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What does each party offers for workers and labour organizing?
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September 10, 2021
 

Hey Shift Workers,

“If it’s a million to one, I’m gonna be that one,” Camila Cabello, playing Cinderella, sings in the latest Amazon rendition of the fairy tale. Instead of marrying a prince to lift her out of poverty, Cinderella hopes to start a business and sell custom clothing to wealthy elites. One fairy tale has been replaced by another - if you hustle hard enough, you can beat the odds and work your way out of poverty.

“There was this idea of being your own boss and...having two or three jobs but it’s a myth and a lot more people have realized it’s a myth,” labour organizer Aminah Sheikh explains in the latest CCPA podcast Unpacked, adding that women in the beauty industry are often misclassified as independent contractors. “What would help this world of work is people organizing and coming together and seeing themselves as workers rather than entrepreneurs.”

Last night, Canada Goose workers - who create luxury jackets - did just that, protesting Canada Goose for sponsoring several diversity awards at the Toronto International Film Festival while blocking their predominantly racialized women workers from unionizing.

Canada Goose workers just released the trailer for their own documentary film which you can watch here.

- Emily

 
 
 
 
Spotlight
 
 
Here's What Canada's 3 Major Parties Say They Will Do for Workers and Labour Unions
What party platforms have to say about improving working conditions and labour organizing.
 
 
Erin O’Toole’s Plan to ‘Secure Pensions’ Could Allow Companies to Cut Pensions, Labour Experts Say
O’Toole previously proposed legislation that would allow companies to “walk away” from pension obligations.
 
 
Top Headlines
 
Photo via Joshua Berson for The Tyee
 


  • CUPW workers in New Brunswick want Canada Post delivery brought in-house to prevent contract flipping.

  • The B.C. Federation of Labour released an extensive report and new poll on paid sick days, showing strong public support.

  • Service industry employers continue to complain about labour shortages - but some are getting the hint and offering better wages and benefits.

  • Alberta is bringing in contract nurses to address staffing shortages while demanding unionized nurses take a wage cut - a demand nurses say will lead to a strike.

 
New Organizing
 
CWA highlights unionizations in journalism in new Instagram video.
 

 
Picket Shifts
 
Locked out workers in Grand Falls, NFLD participate in Labour Day via Valley Radio Grand Falls-Windsor/Facebook
 

  • Municipal workers in Grand Falls, Newfoundland celebrated Labour Day despite being locked out. The employer has demanded more power over job classifications and asked employees to pay for future health insurance increases.

  • 700 De Havilland aerospace workers and Unifor members have been on strike since August 1 after Longview Aviation announced Dash 8 aircraft production would be transferred to another plant. Ontario's Superior Court granted the employer an injunction which severely limits Unifor's right to picket.

  • Alberta CESSCO Fabrication and Engineering workers have been locked out for over a year fighting employer demands to gut wages and pensions.

  • B.C. hotel workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 40, remain locked out of Pacific Gateway and Hilton Metrotown hotel chains. Workers are fighting for their employers to extend recall rights after laying off workers during the pandemic.

  • B.C. construction workers with IBEW 213 have been on strike for two years fighting union-buster Ledco.

  • Check out Alberta Advantage's podcast episode In Case of Strike for an explainer on why strikes matter.

 
 
Before You Go...
 
Poster via Anne Douris
 

 
Events
 
 


  • September 22, 10 AM MT: Public Interest Alberta AGM &  Keynote with Yanis Varoufakis. AGM begins at 1 PM MT.



 
 
Shift Work Culture
 
 

The 2021 Canadian Labour International Film Festival lineup and coordinator packages have been released for groups or individuals interested in hosting their own virtual screenings.

 
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