Sixty years ago, North America’s first socialist government, in the heart of the Canadian prairies, Saskatchewan, enacted one of the demands outlined in its manifesto: a free, public health care system. This new program was enacted on July 1, 1962. However, this was not without a struggle, as on the first day of its enactment, […]
Continue Reading
There’s the story of the guy who went to the gas station to pump up his car tires… they charged him 50 cents. He said, “it was only 20 cents last week.” The attendant replied, “that’s inflation for you.” Except inflation is no joke. When certain phrases get constantly used, they can lose their meaning. […]
Continue Reading
Workers Win Pay Raise and Cost of Living Agreement After 136 days, the strike of transit workers in the Whistler area ended on June 14. The lack of any public transit in the area caused real hardship, especially for low-paid workers, as well as to the 80 striking workers. The workers took strike action on […]
Continue Reading
Cost of Living Adjustment Needed Overwhelmingly, 33,000 BC Government employees have voted with a 94.6 percent majority, for strike action as they try to get the NDP government to agree wages that maintain living standards. The union, BCGEU, had an extensive campaign to reach members on the issues and to vote, taking the campaign to […]
Continue Reading
Steve Edwards is a member of Socialist Alternative in the US. Chris Fofonoff is a member of Socialist Alternative Canada. As the campaign to unionize Starbucks heats up with over 200 stores seeking representation by Starbucks Workers United, the movement needs to draw lessons from previous battles to organize the coffee Goliath. In previous articles […]
Continue Reading
Canada has proclaimed multiculturalism for over 50 years, and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act was enacted in 1988. Yet Canada has a long way to go before it can claim that title in reality rather than just on paper. Although Canada is a country populated overwhelmingly by migrants and their descendants, to this day, a large […]
Continue Reading
Written by former Starbucks workers. “We don’t need a union. We’re a family here!” “And you know, I heard at my friend’s cousin’s place that their union was so bad…” You get used to hearing anti-union talk at most Starbucks these days. Sometimes it’s a manager, other times it’s a shift-lead hoping to be a […]
Continue Reading
No to War! Build an Anti-War Movement Revolutionary Youth Ontario: Kick out Ford Workers Need a Real Pay Raise Polarization Comes to Canada Quality Childcare Needed … and much more from Canada and abroad! For printed copies, please send us an e-mail to [email protected] Please consider making a donation to help with our costs and […]
Continue Reading
A couple of days ago I asked my old friend Vladan, who taught me how to drive big rigs, about his thoughts on the so-called “truckers’ freedom convoy.” Vladan, who has been trucking long-distance for the last 25 years, answered with resignation in his voice. “What can I say? I waited at the Ambassador Bridge […]
Continue Reading
Now that the convoy has been cleared from Ottawa’s streets, it is worth remembering when desperate workers tried to take their protest to the federal government in Ottawa in 1935. The “On to Ottawa Trek” saw unemployed men housed in military relief camps travel by rail from Vancouver, stopping at towns along the way gaining […]
Continue Reading