
November 2 2016
Finance Minister Bill Morneau says cash-for-access Liberal donors support democracy
Laura Payton, CTV News
November 6 2016
Ford workers ratify new 4-year contract
Grace Macaluso, Windsor Star
November 6 2016
Locals in Windsor and Bramalea voted in favour of the deal while the Oakville local voted against it. The deal pitted locals against one another in another pattern contract that made concessions for investments.
Jerry Dias donates to Tory leadership campaigner Kellie Leitch
BJ Siekierski, ipolitics
November 1 2016
Jerry Dias — the national president of Canada’s biggest private sector union and one of the more outspoken critics of the Harper government — donated $300 in June to the Kellie Leitch Conservative leadership campaign.
OPSEU hired ‘union avoidance’ firm in dispute with its staff
Martin Regg Cohn, Toronto Star
November 5 2016
Last month, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) hired a self-described “management-side lawyer,” Matthew R. Vella, to investigate members of its own staff union amid an internecine battle. The growing civil war goes before the Ontario Labour Relations Board on Monday, where unionized workers have filed an “unfair labour practices” against the union they work for.
Fish harvester won’t apologize for threats made in FFAW raiding battle
Chris Ensing, CBC News
November 3 2016
As FISH-NL continues to raid FFAW, threats have been directed at FFAW organizers and members.
Bedrock Industries reaches deal to buy U.S. Steel Canada
CBC
November 1 2016
American Company Bedrock Industries Group has reached a deal to buy beleaguered U.S. Steel Canada, U.S. Steel announced today. Steelworkers Local 1005 president Gary Howe told CBC News that the union is not looking at this news positively. “It’s interesting that two American companies are negotiating in secret to purchase a Canadian company,” he said. “Meanwhile, the pensioners are going to take the hit. This whole process is not geared towards workers or people, it’s geared towards making money.”
Don’t cross picket lines: teachers’ union tells U of M education students
Jill Coubrough, CBC
November 2 2016
More than 1,200 faculty members at the university’s Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, impacting 30,000 students. University of Manitoba Faculty Association president Mark Hudson said that until a new deal is reached, pickets will go up every weekday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Manitoba Teachers’ Society is advising education students at the University of Manitoba not to attend classes or upcoming practicums during the faculty strike.