DECEMBER, 2021 – When on the second day of January 1988 the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) was signed by representatives of Canada and the United States, 2,000 gathered in a protest march on the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit.[1] That march was one aspect of the movement against what at the time we called “free trade”[2] – a set of policies pushed by Ronald Reagan in the United States and Brian Mulroney in Canada, a phrase that came to symbolize the employers’ offensive in both countries, and in spite of considerable opposition, a policy which came into effect…
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I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to have a rally in Union Station in Toronto in the middle of rush hour. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to wear picket signs and hand out union flyers either. But there they were, Friday May 25, at 4pm – a good two dozen or so striking employees of CP Rail, members of the Teamsters, doing all of the above. The picket signs were big and bold, saying “Leave my pension alone,” and the picketers, instead of being thrown out, were being welcomed warmly by the VIA, GO and TTC employees who were…
Comments closedAn old tradition in the workers’ movement came back to life in February in Edmonton – the wildcat strike. February 16 at 7 a.m., hundreds of angry service workers walked off the job at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. They were soon joined by workers at the University of Alberta Hospital and the Northeast Community Health Centre. These general support service employees, 22,000 strong, form the indispensable framework for hospital activities in the province – managing health records, preparing meals, sterilizing surgical tools and assisting in therapy, in the pharmacy and elsewhere. But they are being treated as disposal workers by…
Comments closedMAY 11, 2010 – So David Cameron is Britain’s new prime minister. His accession to 10 Downing Street is reminiscent of another May election when the smug elite organized in the Conservative Party outpolled the Labour Party. May 3, 1979, Margaret Thatcher defeated James Callaghan. She would in the 1980s, partner up with her U.S. equivalent – former B-movie Hollywood actor, Ronald Reagan – the two becoming symbolic of what we now call the neo-liberal revolution. Britain in the 1970s, however, did not just give the world neo-liberalism. It also produced cultures of resistance. And as the election results rolled…
2 Comments“I want to express my gratitude to both CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) and CUPW (Canadian Union of Postal Workers) for the solidarity they have shown to the Palestinian people.” With these words, Manawell Abdul Al, member of the executive committee of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions summed up the sentiment at the 150-strong opening plenary of the “Brick by Brick” conference at the Steelworkers Hall in Toronto. He was referring to the motions passed first at CUPE-Ontario, and this year at CUPW national, supporting the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the state of Israel.…
Comments closedJUNE 13, 2007 – Workers in the US stand at the threshold of a new era in the labour movement – taking the class struggle into space. Close to 600 NASA launch workers – members of the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers – reached an impasse in contract negotiations at the beginning of June.[1] The IAM was in negotiations with the imposingly named “United Space Alliance” – an alliance between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.[2] The very composition of this alliance is just about perfect. Lockheed Martin – as documented by Michael Moore’s film “Bowling for Columbine”[3]…
Comments closedMARCH 16, 2005 – Tomorrow, March 5, will see marches across the country to celebrate International Women’s Day. Your paper (The Toronto Star) will undoubtedly cover these events. But to really cover issues of women’s rights, your paper should also cover a story a little closer to home. Since December 6, 59 mostly women workers – members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ Union (CEP), Local 87-M – have been on strike against Brabant Newspapers, a company owned by TorStar – the owners of your newspaper. These workers earn a top rate of $8.99 an hour. But they have been offered…
Comments closedMARCH 7, 2005 – The Toronto Star likes to market itself as a progressive voice, including a progressive voice for women’s rights. But its owner – TorStar Corp. – is now 14 weeks into a bitter labour dispute with 59 low-paid, mostly women workers at Brabant Newspapers in Stoney Creek. And not one line about the strike has appeared in the pages of the “progressive” Toronto Star. The strikers – members of local 87-M, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) – include inserters, whose top rate is $8.99 per hour. Mike Sullivan of CEP says that in 1993,…
Comments closedJANUARY 4, 2005 – Many readers will be familiar with the reputation of the Toronto Star, centre of Canadian liberalism. It portrays itself as pro-women, progressive, and pro-labour. But its parent – TorStar corporation – is currently engaged in a dispute which puts a lie to this entire reputation. Sixty members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), Local 87-M, have been on strike since December 6 last year against their employer, Brabant Newspapers which since 2003 has been owned by TorStar.[1] Many of the strikers are women working in the inserting department. According to a flyer distributed on…
Comments closedDECEMBER 7, 2004: TORONTO – In the first big labour mobilization since Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals took office, just over one year ago, almost 4,000 trade unionists marched to Queen’s Park November 27 under the slogan, “times up, keep your promises, Dalton.”[1] While there have been pro-labour changes under the Liberals – including “a rollback of the 60-hour work week (implemented by the Tories) and a hike in the minimum wage (frozen by the Tories)”, there is frustration at the slow pace of rolling back other of the anti-labour measures introduced by Mike Harris. In addition, labour leaders in the health…
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