May Day Rally - May 1 - Legislative Building - Regina

May Day Rally - May 1
Noon - Legislative Building

Click to send a letter to Brad Wall

Then in the evening attend:

May Day! May Day!

A celebration of Activism and Resistance

Thursday, May 1, 2008

7 pm - 11 pm

The Exchange (2431 8th Ave.), Regina

$7-12 (pay what you can)

All ages, free for kids under 12

What's right is right: the Supreme Court gets it

Well known, and nationally highly respected University of Saskatchewan Law Professor, Ken Norman recently authored a paper entitled: What's right is right: the Supreme Court gets it. Professor Norman's paper is based on the June 2007 Supreme Court decision respecting HEU v the B.C. government and makes a profound statement about the Charter Rights of workers in Canada, including free collective bargaining and the right to strike.

The paper opens as follows:

"The Supreme Court’s judgment in Health Services signals a crucial change in the discourse of labour rights in Canada. In this case the Court rejects, in principle, its previous stance that the rights to organize and to engage in collective bargaining are not fundamental constitutional rights at all. The reasoning in Health Services stands on a recognition of labour history as establishing that labour rights are fundamental and predate the Charter; of labour rights as reflecting the Charter values of human dignity, equality, liberty, respect for the autonomy of the person and enhancement of democracry and of Canada’s commitments to collective bargaining rights in the international conventions as providing a floor of labour rights for interpretation of freedom of association, s.2 (d) of the Charter." (read more....)

GrainAction: Putting Producers First

Why BIlls 5 and 6 Matter

Jaime Garcia, 2nd Vice President & Youth Chair for Local 397 of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees union has a great commentary posted on the COPE 397 Website entitled: Why Bills 5 and 6 Matter.

"Why Bills 5 and 6 Matter

Many people misunderstand or are not aware of how Bills 5 and 6 will affect them. Frankly, some people don’t even care. But beware of apathy.

I have to admit, I have friends and family in the apathetic camp. I am not surrounded of “union” types, the “politically correct” crowd and the partisans typically supporting a wide range of causes. I am just like anyone else and even within my family there are people with different opinions in the vast political range.

So why should you care about Bills 5 and 6? Honestly, I can’t tell why you should care, but I will tell you why it matters to me:" (Read more....)

Canada Post CEO suing Union over Blog Posting

Talk about a thin skin. Looking for a good laugh?

Canada Post CEO, Moya Greene is suing past Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) President, Deborah Bourque for libel over a satirical blog posting.

You can read all about it on the CUPW Blog site at: Moya Greene Sees Red – Gives Notice under Libel and Slander Act.

Tim Naumetz of the Canadian Press has written about the subject at: Canada Post, its union and Tim Hortons tangled in libel suit.

Environmental Disaster Explained

SFL marks Day of Mourning in ceremonies across the province

SFL marks Day of Mourning in ceremonies across the province

April 28th marks the International Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job.

In 2007, over 800 workers died from workplace injuries and diseases in Canada. Close to a million injuries, half of which are dehabilitating, occur annually.

37 Saskatchewan workers died from job related injuries or illness this past year.

“Last year, a worker died every two weeks in our province. Saskatchewan has the second worst injury rate in the country. We mourn today with all of the families devastated by these deaths and injuries. With heavy hearts, we recognize that so many deaths and injuries could have been prevented,” said SFL President Larry Hubich. (Read more....)

SFL Labour Reporter - May 2008 Issue

The May 2008 issue of the SFL Labour Reporter is now available on line.

Click here to download in PDF Format.

The tide turns against biofuels - The Real News

The tide turns against biofuels
As biofuel production booms, concerns grow about food supply and environmental damage. (Read transcript and further information)

Premier's Letter Misrepresents Consultation with Labour

On April 16, 2008, Sask. Party Premier Brad Wall wrote to the Chair of the Regina Labour Council Political Action Committee to advise that he (the Premier) would not be able to attend the Labour Council's public forum/debate on Bills 5 and 6. (See letter here)

The letter attempts to leave the impression that the government has engaged the labour movement in extensive consultation around the Bills. It refers to alleged meetings held with the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, with leaders of the labour movement, and with me specifically. Some of those meetings never occurred as suggested, and if they did occur - the portrayal of the purpose, and content of the meetings is false.

Representatives of the government have consistently refused to meet with labour on these matters, and have refused to attend public forums to discuss them with the people who will be affected.

On April 22, 2008 I wrote to the Premier expressing my deep concern about the misrepresentations contained in his letter. (See letter here)

Business Council resorts to Half-Truths and Outright Lies

The so-called Sask. Business Council ran a large ad in Saskatchewan's major daily newspapers on Friday, April 18, 2008. It is their attempt to con citizens into believing that the government's anti-worker, anti-democratic labour law changes are good for people.

The ad is riddled with half-truths and outright lies. You can view a larger version by clicking the image below:

Near-feudal conditions endured by immigrant workers

What an international embarassment we've become in this country. If this is indicative of Gordon Campbell's, Ed Stelmach's, and Brad Wall's "New West" (supported and encouraged by Stephen Harper) - I want no part of it.

"A bitter harvest for B.C. berry pickers

In a lengthy and stinging ruling, judge details near-feudal conditions endured by immigrant workers harvesting produce

ROBERT MATAS

From Saturday's Globe and Mail
April 19, 2008 at 1:02 PM EDT

VANCOUVER — In a stinging 801-page ruling on an employment insurance scam, a federal Tax Court judge says widespread exploitation of Indo-Canadian berry pickers in fields outside Vancouver is reminiscent of scenes from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

"When a 65-year-old grandmother leaves her village in India, travels nearly two days to Vancouver and is hired within a week by a labour contractor who transports her - at dawn and back at night - in a crowded van for up to eight hours a day so she can earn eight hours pay at minimum wage - or less if paid on piece rate - something is radically wrong with certain aspects of the federal family reunification program and also the berry and vegetable industry in British Columbia," Dwayne Rowe, a Tax Court of Canada judge, stated in a ruling issue this week." (Read more ....)

Support the Right to Water

www.RightToWater.ca

Unrepentant: Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide

Kevin Annett & The Truth Commission...
1 hr 48 min 56 sec - 2007-03-19
www.hiddenfromhistory.org

"...This documentary reveals Canada's darkest secret - the deliberate extermination of indigenous (Native American) peoples and the theft of their land under the guise of religion. This never before told history as seen through the eyes of this former minister (Kevin Annett) who blew the whistle on his own church, after he learned of thousands of murders in its Indian Residential Schools..."

Legislation restores health care workers' collective bargaining rights

10 months after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the actions of the Gordon Campbell B.C. goverment violated workers constitutional rights - legislation has been tabled in the B.C. legislature to start to repair the damage done to thousands of workers in that province. The cost to B.C. taxpayers: between 75 and 100 million dollars.

How much are the heavy-handed and undemocratic actions of the Sask. Party Brad Wall conservatives going to cost Saskatchewan taxpayers?

"Legislation restores health care workers' collective bargaining rights

BC Liberals table bill to bring provincial laws into compliance with last June's Supreme Court of Canada ruling that struck down key provisions of Bill 29

April 14, 2008

More than six years after imposing a law that rewrote collective agreements, the BC Liberals have tabled a bill to implement last year’s historic Supreme Court of Canada ruling that struck down key provisions of Bill 29 – the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act, as unconstitutional." (Read more....)

See the Canadian Press coverage of the story here.

RCMP Execute Search Warrant on Conservative Party Headquarters

The mainstream media is buzzing with reports that the RCMP have raided the headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada for files related to election expenses. More details are available:

Globe and Mail
Canadian Press
CBC
CanWest Global

The $3 Trillion Shopping Spree

The $3 Trillion Shopping Spree

Anti-Unionism: The Last Legal Hate

Excerpted and reproduced below, and then linked in full, is an article/commentary written by Humberto da Silva. It was written in February of 2003, but is as relevant today as it ever was. At the time of penning this article, da Silva was a labour activist and writer living in Scarborough, Ontario.

"Anti-Unionism: The Last Legal Hate

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Hating unions, ... is not only acceptable in good company, it is encouraged.

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We live in a society where everyone from a single mother doing a tightrope act on the poverty line to Conrad Black say that they are part of the middle class. The single mother is just indulging in a little of the opiate of the masses she got hooked on in school. Conrad is selling crack. But the Big H when you need to feel better about yourself is still definitely Hate.

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Thankfully we have managed to get our ruling class to legislate, at least nominally, against the evils of racism, sexism, ageism, and discrimination because of disability or sexual orientation. These haven't disappeared, but like drunk driving, they are no longer anyone will admit to in polite company.

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However there is one hate that still dares speak it's name: class hate, and because we are a classless society, this is manifested as union hate. Hating unions, and by extension, hating union members is not only acceptable in good company, it is encouraged. Racist jokes are generally now met with stony silence or a polite rebuke. But bring up those unions and everybody has a story to tell." (Read more....) Adobe PDF Format

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HTML version

Dear Mr. President Live - Pink

Fire them first - ask questions later

On March 6, 2008 the mean-spirited Sask. Party government walked into the Labour Relations Board in the middle of a hearing and fired the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Board, and replaced the three of them with 1 hand-picked Chair.

This mean-spirited and vindictive knee-jerk action by the new government is rapidly becoming their trade mark in how they deal with people that they determine they don't like.

Their action was so ill-conceived that it actually violated the Trade Union Act (the very Act which the Board is legislated to administer and uphold). These actions have been soundly condemned by the organization representing over 300 labour lawyers across Canada.

In an attempt to try and partially correct their blunder, yesterday (April 10 - over a month later) the Sask. Party government introduced, yet another amendment to the Trade Union Act - "Bill 24". It's a very short Bill that achieves one thing - it tries to cover-up the mistake. (see below)

2 Subsection 4(1) of The Trade Union Act is amended by adding "not more than" before "two vice-chairpersons".