Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Eight: Collective Agreement in Alberta Between Various Employers and Various International Unions

Introduction At the beginning of writing this blog, I wrote up some posts that focused on the management-rights clause of collective agreements between a union and an employer in order to demonstrate the limitations of collective bargaining and collective agreements. I then integrated the issue of management rights into an anlaysis of the rate of … Continue reading Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Eight: Collective Agreement in Alberta Between Various Employers and Various International Unions →

Review of Socialist Action’s Spring Education Conference 2024: What Socialists Do in Unions, Part One

Introduction As I indicated in an earlier post, I attended the second session spring 2024 education conference of Socialist Action (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA-mVbaSSOc&t=4354s) since the issue of what socialists should do in unions is of prime importance- but was excluded from it after I asked a couple of questions in the chat and responded to Barry Weisleder's … Continue reading Review of Socialist Action’s Spring Education Conference 2024: What Socialists Do in Unions, Part One →

Fair Contracts or Collective Agreements: The Ideological Rhetoric of Canadian Unions, Part Five: The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU)

Introduction Since in this blog I have often referred to particular union reps referring to collective agreements as fair in some way, I thought it would be useful to provide further examples of this rhetoric to substantiate the view that unions function as ideologues for the continued existence of employers--even if the unions are independent … Continue reading Fair Contracts or Collective Agreements: The Ideological Rhetoric of Canadian Unions, Part Five: The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) →

Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Seven: Imperial Oil Stratchona Refinery and Unifor Local 21-A

Introduction At the beginning of writing this blog, I wrote up some posts that focused on the management-rights clause of collective agreements between a union and an employer in order to demonstrate the limitations of collective bargaining and collective agreements. I then integrated the issue of management rights into an anlaysis of the rate of … Continue reading Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Seven: Imperial Oil Stratchona Refinery and Unifor Local 21-A →

The Rhetoric of Union Reps: The So-called Good Job and Fair Wages of Liquor Store Workers

Introduction Workers working for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) are now on strike. There seem to be three issues from the point of view of the union (Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local (OPSEU): job security (since Conserative Premier Doug Ford plans to privatize liquor sales by permitting such sales in local grocery … Continue reading The Rhetoric of Union Reps: The So-called Good Job and Fair Wages of Liquor Store Workers →

Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Six: Singapore

Introduction The power or employers to dictate to workers is hardly confined to Canada, of course. Various countries dominated by the class of employers have the right to dictate to workers except as limited by the collective agreement (and, of course, certain legislative acts). Collective Agreement Between the American School Trust Ltd., a.k.a. Singapore American … Continue reading Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Six: Singapore →

Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Five: An Australian Collective Agreement

Introduction I was unable to find a specific management rights clause in an Australian collective agreement. However, such rights are implicit in it. For example, in the 2019-2022 Enterprise Agreement between Geoscience Australia and two unions--the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and Professionals Australia--it is implicit that management ultimately establishes the standards used to … Continue reading Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Five: An Australian Collective Agreement →

Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Four: School District No. 57, British Columbia

Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Three: Private Sector, The United States

Introduction The power or employers to dictate to workers is hardly confined to Canada, of course. Various countries dominated by the class of employers have the right to dictate to workers except as limited by the collective agreement (and, of course, certain legislative acts). Collective Agreement Between Aimbridge Employee Service Corp. and UNITE HERE! Local … Continue reading Management Rights and the Lack of Criticism of Such Rights Among the Social Democratic Left, Part Three: Private Sector, The United States →

Organizing within Unions to Fight Against the Genocide in Palestine

James Hutt recently published an article in Midnight Sun on unions and resistance to the genocide in Palestine (https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/moving-unions-to-fight-for-a-free-palestine/): 1. 29. 2024 Moving Unions to Fight for a Free Palestine James Hutt On December 12, Canada voted in favour of a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. Despite … Continue reading Organizing within Unions to Fight Against the Genocide in Palestine →