Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part Six

Injuries, disease and death are the common experiences of many Canadian workers--and undoubtedly workers in all countries dominated by the power of a class of employers. This is so since, on the one hand, profit is the driving force of human life in such societies (see  The Money Circuit of Capital for an explanation of … Continue reading Working for an Employer May Be Dangerous to Your Health, Part Six

Socialism, Police and the Government or State, Part Two

This is a continuation of a previous post. It is a response to Mr. Sam Gindin's article, We Need to Say What Socialism Will Look Like , where he argues that under socialism the government or state will not "wither away" but will expand as public services expand. Mr. Gindin's conception of the expansion of … Continue reading Socialism, Police and the Government or State, Part Two

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

Management Rights and the Crisis in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada: Limitations of the Reformist Left, Part Two

In an earlier post, I questioned the Socialist Project's characterization of the problem that workers in Oshawa face (Management Rights and the Crisis in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada: Limitations of the Reformist Left, Part One). I also, implicitly, questioned their proposed solutions.  In this post, I will question their proposed solutions explicitly. The Committee then proposes … Continue reading Management Rights and the Crisis in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada: Limitations of the Reformist Left, Part Two

Management Rights and the Crisis in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada: Limitations of the Reformist Left, Part One

The Socialist Project Steering Committee wrote the following on its website (Taking on the GM Shutdown: Unifor, Oshawa and Community Control) : General Motor’s plan to end production at its Oshawa plant at the end of 2019 is a callous, cynical act by the U.S.-based multinational auto giant that needs to be challenged. After accepting … Continue reading Management Rights and the Crisis in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada: Limitations of the Reformist Left, Part One

Ontario Looks Right–With Some Help From the “Left”

Most of the following was written over six years ago. It is still relevant. Herman Rosenfeld recently wrote an article on the election of the right-wing government of Doug Ford in Ontario, Canada (Ontario Looks Right). I would like to take issue with some of his analysis, specifically in relation to unions (and, to a … Continue reading Ontario Looks Right–With Some Help From the “Left”

The Limitations of the Social-Reformist Left

Leer este post en español Introduction I used to belong to a leftist organization in Toronto. I started, slowly, to realize that it really has little to do with challenging the power of employers as a class despite the rhetoric concerning class issues being a priority. This view was confirmed when a movement for the … Continue reading The Limitations of the Social-Reformist Left