Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Eight: Collective Agreement in Alberta Between Various Employers and Various International Unions

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 and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Eight: Collective Agreement in Alberta Between Various Employers and Various International Unions →

A Radical’s Exaggeration of the Crisis of Legitimacy of the World Social Order

Activists tend to exaggerate the extent to which there is a crisis of legitimacy of the class power of employers and the associated economic, political and social structures. Thus, John Clarke, a former major organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), wrote the following on August 21, 2024: John Clarke · There is … Continue reading A Radical’s Exaggeration of the Crisis of Legitimacy of the World Social Order →

Review of Socialist Action’s Spring Education Conference 2024: What Socialists Do in Unions, Part One

Introduction As I indicated in an earlier post, I attended the second session spring 2024 education conference of Socialist Action (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA-mVbaSSOc&t=4354s) since the issue of what socialists should do in unions is of prime importance- but was excluded from it after I asked a couple of questions in the chat and responded to Barry Weisleder's … Continue reading Review of Socialist Action’s Spring Education Conference 2024: What Socialists Do in Unions, Part One →

Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Thirty-One: The Need for Teachers to Fight to Control the Curriculum

This is a continuation of a series of posts on summaries of articles, mainly on education. When I was a French teacher at Ashern Central School, in Ashern, Manitoba, Canada, I started to place critiques, mainly (although not entirely) of the current school system. At first, I merely printed off the articles, but then I … Continue reading Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Thirty-One: The Need for Teachers to Fight to Control the Curriculum →

Fair Contracts or Collective Agreements: The Ideological Rhetoric of Canadian Unions, Part Five: The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU)

Introduction Since in this blog I have often referred to particular union reps referring to collective agreements as fair in some way, I thought it would be useful to provide further examples of this rhetoric to substantiate the view that unions function as ideologues for the continued existence of employers--even if the unions are independent … Continue reading Fair Contracts or Collective Agreements: The Ideological Rhetoric of Canadian Unions, Part Five: The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) →

Colombian Union Social-Movement Solidarity Led to Colombia Banning Coal Exports to Israel

The following was posted on the Socialist Project website (https://socialistproject.ca/2024/07/colombia-coal-embargo-israel-model-to-follow/): Colombia’s Coal Embargo on Israel Is a Model to Follow International Relations • July 31, 2024 • Rula Jamal On June 8, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that his country will suspend coal exports to Israel until the genocide stops. Colombian coal accounted for more than 60 percent … Continue reading Colombian Union Social-Movement Solidarity Led to Colombia Banning Coal Exports to Israel →

Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Seven: Imperial Oil Stratchona Refinery and Unifor Local 21-A

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 and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Seven: Imperial Oil Stratchona Refinery and Unifor Local 21-A →

La Tasa de Explotación de los Trabajadores de Tencent (China)

Read this post in English Introducción [Utilicé ChatGPT (Inteligencia Artificial) para traducir la versión en inglés al español. Hice algunas correcciones para que las letras que representan cantidades sean coherentes con la terminología en español.] He intentado calcular la tasa de explotación de los trabajadores en varias empresas capitalistas canadienses (véase, por ejemplo, The Rate … Continue reading La Tasa de Explotación de los Trabajadores de Tencent (China) →

Attributing All Weather Extremes to Human Climate Change is Irresponsible, and Socialists Need to Challenge Such Irresponsibility, Part Two

John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), recently posted the following on his Facebook page (July 17, 2024): The flooding that hit Toronto yesterday is an indication of the extreme weather that is intensifying under the impact of climate change. Seeing this, it is easy to understand that such developments … Continue reading Attributing All Weather Extremes to Human Climate Change is Irresponsible, and Socialists Need to Challenge Such Irresponsibility, Part Two →

The Rhetoric of Union Reps: The So-called Good Job and Fair Wages of Liquor Store Workers

Introduction Workers working for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) are now on strike. There seem to be three issues from the point of view of the union (Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local (OPSEU): job security (since Conserative Premier Doug Ford plans to privatize liquor sales by permitting such sales in local grocery … Continue reading The Rhetoric of Union Reps: The So-called Good Job and Fair Wages of Liquor Store Workers →