Introduction The recent wildcat strike by 55,000 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members, represented by the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU, who work in schools in Ontario, Canada, was stimulated by the Conservative Ford government's Bill 28, which not only legislated workers back to work, but also used the notwithstanding clause of … Continue reading The Case of the Possible General Strike of Ontario Unionized Workers: Critique of Conservative Radicalism or Radical Conservatism
Month: November 2022
A Short List of the Largest Private Employers in Edmonton, Alberta, Based on the Number of Employees
The following is a list of the twenty-two largest private employers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, based on the number of employees. I restrict this list to private employers since the number of employees across government departments seems to be provincial and not city-based. For example, the number of employees in Alberta Health Services is 123,000, … Continue reading A Short List of the Largest Private Employers in Edmonton, Alberta, Based on the Number of Employees
A Missed Opportunity: The Limitations of Trade Unions
This is a very short post. When I went to the political picket line/strike and rally on November 4, 2022, there were thousands of people present in front of the Ontario legislative buildings. Premier Doug Ford's ramming through of Bill 28--legislating workers back to work and using the notwithstanding clause of the Charter and Rights … Continue reading A Missed Opportunity: The Limitations of Trade Unions
May Day 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: More Rhetoric from a Union Rep: The Case of the President of the Ontario Public Services Employee Union (OPSEU), J.P. Hornick, Part Two: Do Corrections Officers Protect Us?
Introduction In my previous post in this two-part series, I showed that J.P. Hornick, the relevatively new president of the Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) holds social-reformist or social-democratic views. I showed that she used the social-reformist and euphemistic phrases, such as "fair contract" and "good jobs"--which the management rights clause contradicts. I thought … Continue reading May Day 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: More Rhetoric from a Union Rep: The Case of the President of the Ontario Public Services Employee Union (OPSEU), J.P. Hornick, Part Two: Do Corrections Officers Protect Us?
The Illusions of Radical Social Democrats or Social Reformers about the Extent of the Impact of the Current Educational Workers Strike Wave in Ontario
Educational workers in Ontario were set to strike on Friday November 4, 2022. Premier Doug Ford not only passed legislation that makes the strike illegal but used the "notwithstanding clause" in the Constitution to prevent legal challenges to such legislation for five years. This measure has indeed galvanized the workers' movement, to a certain extent. … Continue reading The Illusions of Radical Social Democrats or Social Reformers about the Extent of the Impact of the Current Educational Workers Strike Wave in Ontario
Solidarity with Union Members–and an Occasion for Discussing the Limitations of Collective Bargaining: The Ontario Ford Government’s Legislation to Force CUPE Education Workers to Abandon Their Strike
The recent passing of legislation to force Ontario education workers to abandon a strike that they had not even yet started deserves to be opposed energetically. Ford, the Ontario premier, furthermore, justified the law practically by invoking the "notwithstanding" clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights. This clause involves the following: The notwithstanding clause — … Continue reading Solidarity with Union Members–and an Occasion for Discussing the Limitations of Collective Bargaining: The Ontario Ford Government’s Legislation to Force CUPE Education Workers to Abandon Their Strike
The Ontario Federation of Labour’s Workers-First Agenda: A Critique: Part One
Introduction The so-called radical left here in Toronto rarely engages in any detailed criticism of unions or groups of unions. Quite to the contrary. They either make vague assertions about "the trade-union elite" or the "trade-union bureaucracy" (union bureaucrats or business unions), or they remain silent when faced with the persistent rhetoric that unions. It … Continue reading The Ontario Federation of Labour’s Workers-First Agenda: A Critique: Part One
The Abolitionary 