Should Not the Radical Left Take into Account the Attitude of Workers Towards Their Own Jobs? Part Four, The Case of General Motors Workers

Introduction One of the few things that I agree with the academic leftist Jeff Noonan, professor of philosophy at the University of Windsor, Ontario, is that leftists must start where workers are at: Political engagement begins from trying to understand where people are coming from. But where people are coming from can be interpreted in … Continue reading Should Not the Radical Left Take into Account the Attitude of Workers Towards Their Own Jobs? Part Four, The Case of General Motors Workers →

Company Town: A Critical Review of a Documentary on the Closing of the Oshawa Plant by General Motors (GM), Part Two: Jerry Dias, President of Unifor National

Introduction The documentary (https://gem.cbc.ca/media/cbc-docs-pov/s04e05?cmp=sch-company%20town) presents the situation in Oshawa, Ontario, where General Motors (GM) decided to close its plant. GM had operated in Oshawa for around a century. On November 16, 2018, GM announced that it was closing the plant, throwing around 2,500 direct workers out of work and affecting thousands more indirectly (through the … Continue reading Company Town: A Critical Review of a Documentary on the Closing of the Oshawa Plant by General Motors (GM), Part Two: Jerry Dias, President of Unifor National →

The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Bombardier, 2018, One of the Largest Private Employers in Quebec and in Toronto, Ontario: Or: How Unionized Jobs are Not Decent or Good

Introduction In two others posts I presented a list of some of the largest employers in Toronto according to level of employment (see A Short List of the Largest Employers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Quebec (see A Short List of the Largest Employers in Quebec According to the Number of Employees). I have tried … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Bombardier, 2018, One of the Largest Private Employers in Quebec and in Toronto, Ontario: Or: How Unionized Jobs are Not Decent or Good →

Company Town: A Critical Review of a Documentary on the Closing of the Oshawa Plant by General Motors (GM), Part One: Colin James, President of Unifor Local 222

The Rate of Exploitation of General Motors Workers

I thought it would be politically relevant to try to estimate the rate of exploitation of General Motors (GM) workers for 2019 (since annual reports starting in 2020 would distort the picture because of the pandemic). I say politically relevant because of the closure of the GM Oshawa plant on December 18, 2019 and the … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of General Motors Workers →

Transparency in Collective Bargaining: A Necessary but Insufficient Condition for Democratic and Rational Working-Class Practice

Rebecca Keetch wrote an article that was posted on the Socialist Project's website on transparency and collective bargaining (https://socialistproject.ca/2020/09/canadian-auto-workers-fight-for-contract-transparency/). Ms. Keetch was a former GM worker at Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, and she is a member and activist of Green Jobs Oshawa. Ms. Keetch advocates for transparent bargaining in a form similar to what I tried … Continue reading Transparency in Collective Bargaining: A Necessary but Insufficient Condition for Democratic and Rational Working-Class Practice →

A Critical Look at The Socialist Project’s Pamphlet on Green Jobs Oshawa

The Socialist Project, "based in Toronto [Ontario, Canada] ... works to generate and promote Left activism education and organizing. Our membership includes activists, students, workers educators and others interested in Socialist politics in Canada," recently published (February 2020) a pamphlet titled Take the Plant--Save the Planet: The Struggle for Community Control and Plant Conversion at … Continue reading A Critical Look at The Socialist Project’s Pamphlet on Green Jobs Oshawa →