By Doug Nesbitt On Monday March 16, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivered press conferences on the crisis only to confirm that it’s business as usual for these silver-spooned sons of comfort. Hopes for emergency safety net measures were dashed, along with the prospect of such measures counter-acting the spread of Continue readingFlatten the curve, flatten the boss
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Panel also criticized for having no union representation By Zaid Noorsumar The Ontario government’s recently constituted long-term care staffing advisory group includes the owner of a for-profit chain that donated $20,000 to health minister and deputy premier Christine Elliot’s campaign to lead the Ontario Progressive Conservatives in 2015. James Schlegel, the CEO of Schlegel Villages, Continue readingOntario PC donor and nursing home CEO appointed to Ford’s long-term care panel
by Lisa Cameron for the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre On April 1st, 2020, Nova Scotia’s minimum wage will increase to $12.55 per hour. Up by $1, this is the largest annual minimum wage increase the province has seen since 2010. Credit for the minimum wage increase is due, in large part, to the Fight for Continue readingOne dollar more is not enough for Nova Scotia
by Kyle HoskinGarbageman, CUPE Local 1287 What a meeting! This past Friday in Niagara, the Ontario Federation of Labour met with the community and labour to discuss how we plan to rally against Doug Ford’s Regressive Conservatives convention on February 21-22 at the Scotiabank Centre in Niagara Falls. The room had 46 participants with a Continue readingNiagara prepares for Feb.22 Ontario PC convention
by Bob BarnetsonFirst published January 23 at Labour & Employment in Alberta There were a bunch of trade unionists leafleting drivers entering the Co-op Gas Bar on St Albert Trail in Edmonton this morning. We were asking drivers to get their gas somewhere else to apply consumer pressure to the Co-op Refinery in Regina. The Continue readingSo I almost died on a picket line…
Rankandfile.ca caught up with Eden Haythornthwaite to speak about the long-running annual Joseph Mairs Memorial held every year on Vancouver Island. Eden is one of the main organizer’s of the annual event. This year’s memorial is Sunday January 19 1pm at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Hall in Ladysmith. Who is Joseph Mairs, and how long Continue readingJoseph Mairs: A coal miner who never died
by Zaid Noorsumar CarePartners, a for-profit home care company, is imposing a new contract on nearly 3,000 workers in Ontario that has been effectively rejected by the bargaining committee during negotiations. For some workers, the new contract will result in an effective pay cut worth several thousand dollars. The workforce comprises predominantly women, many of Continue readingCarePartners imposes rejected contract on homecare workers
by Andrew Stevens The lockout of 700+ workers at Regina’s Cooperative Refinery Complex has now entered its third week. On the table: another round of pension concessions and the elimination of a co-funded savings plan. Under the guise of a “business continuity plan,” the Refinery has for months been preparing for what Unifor Local 594 Continue readingRegina refinery lockout is no “tea party”
by Blake McCallHamilton bus driver and member of ATU Local 107 On Thursday December 12 the Amalgamated Transit Union Canada staged an info picket at the Voyago Headquarters in London, Ontario. ATU locals from across southern Ontario participated, as well as members of OPSEU and the London and District Labour Council. The action was called Continue readingVoyago drive is frontline against transit privatization
By Doug Nesbitt and Andrew Stevens With near unanimous support from the membership, Unifor Local 594 provided the Co-operative Refinery Complex (CRC) with job action notice on December 4, 2019. The employer immediately responded by locking out over 700 workers – from process operators, building trades, lab technicians, to administrative support workers. The battle is Continue readingLocal 594 and the Lost History of Oil Worker Unionism
Today, members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) walk off the job to protest ongoing attacks to the education system by Doug Ford’s government. Key issues for the teachers’ job action include preserving jobs, lowering class sizes and rejecting mandatory e-learning courses for students. The one-day province-wide walk-out will close secondary schools across Continue readingOntario teachers begin one-day strike against Ford’s cuts
The Ontario Federation of Labour’s biennial convention starts on Monday. In addition to the hundreds of resolutions that will be voted on and the action plan that will be hotly debated, this convention will see an open election for the position of OFL President as outgoing president, Chris Buckley, will not be seeking another term. Continue readingQ&A with OFL Presidential candidate Barry Conway