Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-term Care advises people to stay home if they are sick. For millions of workers, however, this is not an option. Current employment law leaves workers without any paid sick day guarantees, forcing them to choose between their health and a paycheque. In addition, 1.6 million Ontarians risk losing their job Continue readingWeekend Video: Paid sick days for all!
Videos
A cinematic tract, a personal, activist work by a socially committed Québec filmmaker, this is a frontal assault, fraught with exacerbated emotion and concentrated philosophy, on a “consumer society” viewed as the ultimate embodiment of evil. This film was made during an exceptional, feverish period of popular revolt, against the backdrop of the 1970 October Continue readingWeekend Video: 24 Hours or More
Canada and 11 other countries have officially reached an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP, the largest regional trade accord in history. This deal, negotiated in secret, is good for big businesses, but bad for workers, consumers groups, the environment, privacy rights and national sovereignty and democracy.
The $15/hr minimum wage for federal regulated workers promised by the NDP will benefit over 100,000 workers. This is a good thing. The NDP’s policy was a response to the pressure created by the Fight for 15 movement across the country and even the continent. The NDP’s promise, however, does not go far enough as it Continue readingWeekend Video: The Fight for $15/hr across Canada
This documentary follows a community action group led by American community organizer and writer Saul Alinsky in Rochester, New York. Together, they confront the community’s largest employer on the issue of corporate responsibility and the employment of minority groups. Through Conflict to Negotiation by Bonnie Sherr Klein& by Peter Pearson, National Film Board of Canada
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has a short-sighted plan to sell 60% of Hydro One for a one-time payment to fund transit. That’s like burning the furniture to heat the house. It doesn’t make economic sense. And Ontarians are going to be stuck paying higher electricity bills. To add insult to injury, rather than saying they Continue readingWeekend Video: Keep Ontario’s Hydro Public
In the United States and Canada, the first Monday of September is a federal holiday, Labour Day. Originally celebrated in New York City’s Union Square in 1882, Labor Day was organized by unions as a rare day of rest for the overworked during the Industrial Revolution. In Canada printers in 1872 fought for the Nine Hour Day Continue readingWeekend Video: The origins of Labour Day
CarePartners is a for-profit company which is in turn contracted by the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant CCAC. Nurses are currently paid by the visit rather than by the hour. They have no sick days or compensation for overtime. This is appalling treatment of staff whose work is so vital to the community. Staff turnover rates Continue readingWeekend Video: CarePartners workers on strike
On Aug. 17, 1985, union workers at Hormel Foods in Austin voted to go on strike, a decision that led to a long and bitter strike that made national news. This week marks the 30th anniversary of that vote, beginning the protest of the company’s demands for wage cuts, effectively dividing the town — and families. The Continue readingWeekend Video: 30th anniversay of the Hormel Strike
Rhetoric clashes with reality when it comes to Stephen Harper’s economic record. Not only is it bad, it’s actually the worst of any prime minister since World War II. Unifor economist Jim Stanford explains. Read the full report here: http://www.unifor.org/sites/default/f…
Canada is one of the major destinations of migrant workers from many countries, including the Philippines. On April 1, the Canadian government initiated the criminalization and mass deportation of temporary foreign workers (TFWs). This shows the vulnerability of TFWs as the ultimate cheap and disposable workforce. Forgotten in the heated public debate is the real Continue readingWeekend Video: Precarious work without borders