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 →

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 →

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 Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Empire Company (or Sobeys or Thrifty Foods or FreshCo or Safeway Canada or IGA or Foodland Workers), One of the Largest Private Employers in Victoria, British Columbia, Or: How Unionized Jobs Are Not Decent or Good Jobs

I was, in part, inspired to start this blog because of the incredible lack of criticla 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 and … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Empire Company (or Sobeys or Thrifty Foods or FreshCo or Safeway Canada or IGA or Foodland Workers), One of the Largest Private Employers in Victoria, British Columbia, Or: How Unionized Jobs Are Not Decent or Good Jobs →

Rocking-Chair Marxism

I was inspired by someone to change the title of this post from "Armchair Marxism" to "Rocking-Chair Marxism." On a Marxist listserve, we read the following relatively recently: I find your schadenfreude at the suffering of an invaded and oppressed people revolting [referring to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine]. [Schadenfreude is a German word, … Continue reading Rocking-Chair Marxism →

The Need to Develop More Rigorous Analyses of Common Problems of the Working Class

John Clarke, former major organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), recently posted the following on Facebook: John Clarke I saw a religious message on social media the other day that led me to ponder questions of reasoning and analysis. It suggested that a lack of physical evidence for the existence of Heaven was … Continue reading The Need to Develop More Rigorous Analyses of Common Problems of the Working Class →

The Rate of Exploitation of AB (Anheuser-Busch) InBev NV (Including Labatt) Workers

I was, in part, inspired to start this blog because of the incredible lack of criticla 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 and … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of AB (Anheuser-Busch) InBev NV (Including Labatt) Workers →

Review of Thier’s Book “A People’s Guide to Capitalism,” Part Four

I participated in a group called No One Is Illegal here in Toronto last year. The group decided to provide a zoom reading meeting every week to discuss the book A People's Guide to Capitalism, by Hadas Thier, with many participants not belonging to the group but interested in understanding more about capitalism. We read … Continue reading Review of Thier’s Book “A People’s Guide to Capitalism,” Part Four →

The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Stantec, One of the Largest Private Employers in Edmonton, Or: How Unionized Jobs Are Not Decent or Good Jobs

Introduction In three others posts I presented a list of some of the largest employers in various cities (such as Toronto and Calgary) according to level of employment (see A Short List of the Largest Employers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada), and A Short List of the Largest Employers Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Based on … Continue reading The Rate of Exploitation of Workers at Stantec, One of the Largest Private Employers in Edmonton, Or: How Unionized Jobs Are Not Decent or Good Jobs →

School Rhetoric: Ideological Use of the Concept of Social Justice, Part One

Social justice has now become a buzzword these days. There is social justice this and social justice that, here a social justice, there a social justice, everywhere a social justice. This buzzword forms the ideology of the social-democratic left, for example, as well as the conservative right. After all, who is against social justice? The … Continue reading School Rhetoric: Ideological Use of the Concept of Social Justice, Part One →