Labour and education in the news

Below are recent news stories on labour and education related issues. Click the headline to be taken to the article. Some may require a subscription. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for article text.

December 12, 2025

Memorial University bracing for a smaller future, says new president
The Telegram
It’s been almost a year since Auditor General (AG) Denise Hanrahan delivered her report on Memorial University’s facility management, which found that the post-secondary institute had “more space than it needs,” and recommended that it give up that vacant space.

Visible for diversity, invisible in research: the burdens Black female academics face in universities
The Conversation
Black women are underrepresented in senior roles in British academia. As of May 2024, there were only 70 Black women professors.

Higher Ed Meets Longevity: The Global Rise Of Midlife Education
Forbes
Behind the gates of Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge, and as far away as Singapore, a quiet revolution is underway. Not in artificial intelligence or biotech, but in the architecture of human longevity.

University presidents reflect on academic freedom amid Trump’s push to reshape higher education
ABC News
The Trump administration has expanded its review of colleges and universities across the country this year, threatening to withhold critical funding from some institutions if they do not comply with administration's policies.

‘Your Free Speech Does Not Apply’: Suspended UC Berkeley Lecturer Speaks Out
KQED
The suspension of a UC Berkeley computer science lecturer who went on a hunger strike over the war in Gaza and made pro-Palestinian remarks in the classroom has raised questions about free speech and the scope of academic freedom on the Bay Area campus.

What would an AI university look like and how might it change education?
Nature
Pan Hui has already been replaced by artificial intelligence — and he did the replacing himself. In 2023, one of his students mentioned that they were a little bored seeing the same professor every lesson and might enjoy being taught by some different faces. This gave Hui an idea: why not use generative AI and an avatar to teach the students instead.

Artificial intelligence research has a slop problem, academics say: ‘It’s a mess’
The Guardian
A single person claims to have authored 113 academic papers on artificial intelligence this year, 89 of which will be presented this week at one of the world’s leading conferences on AI and machine learning, which has raised questions among computer scientists about the state of AI research.

UFCW Canada joins international movement standing with Starbucks workers on Human Rights Day
UFCW
More than 2,500 Starbucks baristas in the United States are on strike for better pay, fair schedules, respect on the job, and an end to union-busting.

Alberta gig workers push for recognition as unstable incomes, burnout take toll
Global News
A new study suggests gig workers in Alberta are earning $15,000 to $25,000 less per year than people in traditional jobs — a growing warning sign for a sector that now includes roughly seven per cent of Canada’s workforce.

Report says Nova Scotia failing to protect female migrant workers(video)
CBC
The Centre for Migrant Worker Rights Nova Scotia says the province is raising concerns about the human rights of female migrant workers who work on farms and in seafood plants. Stacey Gomez, executive director and a co-author of the report, explains the findings.

Study Shows Wide Wage Gap for Trans and Non-Binary Workers
The Tyee
Trans and non-binary people in Canada experience higher rates of poverty compared to their cisgender peers, according to a recent Statistics Canada report.

House Republicans throw federal labor unions a lifeline in a rare rebuke of Trump
CNN
A group of House Republicans handed President Donald Trump a rare rebuke on Thursday, voting to restore collective bargaining rights he had stripped from about 1 million federal workers earlier this year.

The ‘forever layoffs’ era hits a recession trigger as corporates sack 1.1 million workers through November
Fortune
Jobs website Glassdoor warned of “forever layoffs” in mid-November, as a small drip-drip-drip of cuts throughout the year flew under the radar of most newspaper headlines while instilling fear throughout white-collar ranks. Now the recruitment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has added a crucial bit of insight and one big number: 1.1 million. That’s how many layoffs have been announced year to date, only the sixth time since 1993 that threshold has been breached. With the notable and understandable exception of the pandemic year of 2020, you have to go back to 2009 to find a year with greater layoffs, and that was in the very depths of the Great Recession.

DC attorney general secures $1.5 million from construction company for wage theft, worker misclassification
SMART Union
Construction has been booming in Washington, DC, in recent years — especially residential and mixed-use apartment buildings following the Covid-19 pandemic. But at several projects, workers were allegedly misclassified as independent contractors, depriving those workers of the pay and benefits that they deserve.

Unions have been in decline in the UK for 50 years. A new law could begin to reverse that trend
The Conversation
The UK’s employment rights bill will usher in major changes for workers from April 2026. But beyond promising improved rights for employees over unfair dismissal and sick pay, one of the most controversial aspects of the bill concerns the rights of trade unions.

Strikes could collapse flu-hit NHS amid worst crisis since Covid, says Streeting
The Guardian
Wes Streeting has told resident doctors that strikes and a sharp rise in the number of flu cases over the Christmas period could be “the Jenga piece” that forces the NHS to collapse.

Italy's national strike called by main union disrupts transport and school services
ABC News
A national strike called on Friday by Italy’s largest trade union in protest against the government’s budget plans widely disrupted transportation, health and school services across the country.

December 11, 2025

Sex offender accused in St. Vital school washroom incident twice breached court order at nearby high school: police
Winnipeg Free Press
A convicted sex offender who allegedly grabbed a young girl at a St. Vital elementary school two weeks ago is now facing new charges after police say he showed up twice at a nearby high school in violation of court orders.

Man allegedly wandered through Winnipeg high school twice before grabbing student at St. Vital elementary
CBC
A 28-year-old registered sex offender faces new charges for wandering the hallways of a Winnipeg high school before allegedly grabbing a student at another school last month.

UM joins Digital Governance Council to advance responsible innovation
UM Today
The University of Manitoba has become the first university to join the Digital Governance Council, a national organization dedicated to ensuring confidence in the responsible design, architecture, and management of digital technologies.

Invest in Ontario’s Future: Fund Our Universities
OCUFA
Tell the provincial government: Ontario’s universities have been undervalued and chronically underfunded for over a decade and currently have the lowest level of post-secondary education funding across Canada. In 2022-2023, Ontario’s funding per (full-time equivalent) domestic university student was $10,246. This is over $6,500 less than the Canadian average of $16,789, according to the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. Recent provincial funding increases to the postsecondary sector do not meet the level recommended by the province’s own Blue-Ribbon Panel on Postsecondary Education Financial Sustainability. Moreover, the Council of Ontario Universities projects that over half of Ontario’s universities project a deficit in 2025-2026. The ongoing austerity measures driven by this dire financial situation in Ontario’s universities are severely reducing the quantity and quality of educational opportunities for Ontario’s young people, stifling research productivity and innovation, causing direct and indirect job losses, and downgrading Ontario’s competitiveness and reputation.

SFU Wants Only Non-Union Faculty at New Medical School
Press Progress
When it opens next August, the School of Medicine at Simon Fraser University will be Western Canada’s first new medical school in 55 years. With an investment of nearly $75 million from the government of British Columbia, the school, based at SFU’s Surrey campus, will have a special focus on family medicine and Indigenous healthcare.

International Students Afraid Under the Trump Administration
Inside Higher Ed
A new national survey from Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition dedicated to fighting discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, found that international students are experiencing heightened fear and uncertainty under the Trump administration.

Serious trouble at one of South Africa’s largest universities
Newsday
The University of South Africa (Unisa) and Vice Chancellor Puleng LenkaBula are embroiled in a corruption scandal.

University students 'betrayed' by corporatised universities as senate inquiry calls for law change
ABC News
The senate inquiry heard serious allegations about governance problems at Australian universities hurting staff and students and letting down the public. The final report has made eight recommendations calling for legislative fixes at state and Commonwealth level to refocus universities on serving the public good.

Report alleges national museum CEO mistreated staff, called leadership team 'sluts'
CBC
The CEO of one of Canada's national museums committed serious code of conduct breaches by yelling, mistreating staff and using inappropriate language including calling a senior leadership team "sluts" publicly, the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's investigation found. 

Family doctors reach agreement in principle with Quebec
CBC
Quebec family doctors have struck a tentative agreement with the province, only weeks before the implementation of controversial reforms that threatened clinic closures and the departure of GPs to other provinces.

Transit union threatens strike over cuts in City of Regina's proposed budget, shortening service hours
CBC
Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union of Canada (ATU) have expressed a willingness to go on strike over Regina city council’s new proposed budget.

Montreal public transit strike starts Thursday
CTV News
Maintenance workers at the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) started their fourth strike on Thursday morning.

Porter’s flight dispatchers vote 100% in favour of strike
PAX News
Less than a day after Air Transat reached a tentative deal with its pilots’ union—avoiding a strike—a fresh risk of potential flight disruptions has surfaced.

Support Bill C-247: Protect the Right to Strike
CUPE
The right to strike is supposed to be protected in Canada. But Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code gives the government the power to suspend that right — tipping the scales in favour of corporations, behind closed doors, with no accountability. 

A thriving economy shouldn’t cost us our human rights
Canadian Labour Congress
CLC President, Bea Bruske, issued the following statement on International Human Rights Day:

Canada Needs Better Labour Relations Data
CAWLS
The Canadian Association for Work and Labour Studies (CAWLS) is calling on the federal government to immediately restore public access to data tracking work stoppages and to collect more information on labour relations.

GOP appeals to state Supreme Court to block pro-worker bills
People's World
In contempt for both democracy and the working class, Republican Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall on Monday appealed to the state’s Supreme Court after lower courts unanimously ruled his blatant obstruction of pro-worker legislation unconstitutional. According to the Michigan AFL-CIO, his action is a last-ditch effort to deny hundreds of thousands of Michigan workers life-affording improvements to their healthcare, pensions, and wallets.

Severe disruption hits Portugal in first general strike for 12 years
BBC
Dozens of flights and trains have been cancelled, schools closed and hospital operations postponed in cities across Portugal, as the two main union federations stage a general strike over unprecedented labour reforms.

December 10, 2025

Distasio named U of W interim president
Winnipeg Free Press
A University of Winnipeg professor who researches poverty and urban renewal at the downtown campus now has a new leadership role at the province’s second-largest university.

MTS criticized for donating to Palestinian teachers
Winnipeg Free Press
A Manitoba Jewish teacher is “disgusted” by her union’s declaration of support for Palestinian teachers and a $5,000 donation to an organization that supports them.

TRU expects to shed 40 to 50 low-enrolled credentials as program reviews continue
Castanet
Thompson Rivers University officials estimate around 40 to 50 low-enrolled credentials could eventually be cut as the university looks to shore up its finances.

Academic freedom under threat around the world
CAUT
Scholars at Risk’s Free to Think 2025 report documents 328 verified incidents of attacks on higher education in 49 countries and territories, from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

Canada's Top 50 Research Universities 2025
Research Infosource

Penn State faculty file for union representation
TRIBlive
Faculty at Pennsylvania State University soon could be part of a union.

Armed kidnappings are keeping thousands of Nigerian children out of school
CBC Radio
Sending children to school has become too dangerous for many families in Nigeria.

Union says city should hire more firefighters instead of paying consultant to create mental-health emergency service
Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg’s firefighters union says the city should spend more on the three emergency services it has now, rather than adding a fourth branch to handle mental-health calls.

Tariffs putting brakes on Manitoba trucking hires
CBC
A decade-long driver shortage has turned into a job shortage this year in Manitoba’s $1.2-billion trucking industry, according to the Manitoba Trucking Association.

Record number of working Canadians now relying on food banks
Future of Good
It has been well-documented that food bank usage is on the rise across Canada, but the biggest shock may be that people who recently considered themselves financially stable now make up a significant percentage of users.

Air Transat, union avert pilot strike with tentative deal
Globe and Mail
A tentative agreement reached hours before a strike deadline averted a work stoppage by Air Transat’s pilots on Tuesday night.

Air Transat deal was a great success for collective bargaining
Globe and Mail
On Tuesday night, just hours before 750 Air Transat pilots were set to go on strike, the negotiating team for their union announced a tentative agreement.

STM maintenance workers to launch 4th strike this year, this time over the holidays
CBC
Montreal transit workers are launching a strike Thursday for the fourth time this year as a contract dispute with the city's transit agency continues to stall.

The right to sit down: When spending all day on your feet at work is an occupational hazard
Milwaukee Independent
While traveling in Europe, Margaux Lantelme noticed something different about the store cashiers: they did their work sitting down. It was a stark contrast to Chicago, where Lantelme works the register at REI and cashiers typically spend eight hours a day on their feet.

Brick by brick, LEGO tears down unionization effort at Downtown Disney store
People's World
Usually, LEGO is associated with physically building things up, but in this case, workers are accusing the company of tearing down their chances of getting union representation. Employees at the Downtown Disney LEGO store are claiming that the company is using illegal union-busting tactics and violating their rights. 

Amazon Workers at DBK1 in Queens Become Latest to Join Teamsters
Teamsters
Over 200 drivers at Amazon’s DBK1 facility in Woodside, Queens, have organized a union with Teamsters Local 804. Workers marched on company management this morning to deliver the news and demand a union contract, becoming the latest to join nearly 10,000 Amazon workers across five states who have organized with the Teamsters.

Two More Unions to Push District Court to Block Trump CBA Order
Bloomberg Law
Unions for employees at two federal agencies are the next to attempt to convince a district judge to temporarily block President Donald Trump‘s cancellation of their collective bargaining agreements, despite previous union wins being quickly unwound on appeal.

December 9, 2025

More than one third of kindergarteners in B.C. struggle with core development, study finds
Globe and Mail
More than one third of children in kindergarten in British Columbia are struggling with core areas of development, including their cognitive development and physical well-being, representing the highest number since researchers began collecting data, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia.

Plans to lower training requirements for psychologists in Ontario worry clinicians
Globe and Mail
Consultations on plans to lower training requirements for psychologists in Ontario will end Tuesday, but clinicians fear the proposed changes will lower standards and compromise patient safety.

Fanshawe students want tuition refunded as campus radio station's future remains uncertain
CBC
With Fanshawe College unable to support its longtime FM station, students in the soon-to-be-shuttered radio program wonder if there will still be an FM radio station for them to use in their final term.

Are universities ready for cyberattacks?
University Affairs
Over the last decade, post-secondary institutions across Canada have fallen prey to hackers. The attacks on the University of Regina, the University of Winnipeg, Université de Sherbrooke, and Carleton University were wake-up calls for post-secondary institutions to bolster their defences. But are they truly better equipped? And what can individuals do to protect themselves? 

Amy Hamm: Keep your children away from university arts departments
National Post
Should we even bother sending our children to university these days? Certainly not to any arts departments, where the many ideas and research being produced are beyond parody.

Student magazines are getting axed under Trump’s anti-diversity measures
CBC
Leslie Klein says she was shocked when the student magazine she works for was shut down suddenly this week just because it caters to women readers.

'Union has all the leverage’ in potential Air Transat strike: labour lawyer (video)
CBC
Air Transat announced on Sunday it will gradually shut down operations over the next three days in response to a 72-hour strike mandate issued by the union representing its 750 pilots. Labour lawyer Sundeep Gokhale discusses the situation on Hanomansing Tonight.

Air Transat dispute reflects a wider push for wage equality
Globe and Mail
The push by Air Transat pilots to bring their wages as close as possible to salaries of Air Canada pilots is part of a broader campaign by North American airline unions to set a new standard of equal pay, regardless of employer.

Government to soon have 'sharper view' on public servants' return to office, says Carney
CBC
Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will be speaking with public sector unions in the coming weeks to hash out the details of the updated return-to-office rules for federal public servants. 

Liberals to open new fast track to permanent residency for 5,000 foreign doctors
CBC
The federal government is promising to open up permanent residency for foreign doctors working in Canada as temporary foreign residents in order to tackle the doctor shortage across the country. 

General strike talks are unfortunately no more
The Gateway
Over the last couple of months, Alberta has seen strikes and tentative agreements left and right. The Alberta Teachers’ Association’s (ATA) strike in October, the Association of Academic Staff University of Alberta (AASUA) tentative agreement, and the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) union, which also recently came to a tentative agreement. Throughout all of this, there has been very little progress forward. A general strike, though, would create the much-needed progress. But it’s unlikely to happen.

Plan in works to save some jobs slated to be cut at Algoma Steel: union
CityNews
Plans are in the works to save hundreds of the roughly 1,000 jobs slated to be lost at Algoma Steel Inc. in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Inflation is hitting workers where it matters most
CUPE
Inflation in Canada may be calming compared to the record highs in 2022 and 2023, but people are still struggling with the cost of living. While overall inflation increased by 2.1% on a year-over-year basis in September 2025, housing and grocery prices are rising at a significantly higher rate, the national averages being 4% for groceries and 4.8% for rent.

To Get on Offense, Offer Workers Many Ways In
Labor Notes
To fight back against authoritarianism and the billionaire takeover, the labor movement must get on offense. We must have our own agenda, set by rank-and-file members, rooted in the issues that members care most about—issues that unite us and build power.

Starbucks workers and unions in 10 countries to protest in support of US baristas
BBC
Starbucks workers and union members in England, Scotland and eight other countries are set to protest on Wednesday in support of striking US employees, the company's US union told the BBC.

Ukraine’s War on Its Unions
The Nation
On June 5, shortly after ten in the morning, black-clad officers stormed into the House of Trade Unions. The symbolic building on the Maidan, Kyiv’s Independence Square, is the headquarters of the country’s largest trade union federation, the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU).

December 8, 2025

Parents miffed by lack of communication about sex offender involved in school incident
Winnipeg Free Press
Parents are concerned they weren’t warned a convicted sex offender, who is accused of grabbing a child in an elementary school last week, had been removed from a nearby high school that morning and in March, when he was arrested for breaching a court order.

Boys, 14, arrested after student stabbed at Portage Collegiate Institute
Winnipeg Free Press
Two 14-year-old boys have been charged with aggravated assault after a student was stabbed at a Portage la Prairie high school.

Truth and reconciliation, 10 years later: Education got us into this mess. Will it get us out?
Globe and Mail
Standing inside the Kelowna International Airport, a historian from Britain asked me a question that cut to the very heart of the Canadian national project.

On the front lines of austerity: Union and University shows how workers fought back at Queen’s
Spring
When I sat down to watch Union and University at the Canadian Labour International Film Festival this year in Toronto, I expected a documentary about a strike. What I didn’t expect was one of the clearest, most emotionally grounded accounts of how austerity is reshaping universities, and how workers are building the power needed to fight back.

Alberta petition asks if public money should be spent on private education
CTV News
A province-wide canvassing blitz took place over the weekend for a public education funding petition.

The new reality of US enrolment: education meets employability
The PIE
For international students, choosing to study in the United States has long represented a transformative investment, the one rooted in opportunity and aspiration, says GoElite's Christina Chen.

Firefighters union expresses no confidence in 2026 WFPS budget
CBC
Chronically understaffed and overworked, Winnipeg firefighters have officially lost confidence in city council's proposed direction for the emergency service.

Foreign workers accuse hotelier with history of labour violations of taking advantage of them in Sask., Man.
CBC
A man from Mexico says he toiled long hours, seven days a week, for nearly a year without proper pay for a hotel chain that he says took advantage of him and others. 

Air Transat to begin suspending flights Monday after pilots issue strike notice
Globe and Mail
Air Transat said it will begin suspending flights on Monday, after its pilots’ union issued a strike notice for early Wednesday morning.

How the BCGEU Strike Raised the Bar for Nurses and Teachers
The Tyee
The deal B.C. government workers earned after a tense eight-week strike is having a ripple effect across public sector bargaining tables.

Cuts at Natural Resources Canada put critical environmental protections at risk and weaken public services
PSAC
More than 200 PSAC members at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) received notices this week warning they may lose their jobs as the federal government pushes ahead with its plan to slash critical public services and cut another 30,000 federal public service workers over the next three years. 

Why employers might be a bit stingier with their holiday bonuses this year
Globe and Mail
Canadian employers are expected to pare back the bonuses they give employees at this time of year given the ongoing economic uncertainty, employment experts say.

'There's no moment of silence': What happened after 2 Amazon employees reportedly died within hours of each other
Mashable
Two Amazon workers from its Bessemer, Alabama facility died last month, one of them suffering a stroke not long after his request to go home was denied, said two of their co-workers. Speaking to workers' rights organisation More Perfect Union, they claim that work continued as normal despite the deaths.

Louvre Museum workers confirm strike action after $102M heist
The Independent
Workers at the world-renowned Louvre Museum have overwhelmingly voted to strike, citing deteriorating working conditions, a controversial ticket price increase for non-European visitors, and significant security vulnerabilities.

December 5, 2025

Manitobans Invited to Participate in Budget 2026 Survey, Consultations
Government of Manitoba
The Manitoba government is inviting all Manitobans to participate in a short online survey and share their priorities for next year’s budget, Finance Minister Adrien Sala announced today.

Penny for your (budget) thoughts: finance minister
Winnipeg Free Press
Finance Minister Adrien Sala is asking Manitobans to participate in an online survey to share their thoughts on next year’s provincial budget.

Manitoba Government Improves Asbestos Safety Requirements to Protect Workers
Government of Manitoba
The Manitoba government is introducing stronger rules to protect workers from asbestos, a known cancer-causing material and the leading cause of occupational death in the province, Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino announced today.

Manitoba updates asbestos regulations, including workers' certification, employer registration
CBC
Manitoba is updating its regulations governing the handling of asbestos to protect workers from dangerous exposure to the material, the leading cause of work-place related deaths in the province, the government says. 

Canada added 54,000 jobs in November, unemployment rate drops to 6.5%: StatCan
Winnipeg Free Press
The labour market surprised economists again in November with a third straight month of job gains.

Which cities are struggling most? November unemployment rates
Winnipeg Sun
Here’s a glance at November’s unemployment rates by Canadian city. The national unemployment rate was 6.5 % in November. Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples.

Canada’s unemployment rate falls to 6.5%, driven by rise in part-time work
Globe and Mail
Canada’s unemployment rate once again defied expectations and fell to a 16-month low in November as a solid gain in part-time jobs boosted the number of people employed for the third time in a row, data showed on Friday.

Quebec losing $1.5B a year as anglophones face high unemployment, lower wages: report
Global News
A new labour-market report is warning that Quebec’s English-speaking population continues to face entrenched economic disadvantages, and that these disparities are costing the province far more than previously understood.

As AI reshapes hiring, starting pay stagnates at Canada’s consulting firms
Globe and Mail
Canada’s top consultancy firms are freezing starting salaries, some for a third year in a row, as artificial intelligence continues to reshape how firms hire and deploy junior talent.

More than 27,000 public servants were paid at least $150,000 last year, document says, as government plans cuts
Globe and Mail
More than 27,000 federal public servants were paid at least $150,000 in the last fiscal year, a document tabled in Parliament shows.

Tim Hortons pressed Ottawa to ease limits on temporary foreign workers: report
Canadian HR Reporter
Tim Hortons and its parent company have lobbied the federal government for more than a year to loosen restrictions on the use of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in its restaurants, according to a report.

Former UBC employee and exam monitoring software company settle lawsuit
Globe and Mail
A former University of British Columbia employee who spoke out against the use of exam monitoring software during the pandemic says he feels he has won his life back after settling a five-year legal battle with an education technology company.

Saskatchewan’s new $1.6-billion child-care deal with Ottawa includes funding increase
Globe and Mail
Saskatchewan’s new child-care deal is to see Ottawa spend $1.6-billion over five years to support $10-a-day care, a move early learning educators say brings stability to the sector.

Board of Governors passes impartiality policy
The Charlatan
Carleton University’s Board of Governors voted to approve the controversial Institutional Impartiality Policy in a meeting Tuesday — prompting student protesters to lob snowballs at the meeting room’s covered windows. 

As Universities Fold to Trump, This Union Is Still Fighting for International Students
The Nation
During its current contract bargaining process, the United AUto Workers Local 4811—the union that University of California academic student employees are eligible to join—has made protecting immigrants a top organizing priority. It's no wonder: as the Trump administration seeks to terminate student and work visas, international students represent around 40 percent of people in graduate programs across the UC system.