By Doug Nesbitt and David Bush Ontario secondary school students organized the biggest walkout in the province’s history on April 4. Somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 students from over 700 high schools participated. Walkouts even spread to elementary schools. This is the second major student walk out in the province since the Tories were elected. Continue readingOntario’s Spring: Students lead, labour must follow
Editor's pick
by Emily Leedham and Chloe Rockarts As the provincial election approaches, Alberta’s unions are hard at work educating their members about what is at stake for workers at the ballot box. While many unions identify as non-partisan, most have still expressed concerns about the right-wing populism sweeping across the country – and its implications for Continue readingThe past, present & future of workers’ power in Alberta
by Lesley Jamieson President of the Kingston & District Labour Council The morning of Saturday, March 23rd, Andrea Loken (president of OSSTF Limestone local) got word from a reliable source that Doug Ford would be making an appearance in Napanee, a small city of 15,000 near Kingston, Ontario. This would be his one stop between Continue readingHow we kicked Doug Ford out of Napanee
By Peter Hogarth Labour law changes are coming to federally-regulated workers. If you have been following the Fight for $15 and Fairness in Ontario, then the changes introduced in the federal government’s Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-86, will sound similar to the labour law changes the Ontario Liberals introduced in 2017 with Bill 148. The Continue readingFighting for $15 & Fairness from Bill C-86 to the workplace
By Emily Leedham Host of Rank and File Radio – Prairies Edition On February 8, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix wrote a feature on Keesan Corey, a 19-year old business student and strikebreaker at the Saskatoon Coop. Hundreds of UFCW Local 1400 members have been on strike at the Saskatoon Coop for over 3 months since November Continue readingThe scab, his mom, and the soul of the Coop
By Gerard Di Trolio, David Bush and Doug Nesbitt The announcement on Sunday night that GM will close their Oshawa plant at the end of 2019 is devastating news for the thousands of autoworkers and their families in Oshawa. Site of the 1937 strike against against GM that marked the first big breakthrough of industrial Continue readingBuckle up: GM declares war on Oshawa
by Emily Leedham The Co-op is the only grocery store in Martensville, Saskatchewan, population 10,000, and its workers have been on strike for almost a month. The Martensville Co-op workers are in the same UFCW Local 1400 bargaining unit as the Co-ops in Saskatoon, where hundreds of workers are also on strike fighting a two-tiered Continue readingThe Co-op Strike: Big Solidarity in Little Martensville
By Doug Nesbitt About 200 people from across southern Ontario, and as far north as Sudbury and North Bay gathered in Toronto on March 31-April 1 for a provincial strategy session of the Fight for $15 and Fairness. It was a great two days of discussion and workshops all geared towards building this campaign that Continue readingThe Road Ahead for Ontario’s Fight for $15
By Anne Rucchetto & Kate Hayman In the midst of a busy flu season, the smooth functioning of the healthcare system is critical to the protection of population health, especially vulnerable groups such as the elderly, pregnant women and children. At the beginning of 2017, there were a number of news reports detailing overcrowded emergency Continue readingThe case for paid sick days
UPDATE: At noon March 17, RankandFile.ca learned from multiple sources that ATU Local 113 President Bob Kinnear resigned. Kinnear was first elected Local 113 president in 2003. Kinnear has also withdrawn his letter to the CLC invoking article the justification process to disaffiliate from the ATU under CLC’s article 4.9. This article was originally published at 4am on Continue readingATU members to meet as unions slam Unifor, CLC
By David Bush and Gerard Di Trolio On Wednesday of this week RankandFile.ca obtained a recording of a conversation between two executive board members at ATU Local 113, Tony Barbosa and John DiNino, occurring before the trusteeship. Both DiNino, who recorded the call, and Barbosa have confirmed the authenticity of the recording. In this conversation Continue reading“Who’s the big white shark?” A plot to raid the ATU?
By David Bush The intense legal battle being waged over the fate of ATU Local 113 is not simply a two-sided affair between Bob Kinnear and ATU International. RankandFile.ca has learned that Bob Kinnear’s legal fees are being paid for by Unifor. This should not come as much of a surprise after Dias announced Continue readingUnifor footing Kinnear’s legal fees