By Rick Beer OSSTF member, Toronto District School BoardCandidate for Toronto Teacher Bargaining Unit president Some people believe that education workers should be grateful to have kept their jobs and their paycheques under the current circumstances – education workers should have gratitude for another contract containing real wage cuts. Some people believe that education workers Continue readingOSSTF tentative agreement: Why I’m voting NO
Articles
by Emily Leedham After two weeks of pressure from the Oshawa community, General Motors announced yesterday it would re-open a portion of the plant to manufacture one million masks per month for health care workers. Former Oshawa GM workers and health care workers held a joint-press conference on Thursday, April 9 demanding the Oshawa complex Continue reading“A great first step”: Workers respond to GM Oshawa plant conversion for PPE
By Emily Leedham Workers reveal fear, frustration, and doubt in Cargill’s ability to manage the COVID-19 outbreak at the High River meatpacking plant in a recent Telephone Town Hall. RankandFile.ca obtained an automated transcript of a Telephone Town Hall between members of Cargill plant management, the Alberta Government, Alberta Health Services, and Cargill plant workers Continue readingCargill workers’ frustrations revealed in telephone town hall
By Emily Leedham “We are invisible, and no one – not the government or society – wants to see or hear us.” said Liliana Trejo, an undocumented worker based in Montreal, at an online press conference today. “If this virus does not kill us, hunger will.” The press conference was organized on Thursday, April 16, Continue readingUndocumented workers demand healthcare, CERB & status
by Emily Leedham To address the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other medical equipment such as ventilators, workers are demanding former General Motors plant in Oshawa be converted to produce these supplies to support frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s a dire shortage of that equipment, it’s being rationed,” Michael Hurley, President Continue readingWorkers demand Oshawa GM plant converted to produce medical equipment
Photo via REUTERS/Chris Wattie by C Rockarts On Saturday, March 28, two days before workers were set to return from Spring Break, the UCP government announced the province’s largest mass layoff in history, with $128 million in cuts to funding for 26,000 educational assistants, bus drivers, substitute teachers and other K-12 support staff. The government Continue readingLargest layoff in Alberta history proves workers aren’t Kenney’s priority
Unemployment and income supports Holes in the safety net: CERB and EI coverage falls shortZaid Noorsumar, Rankandfile.ca, March 29 2020 Wage subsidy plan is full of big problemsNora Loreto, Rankandfile.ca, March 31 2020 Demand Compassion: Rent Strikes & Emergency BenefitsEmily Leedham, Rankandfile.ca, March 30 2020 Much stronger conditions needed on federal wage subsidy programToby Sanger, Continue readingWeekly labour news digest – April 5 2020
By Nora Loreto Justin Trudeau announced his government’s most significant aid package for Canadians workers on Friday. The Liberals will subsidize wages by 75% to convince employers to stop layoffs during the coronavirus pandemic. The measure will be available to all businesses, and eligibility criteria are slowly being released. The decision increases his previous promise Continue readingWage subsidy plan is full of big problems
By Zaid Noorsumar The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) introduced this week by the Liberal government is a vast improvement over the beleaguered Employment Insurance system but still excludes many people. The CERB applications are expected to be available online on April 6 with payments to be issued within 10 days. Recipients will be paid Continue readingHoles in the safety net: CERB and EI coverage falls short
By Doug Nesbitt Postal workers across the country are pressing Canada Post management to clean up its act. COVID-19 infections among postal workers have already led to the suspension of mail delivery in Newfoundland and most recently the closure of a mail depot in North Bay, Ontario. In Edmonton, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Continue readingHow Edmonton posties are fighting for health and safety
By Haseena Manek Since Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced restaurants would stay open for takeout and delivery during the COVID19 pandemic, bicycle couriers have ben deemed “essential” workers. Already a dangerous job, bicycle couriers working for food delivery apps like Foodora, Uber Eats, Doordash and Skip the Dishes have no sick leave, no health insurance. Continue readingEssential but precarious: Toronto bike couriers fight for a union
Editor’s introduction The following letter was received by Andrew Stevens, a Regina city councillor and co-founder of Rankandfile.ca. It was first shared publicly on Facebook. It relates to the scab camp established at the Co-op Refinery in Regina in which the employer has locked out refinery workers for over 100 days. Stevens writes of the Continue readingRN says Co-op Refinery scab camp “a disaster waiting to happen”