Tim Heffernan is retired Ontario Teacher and OSSTF activist. The leadership of the union representing 60,000 high school teachers and educators in Ontario (OSSTF) is taking its membership into uncharted and dangerous waters as it bargains with the Ontario government. The union has accepted a government proposal to agree to binding arbitration. Contract talks will […]
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Tim Heffernan and Bill Hopwood, from Socialist Alternative Issue #26 The rising cost of living, boosted by high interest rates, continue to hit workers hard. In Canada and around the world there has been an upturn in strikes. As Mick Lynch, a British union leader, stated, “The working class is back, and we refuse to […]
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Workers Rising! Youth demand Socialism Alberta Toronto Rent Strikes Manitoba Election Fighting Caste Oppression Life of a Student What Makes Me Angry Women’s Safety Chile 1970 – 73, Revolution and Reaction US: Workers Strike Back Capitalism’s New Cold War BC Solidarity 1983: A Near Revolution Housing Emergency Capitalism’s Highway to Hell … and more from […]
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Metro grocery workers in Greater Toronto, members of Unifor, voted overwhelmingly to strike in 27 stores, effective July 29, after rejecting a tentative deal reached by the union bargaining committee and the company. Since then, some 3,700 workers have withheld their labour and have been on the picket lines to force the company and their […]
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Written by Socialist Alternative members in solidarity on the picket line. On Friday, August 4, BC’s longshore workers voted to accept a new agreement. This follows more than a month of strikes, bargaining, and the members rejecting two earlier tentative agreements. Behind it all was a major attempt by the bosses, backed by the federal […]
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“We can’t even shop at our own grocery store. We can’t afford to.” The above comment in a news article came from Eman Chaudhry, a part-time cashier at a Toronto Metro store, explaining why they are striking. The article that included her quote stated that “she and her family struggle to make ends meet to […]
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Written by Socialist Alternative members in solidarity on the picket line. The rollercoaster of the struggle of BC’s longshore workers has taken another turn with the announcement late on Sunday, July 30, that there was a new tentative agreement. This followed International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) members voting to reject the proposals of […]
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This article was published in the latest issue of Socialist Alternative’s magazine. Since then, further strikes have erupted including ILWU at BC’s ports and 27 Metro stores around Toronto. Over the last thirty years, academics and pundits have written off the working class, arguing that it has changed or disappeared. The last few years has […]
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Oliver Twist, desperately hungry in the workhouse, famously asked for “some more” thin gruel. Mr. Bumble is outraged and berates Oliver for his impertinence. Fast forward to 2023 Ontario, land of the business fat cats, auto makers Volkswagen (VW) and Stellantis, who do not request “more,” they demand billions in subsidies, or else. Not a […]
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Written by Socialist Alternative members in solidarity on the picket line. On Wednesday, July 19, the leadership of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) changed their position on their legal strike multiple times. In the morning they announced they were suspending the strike, after restarting it the day before, only to announce a few […]
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