Five Myths to Bust about Minimum Wage Hikes
Michael Rozworksi
The Tyee, March 8 2014
The B.C. Federation of Labour has just proposed to increase the minimum wage in British Columbia to $13 per hour. In short, it’s about time. With this proposal, B.C. joins the minimum wage debate that has erupted across North America. The debate is much needed: poverty wages have no place in today’s economy.
BC teachers’ fight for better public education heats up
Roger Annis
Rankandfile.ca, March 6 2014
Teachers in British Columbia are voting this week to give their collective bargaining team a strike mandate in the new round of collective bargaining begun earlier this year. Strike vote update!
Uncommon CORE
Micah Uetrict
Jacobin Magazine, March 6 2014
The 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike would have never come to be without the patient building of a radical formation within the union, the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators.
New federal bill has “feel of a witch hunt”
Ottawa Citizen, March 6 2014
The union representing lawyers working for Canada’s parliamentary watchdogs say a Conservative MP’s bill to compel employees in those agencies to disclose their past political activities will politicize the public service and risks “witch hunts” for partisan bureaucrats.
Sex Work, The Law and the Labour Movement
Kaley Kennedy
Rankandfile.ca, March 7 2014
In early December, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down three laws regulating prostitution in Canada as unconstitutional. The decision provides an important opportunity to talk about the working conditions in sex industries and what role organized labour can play in improving those conditions.
Dean of Lean: Manitoba NDP appoint boss to head efficiency plan
Winnipeg Free Press, March 7 2014
A manager at aircraft maintenance firm Standard Aero Ltd. has been recruited by the NDP to show them how to become more productive. Rob Despins will chair the province’s new ‘lean council,’ which will advise government on ways to offer better services more efficiently across all government departments. He was enlisted by Finance Minister Jennifer Howard for the volunteer position.
Truckers reject Vancouver port deal: strike to begin Monday
CBC, March 8 2014
Unionized container truck drivers at Port Metro Vancouver have voted to reject a tentative deal drawn up Thursday by veteran labour mediator Vince Ready, and are set to go on strike Monday. Gavin McGarrigle, B.C. area director of the Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers’ Association’s, said 98 per cent of the more than 300 unionized members voted to reject the tentative return-to-work agreement.
Michelin to cut 500 jobs at Pictou County, NS Plant
Halifax Chronicle-Herald, March 3 2014
Michelin is cutting 500 jobs at its plant in Granton, Pictou County. The tire giant announced Monday it will significantly reduce tire manufacturing at the Granton plant over the next 18 months.