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R & F Labour News Update – July 20 2015

7/20/2015

Kamloops mail carriers speak out after Canada Post cuts door-to-door service | Burns lake mill should have been shut down before deadly explosion: worker | City workers serve strike notice | Unifor metro grocery store workers make huge gains at the bargaining table | Minimum wage hike won’t ruin Alberta | Sick leave changes prompt one public sector union to create strike fun | How migrant farm workers are cross pollinating strategies and winning | Boots hit picket lines across Nunavut | Striking Hay River municipal workers not backing down after five months | Dispute brews over work conditions at Jane-Finch hotel

Kamloops mail carriers speak out after Canada Post cuts door-to-door service
Glynn Brothen, info news.ca
July 18 2015

Instead of walking to deliver mail, Kamloops’ Canada Post workers walked the corner of Summit Drive and Columbia Street Friday to protest the Crown company’s plan to remove door to door service next year.

Burns lake mill should have been shut down before deadly explosion: worker
Mark Nielson, The Canadian Press
July 18 2015

Archie Alec and Robert Luggi speak to the media about the tragedy of the Burns Lake mill explosion and how it could have been prevented: “Being downstairs was chaotic,” he said. “Conveyors were freezing up … all week we had problems with everything starting up. By the time we’d get things going, another machine breaks down.

City workers serve strike notice
Matt Prepost, Alaska Highway News
July 17 2015

In July, city workers rejected a new contract deal that offered a seven per cent wage hike over three years, along with increases in some employee benefits.

Workers had been without a contract since the end of December 2014. The BCGEU represents 183 of the city’s 234 employees.

Both the city and BCGEU have admitted there were zero concessions as part of the new deal. In June, workers voted in favour of a strike if an agreement was not reached.

Unifor metro grocery store workers make huge gains at the bargaining table
unifor.org
July 17 2015

“It’s shocking how much the quality of retail jobs has declined over the past few decades. We went in to this round of bargaining ready to put an end to that decline,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “This agreement is a perfect example of how unions can play a role in improving the lives of precarious low wage workers.”

Minimum wage hike won’t ruin Alberta
Ian Hussey and Iglika Ivanova, Edmonton Journal
July 17 2015

Business as usual is not working. Past minimum-wage increases had no significant impacts on poverty rates because they were too small, keeping full-time minimum wage earnings below the poverty line. It’s time for a bold increase, and it looks like Alberta’s new government is ready to show leadership.

Sick leave changes prompt one public sector union to create strike fund
CBC News
July 17 2015

Canada’s third largest federal public service labour union has voted to create a strike fund in response to the Conservative government’s plan to overhaul public sector sick leave.

The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) will set aside $1 million as seed money for the fund, which president Emmanuelle Tremblay says may be necessary if there’s an impasse at the bargaining table.

Two hundred blueberry pickers walked off the job in late June after Sakuma Brothers Farms introduced a new quota. When farmworkers cross borders, they carry with them their organizing experience and transnational networks. Photo: James Leder
Two hundred blueberry pickers walked off the job in late June after Sakuma Brothers Farms introduced a new quota. When farmworkers cross borders, they carry with them their organizing experience and transnational networks. Photo: James Leder

How migrant farm workers are cross pollinating strategies and winning
Sonia Singh, rankandfile.ca
July 17 2015

Striking to win: After three months of strikes and protests, 30,000 berry pickers in Baja California, Mexico, won raises of up to $4 a day and rights to social security benefits and overtime pay. What can we learn from these workers on strategies for today.

Boots hit picket lines across Nunavut
Thomas Rohner, Nunatsiaq Online
July 16 2015

Amidst flag-waving, slogan-chanting and the supportive honking of passing cars, about 50 striking Qulliq Energy Corp. workers set up a picket line outside Iqaluit’s downtown QEC building July 16.

Striking Hay River municipal workers not backing down after five months
Scott Price, rankandfile.ca
July 15 2015

Thirty-one municipal workers, who do a range of jobs from office administration, ground and facility maintenance, by-law enforcement, lifeguards and pool attendants, in the town of Hay River, Northwest Territories have entered into their fifth month of walking a picket line for a contract with the town.

Dispute brews over work conditions at Jane-Finch hotel
Sara Mojtehedzadeh, The Star
July 13 2015

After several rounds of unsuccessful bargaining over the proposal, the Holiday Inn Toronto-North York is now “refusing to come to the table,” according to Unite Local 75 researcher Marc Hollin.

 

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