Truckers strike keeps Canada’s largest container port in shut down
Roger Annis, Rankandfile.ca
March 15 2014
Container traffic in and out of the port of Vancouver BC has been shut down for more than two weeks by a truckers strike. More than 1,000 non-union, independent-operator truckers walked out on February 26 demanding better pay and reduction to the unpaid time they have to wait to pick up and deliver containers.
Postal banking could save Canada Post services, jobs
Clare McIlveen, Chronicle-Herald
March 12 2014
Canada Post recently announced that Bedford, Nova Scotia is one of the areas where home mail delivery will soon end. However, argues columnist Claire McIlveen, Canada Post should reconsider an internal proposal on postal banking, which would help the post office maintain services.
Vancouver Canucks terminate union contract, 750 jobs in jeopardy
Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun
March 11 2014
Robert Demand, president of Unite Here Local 40, said unionized workers at the arena were given notice just before Monday’s NHL hockey game by Aramark Corporation, the company that provides food services at Rogers, that its contract was being terminated as of June 30 by Canucks Sports & Entertainment.
Strong reaction from CSN over Peladeau’s bid
CTV Montreal
March 11 2014
Talk turned to the Quebec election campaign – and Pierre Karl Peladeau’s decision to run as a PQ – as some 300 delegates from the CSN met in Montreal this week. Peladeau’s reputation as an anti-worker media baron has inflamed the CSN and other unions, who typically support the Parti Quebecois.
Ontario Nurses’ Association opposes concessions that will harm patients
ONA
March 14 2014
The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is warning that contract demands tabled by the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) would lead to a nursing crisis reminiscent of the Harris government years. Contract talks broke down when the OHA team walked away from the table, forcing arbitration this weekend. The OHA is proposing unprecedented rollbacks for Registered Nurses (RN).
Understaffing puts Nova Scotia’s patients at risk, nurses say
Robert Devet, Halifax Media Co-op
March 10 2014
Some of the largest hospitals in Halifax are so understaffed that the health of patients is being jeopardized, nurses say. These same nurses, the 2600 members of Local 97 of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU) say that mandatory staff-to-patient ratios are the only way to solve the problem.
Compromise or union capitulation at CN?
Peter (CN conductor), Rankandfile.ca
March 12 2014
Peter, a veteran conductor with Canadian National Railways, writes about what’s at stake for workers in this second ratification vote and how the union leadership has capitulated to company demands in the shadow of federal back to work legislation.
Ontario’s job market undergoing “seismic shift” to part-time jobs
Toronto Star
March 14 2014
Ontario’s labour market is in tumult as the province slides from a workforce of steady full-time jobs to shaky part-time posts, warns a new study. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives notes the troubling trend predates the recent global recession that has left the economy sputtering for years. (FULL REPORT)
Yachio tells Barrie employees its plant is up for sale
CTV Barrie
March 14 2014
A major manufacturer in Barrie told its employees and the city today that it’s moving in a new direction in North America. The Yachiyo plant on Mapleview Drive, which employs 350 people, had notified staff in September it might be downsizing. At that time it said it had no plans to close and that there would be no changes in operations until 2015.
After UAW defeat at Volkswagon, finding a way forward
Ronald Lare, Solidarity
March 14 2014
Last month, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee to determine whether the United Auto Workers (UAW) would represent over 1,500 Volkswagen workers in the three year old Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant. The UAW lost the election, 712-626. So, what went wrong?