In a previous post, I provided the current management rights clause between AESES and the University of Manitoba (Management (Employer) Rights, Part Three: Public Sector Collective Agreement, Manitoba). This is a continuation, of sorts. The title indicates what the content of this post will be about. In 1994, I worked on a project at Dafoe … Continue reading Critique of the Grievance and Arbitration Procedure: Letter to the Editor, Inside The Association of Employees Supporting Educational Services (AESES), Vol. 17, No. 4, May 1994
Author: The abolitionist
I come from a working-class background. My lost paid job was a teacher, substituting for a number of years before obtaining a permanent position. I obtained my doctorate in 2009. I am an unapologetic critic of capitalism and the way in which various institutions and ideologies reinforce it.
The Socialist Project’s Critique of Doug Ford’s Attack on Local Democracy Falls Short
The following was written almost six years ago; it is still relevant. The Socialist Project has rightly condemned Doug Ford (the new Premier of Ontario, Canada) for his unilateral reduction of the number of Toronto city councilors (in the midst of Toronto elections, no less--indeed, an autocratic act) (see Ford's Attack on Local Democracy in … Continue reading The Socialist Project’s Critique of Doug Ford’s Attack on Local Democracy Falls Short
Management (Employer) Rights, Part Three: Public Sector Collective Agreement, Manitoba
I worked on a library project at the Dafoe Library at the University of Manitoba (Canada) around 1993. The union to which I belonged was AESES (The Association of Employees Supporting Educational Services). I wrote to the editor of the union newsletter, criticizing the limitations of unions. The business agent of the union responded by … Continue reading Management (Employer) Rights, Part Three: Public Sector Collective Agreement, Manitoba
Workers and Community Members Need to Discuss Their Experiences and Lives Openly
John Dewey, one of the greatest philosophers of education of the twentieth century, argued that we need to take seriously our experiences in this world--because our experiences are really all that we have in this world. He did not mean by this that all experiences are on the same level of accuracy, but he did … Continue reading Workers and Community Members Need to Discuss Their Experiences and Lives Openly
Management Rights, Part Two: Public Sector Collective Agreement, Ontario
Workers in the public sector are used just as much as means for purposes over which they have little or no control (see The Money Circuit of Capital). The left often denies this implicitly by idealizing the public sector over the private sector. Workers in the public sector, however, are employees, and as employees they … Continue reading Management Rights, Part Two: Public Sector Collective Agreement, Ontario
Intelligent Activity According to John Dewey: Its Political Implications for the Left
John Dewey, one of the greatest philosophers of education of the twentieth century, has this to say about intelligent activity. From Democracy and Education. Pennsylvania State University, 2001, page 108: The net conclusion is that acting with an aim is all one with acting intelligently. To foresee a terminus of an act is to have a … Continue reading Intelligent Activity According to John Dewey: Its Political Implications for the Left
A Case of Silent Indoctrination, Part One: The Manitoba History Curricula and Its Lack of History of Employers and Employees
I submitted a longer essay to the popular Canadian educational journal Our Schools Our Selves for publication. It was never published. The idea for the following has a personal basis: when my daughter was studying grade 11 Canadian history in Manitoba (Manitoba is one of 10 provinces in Canada, with three additional territories), I decided to look … Continue reading A Case of Silent Indoctrination, Part One: The Manitoba History Curricula and Its Lack of History of Employers and Employees
Socialism, What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers, Part One
Leer este post en español [Utilicé ChatGPT (Inteligencia Artificial) para traducir la versión en inglés al español.] My wife asked me what other kind of society could we live than the one we are living now. I suspect that most people have the same kind of question. It is difficult to imagine another kind of … Continue reading Socialism, What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers, Part One
The Issue of Health and Safety in the Workplace Dominated by a Class of Employers
I submitted an article for the popular education journal Our Schools/Our Selves concerning the issue of safety (and the lack of critical thinking skills that is embodied in two Ontario curricula on Equity and Social Justice). In that article, I quote: More than 1000 employees die every year in Canada on the job, and about … Continue reading The Issue of Health and Safety in the Workplace Dominated by a Class of Employers
Ontario Looks Right–With Some Help From the “Left”
Most of the following was written over six years ago. It is still relevant. Herman Rosenfeld recently wrote an article on the election of the right-wing government of Doug Ford in Ontario, Canada (Ontario Looks Right). I would like to take issue with some of his analysis, specifically in relation to unions (and, to a … Continue reading Ontario Looks Right–With Some Help From the “Left”
