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The Crisis in the ATU: Labour Shoots Itself in the Foot
LabourWorking class sovereignty can only have legitimate meaning if it starts with the Canadian rank and file as the final arbiters of changes in Canadian structures. It demands building the working class in both Canada and the U.S. through bringing more workers into unions rather than fighting over dues. And it means collectively struggling with how to reinvent our unions.
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Bob White, Union Organizer, Union Leader: April 28, 1935 – February 19, 2017
LabourThe story of Bob White will only provide a living legacy if it inspires workers and unions to draw on elements of his achievements to figure out anew how, in this particular era, unions can once again mobilize their members and their communities and lead the more general struggles for equality, justice, solidarity and a more meaningful democracy.
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Undercover Boss: disciplining workers for fun and profit
LabourThe show is predicated on a CEO going undercover in their own company to understand their business and workers better. Superficially, Undercover Boss is a feel-good story about the benevolence of corporate CEOs, a closer reading reveals it creates a myth that resolves itself squarely on the side of capital while simultaneously functioning as a warning to workers that their boss could be watching them at any time.
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Basic Income: Progressive Dreams Meet Neoliberal Realities
Economic CrisisThe model of BI that governments are working on in their social policy laboratories will not ‘end the tyranny of the labour market’ but render it more dreadful. The agenda of austerity and privatization requires a system of income support that renders people as powerless and desperate as possible in the face of exploitation and that won’t change if it is relabelled as ‘Basic Income’.
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Organising to Win: Direct Action Wins at Frite Alors!
LabourA lot of the labour movement knows that there are serious problems with the way unions have developed in Canada. If you say “we rely too much on the grievance procedure,” people will nod sagely. If you say “we need to find a way to get back to our roots and use organization on the job to pressure management into making concessions,” a lot of people are going to agree with you.
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Canada Post workers fight for a fairer, greener future
EnvironmentCanada Post could become the hub of a greener economy in our communities. The infrastructure exists and, combined with postal banking, Canada Post can once again become a powerhouse for community connections. The vision of Delivering Community Power is limited only by a lack of political will and the stubborn opposition of the Harper holdouts currently running the show at Canada Post.
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Young workers: An “entitled” generation without entitlements
LabourNow more than ever, we have the material wealth to virtually end poverty, unemployment and social injustice, and yet consistently choose to intensify inequality within and between generations. Ultimately, the branding of millennials as lazy and entitled is essential to justify the intensified destruction of the postwar social contract.
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Ford Unifor Agreement Ratified: Voted Down at Oakville Unit, Local 707
LabourThe germs of organization developing in Oshawa – all point in the direction of possible, new life for a collective resistance to the current regime in auto. Learning about the legacy of resistance, struggle, internal battles inside the union and the role of socialists – going back to the 1930s – is a key component of building on the real frustration and anger of today’s young workers.
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Disillusioned by Leadership, Many Union Rank-and-File Turned to Trump
LabourThis is not a generation that’s going to stand by and let this congress and the fossil fuel industry destroy their prospects for health. It’s not going to happen. The climate crisis is going to overwhelm us unless we address it directly and this young generation understands that. I think that’s where it goes. That this is a movement moment greater than we had anticipated.
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Orgreave: Winning the battle means winning the war
LabourThe truth about the Battle of Orgreave paints an incriminating picture of the neoliberal capitalist state, the police and mainstream media. For this reason, the government will attempt to block any inquiry. They know that if the truth is acknowledged, the structural foundations and imagery of neoliberal society will begin to crumble.
