By: Nooria Alam It has been over five months since the victory of Liberal party leader Justin Trudeau in the Canadian federal elections, ending Stephen Harper’s nine-year rule of tyranny in Parliament. Canadians rejoiced, thinking that there has finally been an end to the racist fear-mongering tactics of the Conservative party leader. But what has …
By: Michael Romandel In Toronto, one of the main ways that working class people find work when they find themselves out of a job and need to pay bills is through various temporary agencies. These agencies play the role of middlemen between corporations and workers. Corporations use them for a number of reasons, though they all add …
by Nathaniel Jote On Wednesday March 4, the constituency office of Finance Minister Joe Oliver was picketed as part of the beginning of a nationwide “Campaign Against the 4 Year Limit on Migrant Workers.” Organised by the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC), “a coalition that includes migrant workers, allies, workers’ centres, legal aid …
by Liam Fox CUPE 3902 Unit 1 represents more than 6000 teaching assistants, part-time lecturers, lab demonstrators, graders, and invigilators employed at the University of Toronto. In the early hours of February 27th, a tentative agreement between the employer and the union was reached, awaiting a ratification vote from its members. The vote, which took …
by Nathaniel Jote and Liam Fox The University of Toronto and CUPE 3902, which represents student and contract teaching staff on campus, are currently negotiating new collective bargaining agreements. Negotiations seem to have stalled, however, and Units 1 (mainly TAs) and 3 (mainly sessional lecturers) are readying for a possible strike. At a townhall last …
By Nathaniel Jote and Liam Fox Tensions are running high at the University of Toronto between administrators and CUPE 3902, the union which represents 7000 T.A.s and sessional lecturers on three UofT campuses. During 2014, Units 1 and 3 of CUPE 3902 both had their collective bargaining agreements with the university expire. However, the University …
by Yumna Siddiqi Immigrant workers are the first to experience the shift in the labour market towards an increase in temporary work, and the reduction of permanent jobs with benefits and legally enforceable health, safety and labour standards. Many immigrant workers obtain temporary jobs through agencies that are unregulated and fly-by-night. R’s experiences shed light …
by Martin Cooke “We asked people working minimum wage jobs what they thought the minimum wage should be,” said Deena Ladd over the phone. Deena Ladd is an organizer with the Workers Action Center in Toronto. In 2013, the Workers Action Center starting organizing to raise the minimum wage in Ontario. The coalition was able …
Grassroots Women picket elite private school to protest education privatization By: Aiyanas Ormond On Tuesday, September 16, about 30 people picketed St. George’s, an elite private school in Vancouver. The picket, organized by Grassroots Women comes after more than 2 weeks of school closures as teachers in B.C. have been on strike. St. George’s is …
by Helena Epinat “The labour movement is broken.” Strong words from long-time union organiser Leanne Wilkins. Wilkins has been part of local 1000A, a local of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) for over 20 years. Wilkins was fired from her paid position in December 2013 for voicing her displeasure and exposing the hypocrisy …
