Sam Gindin published an article on the Socialist Project website entitled GM Oshawa: Making Hope Possible. The following is a continuation of two previous posts on the closure and the inadequate nature of the social-reformist left in dealing with such closures (see Management Rights and the Crisis in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada: Limitations of the Reformist … Continue reading Once Again on the GM Plant Closure in Oshawa and the Limitations of the Social-Reformist Left
Tag: capitalism
Worker Resistance Against Management, Part One
Some among the social-reformist left here in Toronto have accused me of being academic. They paint their activism as real as opposed to my own activities. I thought it appropriate, then, to provide a story first about my own resistance as a worker. I will do so in order to be able to point to … Continue reading Worker Resistance Against Management, Part One
The Meaning of Being Hired, Fired and Laid Off
The following is a debate on Facebook I had with a pro-employer right-winger. The context was the closing down of the Oshawa GM auto factory (among others) in Ontario, Canada, the loss of around 3,000 direct jobs there and the possible loss of around 15,000 additional workers due to the spin-off losses of the suppliers … Continue reading The Meaning of Being Hired, Fired and Laid Off
An Example of the Inadequacy of the Canadian Left, or How the Canadian Left Contributes to the Emergence of the Canadian Right
On Facebook, a social-reformist leftist posted the fact that the Ontario Conservative government, headed by the right-wing millionaire Doug Ford, had eliminated the position of Ontario Child Advocate Office, integrating it with the Ombudsman's Office. The person had attached the comment "Shameful". A subsequent comment objected to the fact that the man who filled the … Continue reading An Example of the Inadequacy of the Canadian Left, or How the Canadian Left Contributes to the Emergence of the Canadian Right
Socialism, What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers, Part Three
Leer este post en español The following is a continuation of an earlier post (Socialism, Part Two: What It May Look Like) about the nature of socialism--which is a solution to problems that capitalism, characterized by the domination of a class of employers, cannot solve. Socialism is not something that emerges from a utopian view … Continue reading Socialism, What It May Look Like, or Visions of a Better Kind of Society Without Employers, Part Three
Confessions of a Union Representative Concerning the Real Power of Employers
In the context of the process of passing legislation related to the Westray mining disaster (ultimately diluted to satisfy the interests of employers), a union representative explicitly expressed the reality that workers face when they work for employers. The problem with this explicit admission of the power of employers is that it does not play … Continue reading Confessions of a Union Representative Concerning the Real Power of Employers
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
Management Rights, Part Four: Private Sector Collective Agreement, Ontario, or: How the Social-Democratic Left Ignore Them
Management Rights The social-democratic left typically is incapable of dealing with the issue of the power of management. There is little or no discussion over such issues despite the existence of the power of the class of employers at various levels of society: economic, political, social and cultural. This silence expresses both the power of … Continue reading Management Rights, Part Four: Private Sector Collective Agreement, Ontario, or: How the Social-Democratic Left Ignore Them
Getting Away with Murder and Bodily Assault: Employers and the Law
Steven Bittle, in his doctoral dissertation, Still Dying for a Living: Shaping Corporate Criminal Liability After the Westray Mine Disaster (Kingston, Ontario: Queen's University argues the following (from page ii): Overall, the dissertation suggests that the assumptions that animated Canada’s corporate criminal liability legislation and the meanings inscribed in its provisions throw serious doubt on … Continue reading Getting Away with Murder and Bodily Assault: Employers and the Law
A Case of Silent Indoctrination, Part Two: The Ontario History Curriculum and Its Lack of History of Employers and Employees
This post is a continuation of a previous post on the Manitoba history curriculum (see A Case of Silent Indoctrination, Part One: The Manitoba History Curricula and Its Lack of History of Employers and Employees). The background to the post is provided in that previous post. But just a reminder: the research question is: … Continue reading A Case of Silent Indoctrination, Part Two: The Ontario History Curriculum and Its Lack of History of Employers and Employees
The Abolitionary 