Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part One: Regional Cancer Centres Employers Association

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 One: Regional Cancer Centres Employers Association →

Leftist Radicals Who Refer to Human Rights Abuses and the Abuse of International Law: Should Such References Be Criticized?

References to human rights and international law seem to be in vogue by the radical left these days. Thus, John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, posted the following recently on Facebook: Imagine if a regime Washington was hostile to had carried out 1% of the human rights abuses and violations … Continue reading Leftist Radicals Who Refer to Human Rights Abuses and the Abuse of International Law: Should Such References Be Criticized? →

Radical Leftists Often Take Back with One Hand What They Give with the Other

Introduction Naomi Klein, who is often taken to be a radical leftist, published an article which was a speech ... at an event organized by Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition in defence of activists arrested by Toronto police for putting up posters at an Indigo bookstore. In the article, she outlines why Indigo was … Continue reading Radical Leftists Often Take Back with One Hand What They Give with the Other →

Idealization of the Rule of Law Once Again: The Case of Indigo CEO Heather Reisman and Activists Against Israel’s Palestinian Genocide

John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), posted the following without comment on Facebook recently. From Yves Engler (November 28, 2023) ( https://springmag.ca/toronto-police-should-target-heather-reisman-not-activists ): Toronto police should target Heather Reisman, not activists Aggressive pre-dawn police raids on homes and charging individuals with hate crimes for posting social justice messages is … Continue reading Idealization of the Rule of Law Once Again: The Case of Indigo CEO Heather Reisman and Activists Against Israel’s Palestinian Genocide →

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

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 →

Another Post by a Union that Idealizes both International Law and Human Rights: The Case of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

I received the following email from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the largest union in Canada: A message from Fred Hahn, CUPE National General Vice-President / Un message de Fred Hahn, Vice-président général national du SCFP (Le français suit) On October 7th, Hamas committed a horrific terrorist attack on civilians in Israel. On … Continue reading Another Post by a Union that Idealizes both International Law and Human Rights: The Case of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) →

The Limitations of a Union Position–and Much of the Left– with Respect to the Israel-Palestine Conflict: The Idealization of International Law

Introduction The second largest union in Canada, the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) recently made a statement on the recent Palestine-Israeli conflict: NUPGE Statement on the Escalation of Violence in Israel and Palestine October 12 2023 Like all Canadians, indeed all people, we are horrified by the scenes of suffering and pain … Continue reading The Limitations of a Union Position–and Much of the Left– with Respect to the Israel-Palestine Conflict: The Idealization of International Law →

What’s Left, Toronto? Part One

I wrote the following around six years ago. It is still pertinent today. Indeed, we read the following from a recent "Marxist" last year: When there once existed a mass international socialist movement, polemics were hard-edged because the movement was everywhere bidding for power. But the polemical texts were typically substantial, factual, and challenging and … Continue reading What’s Left, Toronto? Part One →