The attitude of much of the left in Toronto (and I suspect elsewhere in Canada and the world) is that working for an employer is not all that bad. Why else would the left not object to references to "decent work," "fair contracts," "economic justice," and so forth by union reps, or the coupling of … Continue reading Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part Three
Category: Health and Safety
Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part Two
I thought it appropriate to post on the issue of safety and health in relation to working for an employer. In Canada, April 28 is the National Day of Mourning, or Workers' Mourning Day, for workers killed, injured or suffering illnesses due to workplace hazards. Why do unions and the social-reformist left often speak in … Continue reading Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part Two
Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part One
The title is a variation of one of the subsections in chapter two of Jeremy Reiman's The Rich Get Richer … and the Poor Get Prison. In a couple of earlier posts, I pointed out that working for an employer involves needless deaths and injuries (The Issue of Health and Safety in the Workplace Dominated by … Continue reading Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part One
Unions and Safety on Jobs Controlled by Employers
The following tries to explain why unions do not adequately address the safety concerns of rank-and-file workers who work for an employer. Of course, safety conditions in non-unionized settings may be even worse, but we should not idealize unionized settings either. They are better than non-unionized settings, generally, but they remain inadequate since workers' safety … Continue reading Unions and Safety on Jobs Controlled by Employers
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
The Abolitionary 