Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Twenty-Seven: Homelessness and the Working Class

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 Twenty-Seven: Homelessness and the Working Class →

Economics for Social Democrats–but Not for the Working Class, Part Five: Critique of Jim Stanford’s View that Workers Sell Their Labour (Time): Part One

Introduction This is a continuation of an initial critique of views of the social-democratic economist, Jim Stanford. In a previous post on this topic, I showed that Mr. Stanford's background and his nationalist idealization of Canada indicate that he likely adopts a social-democratic view of the world (see Economics for Social Democrats–but Not for the Working … Continue reading Economics for Social Democrats–but Not for the Working Class, Part Five: Critique of Jim Stanford’s View that Workers Sell Their Labour (Time): Part One →

Pointing Out the Superexploitation of Workers Still Requires Connections to the Regular and Unacknowledged Exploitation of Workers

I was surprised to see the following recent Facebook post by John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), without any comments: The brand name companies profit from exploitation and brutality but contract out the messy details to local enforcers. From The Guardian. Leading fashion brands including Barbour and PVH, which … Continue reading Pointing Out the Superexploitation of Workers Still Requires Connections to the Regular and Unacknowledged Exploitation of Workers →

The Rate of Exploitation of Palestinian Workers at PADICO Holding, a Palestinian Capitalist Company

Introduction I thought it appropriate to inquire into whether there are (or rather were) capitalist corporations in Palestine that exploit their workers since the left here in Toronto tend to idealize Palestine. Of course, even if there are capitalist corporations, they may be somewhat indirectly controlled by other than Palestinian capitalists; I leave that issue … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of Palestinian Workers at PADICO Holding, a Palestinian Capitalist Company →

The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Indigo (or Chapters or Coles) Or: How Unionized Jobs Are Not Decent or Good Jobs

Introduction I was, in part, inspired to start this blog because of the incredible lack of critical thinking on the part of the pro-union left here in Toronto. In particular, when I tried to bring up the issue of whether striking brewery workers could ever except to obtain "a fair deal, good jobs, pension security … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Indigo (or Chapters or Coles) Or: How Unionized Jobs Are Not Decent or Good Jobs →

Critical Education Articles Placed in the Teacher Staff Lounge While I Was a Teacher, Part Twenty-Five: Enron and Corporate Governance by a Minority as Anti-Democratic Even If It is Government-Regulated

List of Major Employers in the Quebec City Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)

Introduction When belonging to a leftist organization called the Toronto Labour Committee (Ontario, Canada), I worked on, in a minor position, on some statistics related to financial campaign contributions for the Toronto elections. Not being satisfied with this, I proposed that we start trying to develop a class analysis of Toronto. I indicated, though, that … Continue reading List of Major Employers in the Quebec City Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) →

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 →

Political Democracy and the Class Power of Employers: Not a Foregone Pairing

John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, recently posted the following on Facebook: John Clarke At the present moment, we can see how fragile the rights of expression and assembly are in this society. Every attempt by those who shape the public discourse is being made to isolate and slander all … Continue reading Political Democracy and the Class Power of Employers: Not a Foregone Pairing →