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.

July 24, 2026

Bank of Canada ordered for second time not to use replacement workers during strike
CTV News
The Bank of Canada has been ordered for the second time this month to stop using the services of contract workers while its security officers are on strike.

Saskatchewan health-care workers’ union to vote on potential strike this fall
Global News
Saskatchewan’s union for thousands of health-care workers will vote on potential job action in September after years of bargaining with its provincial employer.

Striking Metro workers accused of ‘violently’ barging into Montreal call centre
The Gazette
About 100 Metro workers in the fourth month of a continuing strike are alleged to have barged into a Montreal call centre July 8, where court documents claim they pushed a security guard, vandalized computers and spilled a bucket of mop water on the floor.

While employers search for talent, Canada overlooks half a million workers
RDNewsNow
Canada has a labour shortage and a labour surplus at the same time. Canada’s labour force shortages are no longer a temporary challenge. Across the country, help wanted signs are everywhere.

Carney pledges to defend Canadian workers as premiers unite against new U.S. tariffs
HRD
Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to defend Canadian workers from US tariffs on July 23, 2026. A fresh 10 percent US levy on Canadian goods is now putting immediate pressure on HR leaders to reassess workforce plans and retraining strategies.

The postal bargaining round unlike any other
Canadian Dimension
Recently, members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) voted overwhelmingly to ratify new collective agreements covering both urban and rural employees at Canada Post. The agreements brought to a close nearly two years of negotiations marked by unprecedented developments, strategic reversals, government intervention, and internal divisions within the union.

Union says relationship with Air Canada has “deteriorated,” urges new CEO to “rebuild trust”
PAX
The union representing more than 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge is calling on the airline's incoming chief executive officer to rebuild a strained relationship with frontline employees, saying the current labour environment has become increasingly confrontational.

Let’s protect workers from heat stroke. It’s time to back new regulations in BC and across the country
Rabble
Heatstroke can kill you, and it is an ugly, painful death. The symptoms can include: High body temperature; A core body temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius); change in mental state, with confusion, agitation, slurred speech, irritability, delirium, seizures and coma. Other signs include change in sweating pattern, nausea and vomiting, flushed skin, rapid breathing and racing heart.

‘Forced labour’ rationale for Trump tariffs met with bewilderment
The Guardian
Donald Trump has once again inspired anger and confusion in US allies and trading partners as he imposed a wave of tariffs on more than 80 countries, replacing an expiring global duty introduced earlier this year.

Claire Valdez Plans to Take the Labor Movement to Washington
Jacobin
After fifteen years cleaning rooms at the Fairfield by Marriott in Times Square, Ramona Garcia told the crowd, she earned just $22 an hour. Every week, she paid about $100 for health insurance. She had no pension. After finishing her shift at the hotel, she cleaned private homes to make ends meet.

Anti-Union Meeting Bans Evade Challenges Except in California
Bloomberg Law
California’s restrictions on mandatory anti-union meetings at work are proving more vulnerable to legal challenges than other states’ laws, which are escaping court scrutiny thanks to fuzzy or limited enforcement schemes.

Rochester Nurses Stood with Their Nonunion Co-Workers—and Stopped Millions in Health Care Cuts
Labor Notes
What should union workers do when their nonunion co-workers come under attack?

Anthropic case approved
Society of Authors
US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the Anthropic deal on 20 July in San Francisco. The settlement first proposed last September resolves a two-year-long class action filed by US based writers Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson in August 2024.

University courses covering Israel-Palestine should be audited, Julian Leeser tells royal commission
The Guardian
The shadow education minister, Julian Leeser, has called for universities to undertake an audit of any classes that teach about the Jewish community, Israel or Palestine.

North Korea targets university students in media crackdown
Daily NK
North Korea’s state youth organization has ordered a special crackdown on banned foreign media. It has named university students as the “primary target,” a source in South Hwanghae province told Daily NK recently.

July 23, 2026

Librarian to run in North Kildonan ward
Winnipeg Free Press
Labour leader Orvie Dingwall is throwing her hat in the ring to unseat Coun. Jeff Browaty in North Kildonan.

Canada overlooks scores of workers
Winnipeg Free Press
Canada has a labour shortage and a labour surplus at the same time. Canada’s labour force shortages are no longer a temporary challenge. Across the country, “help wanted” signs are everywhere.

Low wages are pushing Saskatchewan’s health care system to its breaking point: health care workers will hold a strike vote in September
CUPE
Saskatchewan’s frontline health care workers will hold a strike vote in September. Members of CUPE 5430, who work in hospitals, long-term care homes, community health facilities, laboratories, and other medical services across the province, continue to provide exceptional care despite increasing workloads, chronic short staffing, and years without meaningful wage improvements.

Carney government cut nearly half the jobs at nerve centre for managing wildfires: union
Ottawa Citizen
Before discussing wildfire smoke with U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19, Prime Minister Mark Carney posted photos on social media from a visit to the federal Government Operations Centre (GOC).

CWA Canada Slams Microsoft Over Three-Minute Bethesda Layoff Call
Game Luster
CWA Canada has publicly condemned Microsoft over the handling of layoffs at Bethesda Game Studios Montreal, telling Game Developer that around a dozen union members were terminated via a three-minute video call on July 8, 2026, prevented from asking questions, and instructed to remain at home for the following eight weeks while continuing to receive pay.

More than 200,000 people face a pay cut under the Government’s new leave law, bill to become defining election issue
PSA
Progressing employment law will cut the annual pay of more than 200,000 people during a cost-of-living crisis, according to fresh analysis by the PSA.

Air Canada ratifies contract with technical, maintenance workers’ union
Globe and Mail
Air Canada says workers in its technical operations, maintenance and operational support group have ratified their new contract.

Indigenous workers discriminated against in applications for restaurant jobs, McMaster study finds
Globe and Mail
Indigenous workers have the worst employment outcomes when applying for jobs in the food services industry compared to white workers and other racialized workers, according to a new study from researchers at McMaster University.

More than 9,000 federal public servants apply for early retirement
CTV News
More than 9,000 federal public servants have applied for an early retirement package, with only three days left for employees to submit an application to leave the federal government early without penalty on their pension.

Applications for federal public service jobs drop by almost 30 per cent
CityNews
The number of people applying for a job in the federal government plummeted last year as Ottawa works to slash the size of the public service.

How hot is too hot to work? Report calls for heat protections for B.C. workers
Global News
As another stretch of hot weather grips the Okanagan, a new report is asking a simple question: How hot is too hot to work?

Amazon signs “first” company-wide national union agreements in Italy
Retail Insight Network
Amazon has entered its “first-ever” national collective agreements applicable across an entire country’s operations, covering all 57 Italian sites.

Mountain View teacher stripped of licence over explicit messages
Winnipeg Free Press
A Roblin teacher has been stripped of his professional licence after an undercover police investigation found he sent explicit messages to a social media user he believed to be a 15-year-old girl.

University of Ottawa daycare closure 'massive disruption' for families
Ottawa Citizen
The University of Ottawa is without an on-campus daycare for the first time in decades after the Bernadette Child Care Centre closed this spring, leaving dozens of families searching for new childcare arrangements.

AMNAS and COFAM Condemn McGill’s Challenge to Nursing Union Certification
COFAM
The Association of McGill Nursing Academic Staff (AMNAS) and the Confederation of Faculty Associations of McGill (COFAM) denounce the McGill administration’s latest affront to labour rights: its contestation of AMNAS’ certification by the Tribunal administratif du travail.

Ministers rule out insolvency regime for struggling universities
Research Professional News (UK)
Ministers have rejected calls to establish a “special regime” for bailing out universities facing insolvency, saying that political intervention should not be the “default response” in such scenarios.

July 22, 2026

Disciplinary hearing centres on teacher’s 15-second hug with student
Winnipeg Free Press
School security camera footage of a nearly 15-second hug between a teacher and one of her students was repeatedly screened and scrutinized at a historic hearing.

Government of Canada invests more than $289 million to address social and economic challenges
Government of Canada
Today, on behalf of the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, announced more than $289 million in support for 1,788 social sciences and humanities research projects and partnerships across Canada. The funded projects span a diverse range of topics—including climate change adaptation, economic recovery, social justice and impacts of emerging technologies on society—that will generate new knowledge and enable partnerships to help translate insights into solutions for people and their communities.

Aligning curricula with the workforce: the case against
University Affairs
The first few courses I took in philosophy were a revelation. Without any hint of what awaited me, I was thrown into a foreign universe of isms, each more spectacular than the next. Empiricism, rationalism, dualism, materialism — the list went on and on. I was hungry for ideas and ready to devour every new one that came my way. Most impressive of all were the isms named after people who once lived and breathed — Platonism, Cartesianism, Kantianism — for these spoke directly to my ego and fueled my sense of ambition. Initially, I found it hard to navigate the myriad arguments and opinions. I was persuaded by almost every position taken, until a rival view proposed to displace it. But eventually things settled down, and I found both my convictions and my prejudices.

Students continue to protest closure of Montreal college after province suspends its permit
CBC
Students gathered Sunday in front of a private college in Montreal to protest its closure after its permit was not renewed by the Quebec government.

‘Frustrated and stressed’: Thousands impacted by cyber attack at Calgary university
CTV News
Students and staff at Mount Royal University are concerned and frustrated after a cyber attack targeting the school last month compromised thousands of people’s sensitive information.

Why Canadians are taking ‘skillcations’ – and where to find one that works for you
Globe and Mail
Trading in a sight-seeing itinerary for a class syllabus may not be every Canadian’s idea of a dream vacation, but for Jessica Yao it’s been a welcome change.

US science funding barred for Chinese partnerships
The PIE
The policy was announced on July 8 and will take effect from the start of next fiscal year on 1 October 2027, when all NSF-funded projects with “restricted entities” will be disallowed.

CUPE leader Delbridge dies
Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg union leader Gord Delbridge has died.

B.C. nurses intimidated and threatened by employer during labour dispute: union
CTV News
The union representing B.C. nurses says more than 5,200 of its members have reported being intimidated or threatened by their employer for not performing non-nursing duties during job action.

New research delves into occupations of people disproportionately affected by opioid deaths
Globe and Mail
Researchers hope a new report examining the occupations of people who have died of opioid overdoses in Ontario raises awareness about the breadth of the population affected by the drug epidemic.

Jobs filled by temporary foreign workers are the ones Canadian youth don't want
Elliot Lake Today
New research from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) reveals that the jobs most commonly filled by temporary foreign workers (TFWs) are exactly the ones young Canadians are least willing to take.

New poll: Canadians draw a line: protect workers, don't restrict strikes
PR Newswire
As the federal government reviews the Canada Labour Code, new national polling conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights for the Canadian Labour Congress shows Canadians believe workers need a stronger voice at work, are concerned that large corporations have too much power, and reject proposals that would make it harder for workers to exercise their right to strike.

US court says longstanding NLRB rule on post-merger union bargaining is invalid
Reuters
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday said a decades-old National Labor Relations Board policy requiring companies that acquire other employers to bargain with their workers' unions is unlawful, citing a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck a blow to federal agency powers.

Retail Workers Walk Out: Inside Germany’s Escalating Pay Fight and the Legal Rules That Shape It
Ad Hoc News
More than 5 million retail employees across Germany are caught in a tense standoff between unions and employers, with a one-day warning strike on July 18 underscoring the depth of the conflict. The walkout, organized by the ver.di union, followed collapsed negotiations in Baden-Württemberg. Ver.di is demanding a 7 percent wage increase over 12 months; the German Retail Federation (HDE) has countered with 3.5 percent over 24 months. The dispute affects roughly 5.2 million workers in the sector.

July 21, 2026

Teacher disciplinary panel will make history today
Winnipeg Free Press
A professional disciplinary panel will assemble today to hear serious allegations against a Manitoba teacher.

CBU pushes ahead with housing despite 34% on-campus vacancy rate
CBC
Cape Breton University is pressing ahead with plans to build more housing, despite internal documents warning that the school already faces a worsening "oversupply" of student accommodations.

P3 SCHOOLS – A MISTAKE ALBERTA’S GOVERNMENT KEEPS MAKING
CUPE
The Alberta government has returned, again, to the failed approach of private-public partnership (P3) for the building and maintenance of schools in Alberta. The Government of Alberta announced in mid-July that seven elementary and junior high schools in Edmonton, Calgary, and Chestermere would be built using the controversial model.

Aligning curricula with the workforce: the case in favour
University Affairs
The debate over whether universities should align with workforce needs is flawed, because it starts from a false choice. Students aren’t choosing between personal and intellectual growth on the one hand, and preparing for careers on the other. They expect both.

Education workers can create political crisis for Doug Ford
Spring
As fires ravage North West Ontario and Canada’s biggest city chokes under yellow skies and the worst air quality in the world,we are reminded of Doug Ford’s agenda for Ontario. In 2025, Ford’s Conservative government decreased the province’s budget for emergency forest firefighting from $177 million to $135 million, with $4 million cut from emergency preparedness. This is the same plan he has for healthcare and education, where investment has poured into private options and spending has not kept pace with inflation. His government is undemocratic, corrupt and the only way to stop it is with the collective mass action of Ontario’s working class. Mass collective action has the potential to cut against the divide and rule politics dominate right now.

Northwestern University’s Campaign against Free Expression
AAUP
The AAUP stands in solidarity with Steven Thrasher, the inaugural Daniel H. Renberg Chair of Social Justice in Reporting at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, who last week filed a lawsuit against Northwestern and against partisan government actors who pursued a targeted campaign against him that culminated in the termination of his position.

Contractors say policy on major public builds in Manitoba trying to fix problem that doesn't exist
CBC
Some Manitoba contractors say a new labour policy for major public construction projects is trying to solve problems the industry has already addressed.

Airport security screeners win wage increases, benefits, through arbitration
USW
Members of the United Steelworkers union (USW) working for GardaWorld Security Screening at airports in Ontario and Atlantic Canada have secured new three-year collective agreements through a binding arbitration award.

Unifor turns attention to Stellantis, General Motors after Ford members ratify deal
CTV News
The head of the union representing nearly 19,000 Canadian auto workers says she anticipates “challenging” talks ahead with Stellantis and General Motors after securing a deal with Ford Motor Co.

Opinion: Too hot to ignore: B.C. workers should not have to choose between their health and their livelihoods
Vancouver Sun
As B.C. announces heat warnings, thousands of workers once again report to jobs where dangerous temperatures are simply part of the work day. Across the province, people will pour concrete, harvest crops, deliver packages, prepare food in overheated kitchens, staff warehouses, and perform countless other essential jobs while temperatures climb to hazardous levels.

How Life Got Better For LA’s World Cup Workers
MotherJones
“I see the federal agents walking. I had one of those ‘Kick ICE out’ buttons, and he looked at me, and he looked at it again. I said, would you like one? I have some extra buttons…He just looked at me and walked off.”

A union criticizes Microsoft over allegations of "unfair labor practice," claiming that Xbox has "unlawfully" dismissed employees
WNHub
There are allegations against Xbox for allegedly dismissing employees without alerting or collaborating with established unions.

Google layoffs: 4,500 workers seek guaranteed severance, voluntary buyouts in petition to Sundar Pichai
Mint
More than 4,500 Google employees have signed a petition calling on Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai to introduce stronger safeguards against layoffs, as the company continues to expand its investment in artificial intelligence while reducing headcount across multiple teams, The Guardian reported.

Threshold for strike ballot votes should be repealed, says union leader
MorningStar
A UNION leader is calling for the immediate repeal of the threshold for votes in a ballot for strike action.

How AI may drive union-resistant tech workers to the bargaining table
The Guardian
For decades, the technology industry was a fortress that labor unions couldn’t breach. Tech workers already had cushy compensation packages, dream benefits like unlimited vacation and free lunch, and a flat corporate hierarchy that made engineers feel as powerful as their bosses, all of whom dressed down in sneakers and hoodies. So why unionize?

‘My shirt was wringing’: National Express bus drivers speak out on 40C conditions
The Guardian
Bus drivers in the West Midlands have spoken out about the “horrendous” working conditions they have experienced during heatwaves, which led to 40C temperatures in their cabs.

Australia's jobseeker system fails workers and enriches millionaires, report says
Community and Public Sector Union
Australia's system of privatised employment services is structurally broken and its prized federal contracts are being used to enrich millionaires and private equity firms, a new report argues.

July 20, 2026

Show me the money - A provincial overview of extreme wealth in Canada
Canadians for Tax Fairness
Extreme wealth concentration is increasingly receiving political attention in Canada and around the world. While attention to the measurement of wealth concentration and wealth inequality at the national level in Canada has increased in recent years, there remains little attention to wealth concentration at the provincial level. In this report, we estimate the number of ultra-wealthy families and the shares of wealth held by the wealthiest families in the four largest provinces and two regions.

Retirees losing home care service band together to find new agency, hoping to bring back terminated staff
CBC
Residents of a Winnipeg retirement complex say they were left scrambling to find a new agency that can provide the home care services they rely on to do things like eat meals and take medicine, after dozens of health-care aides received termination notices.

Union representing more than 5,000 salaried worker at Ford Motor ratify new deal
Winnipeg Free Press
The union representing more than 5,000 hourly workers at the Ford Motor Company of Canada says members have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a three-year-deal with the automaker.

Why female freelancers earn less, despite setting their own rates
Globe and Mail
Research shows women freelancers in Canada earn less than their male counterparts, even though they set their own rates.

B.C. Nurses' Union raises concerns over 'intimidation, retaliation' from employers as mediation continues
Globe and Mail
Dozens of nurses and their supporters rallied in Prince George on Friday, as their union accused their employers of intimidating staff during ongoing contract mediation.

Workers Who Clean Public Transit in BC and Ontario Say Their Employer is Undermining Their Rights
PressProgress
In two of Canada’s biggest cities, the workers who clean public transit say they are facing worsening working conditions at the hands of a billion-dollar company.

We Just Had The First Humanoid Robot Strike Ever
Forbes
In early July, Hyundai proudly showcased its Boston Dynamics Atlas robot kicking a soccer ball in the FIFA World Cup. Now its workers are engaging in a rolling strike aimed at ensuring no human jobs are lost to humanoid robot workers. This is likely the first-ever humanoid robot induced strike, although there are other issues at play in the current union negotiations.

A notorious consulting firm is selling austerity. Canada’s universities are buying
The Breach
In 2020, after decades of government budget cuts had plunged Canada’s post-secondary institutions into a financial crisis, the University of Alberta hired a consulting firm to find a way to slash its costs. The firm, called the Nous Group, had earned a name in its home country of Australia as experts in finding “cost efficiencies” inside austerity-riddled universities.

The decline of the liberal arts
Winnipeg Free Press
At his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates defended himself by justifying his life’s work, famously maintaining that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Lamentably, he was found guilty of the charges and ironically sentenced to death via drinking poison hemlock.

MUN promises ‘checks and balances’ after 103 students get engineering acceptance letter in error
CBC
Approximately 100 high school graduates had their excitement dashed last weekend after mistakenly receiving admission acceptance emails from Memorial University’s Faculty of Engineering.

Australia plans to defund universities that don’t stop their antisemitism. Should Canada?
The Hub
On the first day of Hanukkah last year, the Australian government knew it had to act.

Yale caught between Trump administration pressure and a campus that wants to fight
Washington Post
The Trump administration’s battle with American higher education is heating up at Yale University, with students, faculty and prominent alumni urging the university president not to give in to White House demands.

Universities receive millions in funding from foreign entities on U.S. government watch lists, records show
CBS News
Major U.S. universities have received millions of dollars in funding from foreign entities that are on U.S. government watch lists, according to a CBS News review of university funding records submitted to the Department of Education.