Introduction Various organizations have referred to what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank as a breach of international law. This reference to international law without any further qualification assumes that, because it is the law, nations should comply with the law. Such compliance has as its counterpart the assumption in a society dominated … Continue reading The Idealization of International Law by the Social-Democratic or Social-Reformist Left: The Case of the Genocide of the Palestinians by the Israeli Government, Part One
Month: November 2023
Workers’ Actions Against Israel Generally More Important Politically than Street Activism, but Street Activism that Disrupts Daily Life May Reinforce Workers’ Actions
Recently, Barcelona workers from Spain, in conjunction with coordination with some NGOs, refused to export military equipment destined to Israel: Barcelona dock workers refuse to deal with weapons ships heading to Israel "The Barcelona port's decision to refuse handling weaponry headed to Israel follows a similar move by Belgian transport unions last week." The Barcelona port stevedores' … Continue reading Workers’ Actions Against Israel Generally More Important Politically than Street Activism, but Street Activism that Disrupts Daily Life May Reinforce Workers’ Actions
An Example of a Likely More Effective Way of Challenging the Genocidal Actions of Israel Against Palestinians
John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, recently posted the following on Facebook (for some reason the photo did not show. I am including a link to a related story): Challenging the shipping of weapons to Israel in Sydney, Australia. https://bnn.network/watch-now/sydney-protest-against-israeli-shipping-line-a-powerful-display-of-solidarity-with-palestine/
Skepticism About the Efficacy of the Protests Against the Israeli Genocide Against the Palestinians
John Clarke, former major organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), wrote the following recently: It's fantastic to see vast Palestine solidarity actions in the major cities but pay close attention to the numbers taking to the streets in smaller centres. This is a powerful indication of the depth and potential of the movement … Continue reading Skepticism About the Efficacy of the Protests Against the Israeli Genocide Against the Palestinians
Management Rights Clauses in Collective Agreements: Air Canada and Unifor Local 2002
Introduction At the beginning of writing this blog, I wrote up some posts that focused on the management-rights clause of collective agreements between a union and an employer in order to demonstrate the limitations of collective bargaining and collective agreements. I then integrated the issue of management rights into an anlaysis of the rate of … Continue reading Management Rights Clauses in Collective Agreements: Air Canada and Unifor Local 2002
Inadequate Characterization of Union Resistance to the Genocide Occurring in the West Bank and Gaza
mHerman Rosenfeld, self-defined Marxist here in Toronto, recently wrote an article in the social-democratic journal Canadian Dimension (see https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/canadian-labour-palestine-and-gaza ) titled "How is the Canadian labour movement responding to Israel’s attacks on Gaza? Unions have largely lined up in support of Palestinians." The article has some good points, such as pointing out that the Canadian Union of … Continue reading Inadequate Characterization of Union Resistance to the Genocide Occurring in the West Bank and Gaza
Expressing Solidarity with the Palestinian People Is Hardly Sufficient to Stop the Bloodbath
Julius Arscott, executive member of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), posted the following recently on Facebook: Union strong at the National March for Palestine in DC! UAW, Newsguild, CWA, IATSE, NWU, and UFT members marched alongside 300,000 people to demand a ceasefire and an end to taxpayer-funded genocide in Gaza. I made the … Continue reading Expressing Solidarity with the Palestinian People Is Hardly Sufficient to Stop the Bloodbath
Swift International Coordination of the Working-Class Might Have Prevented the Genocide in Gaza and the West Bank
John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), posted the following recently on Facebook: Mining workers in Colombia call for the government to “suspend the shipment of Colombian coal, or any other metal or mineral to Israel.” Such efforts, if they had been coordinated, could perhaps have stopped Israeli's genocidal efforts … Continue reading Swift International Coordination of the Working-Class Might Have Prevented the Genocide in Gaza and the West Bank
The Need for Protests Against the Genocide in Palestine to Be Connected to the Labour Movement
John Clarke, former major organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), recently posted on Facebook the following: John Clarke I see voices raised to the effect that massive rallies aren't enough to force Western leaders to stay the hand of the Israeli killing machine. In my view, this is a consideration that must … Continue reading The Need for Protests Against the Genocide in Palestine to Be Connected to the Labour Movement
List of Major Employers in the Quebec City Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)
Introduction When belonging to a leftist organization called the Toronto Labour Committee (Ontario, Canada), I worked on, in a minor position, on some statistics related to financial campaign contributions for the Toronto elections. Not being satisfied with this, I proposed that we start trying to develop a class analysis of Toronto. I indicated, though, that … Continue reading List of Major Employers in the Quebec City Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)
The Abolitionary 