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.
September 17, 2025
Manitoba Government Creates More Good Jobs For Manitobans
Province of Manitoba
The Manitoba government has signed its first Manitoba jobs agreement (MJA) with Manitoba Building Trades to create good jobs in the province through construction of four new schools, Premier Wab Kinew announced today.
Mayor, inner circle want assaults on firefighters, paramedics added to Criminal Code
Winnipeg Free Press
Physical assaults and threats against Winnipeg firefighters and paramedics have become a regular occurrence on the job, prompting a push within city hall for changes to Canada’s Criminal Code.
Community guidelines for using AI at UM
University of Manitoba
There are few aspects of our lives not impacted by artificial intelligence (AI). The technology’s rapid development and adoption have dramatically shifted how we live, work, teach and learn.
Former high school football players sue school division for lack of protection from predatory coach
Winnipeg Free Press
Three former Vincent Massey Collegiate football players are suing their old school division, alleging officials failed to protect them from ex-coach Kelsey McKay, who has since been convicted of multiple sex and luring crimes.
RRC Polytechnic nurse retraining program ceremony poorly attended… and that’s a good thing, health minister says
Winnipeg Free Press
Out-of-practice nurses who updated their skills to get back to health care’s front lines were celebrated Tuesday. At least those who could make it to a downtown ceremony were.
Talks at a standstill, union says, as Ontario college support workers remain on strike
CBC
There's no end in sight almost a week into the strike of support workers at colleges across the province — including St. Clair College — with negotiations between the parties going nowhere, a local union rep says.
SEIU Local 2 janitors vote overwhelmingly to authorize strike at the University of Winnipeg
Yahoo
Contracted janitors at the University of Winnipeg have voted unanimously to strike. The Union’s bargaining committee has concluded five days of bargaining with the University’s cleaning contractor, Dexterra Group, but remain far apart on some key issues, like wages. As of today, the workers will be in a legal strike position by the end of the week, but Dexterra is using delay tactics, according to the Union.
University of Saskatchewan using quantum computers to prevent pandemics
Global News
It has been a little over a year since researchers at the University of Saskatchewan gained access to one of the world’s most powerful machines, the quantum computer.
University of California students, professors and staff sue the Trump administration
CNN
The Trump administration is using civil rights laws to wage a campaign against the University of California in an attempt to curtail academic freedom and undermine free speech, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by faculty, staff, student organizations and every labor union representing UC workers.
How AI is undermining learning and teaching in universities
The Guardian
In discussing generative artificial intelligence (‘It’s going to be a life skill’: educators discuss the impact of AI on university education, 13 September) you appear to underestimate the challenges that large language model (LLM) tools such as ChatGPT present to higher education. The argument that mastering AI is a life skill that students need in preparation for the labour market is unconvincing. Our experience is that generative AI undermines teaching and learning, bypasses reflection and criticality, and deflects students from reading original material.
School forced into lockdown by irate parent threatening staff, throwing punches: RCMP
CBC
A school in southern Manitoba was put into lockdown last week after a parent caused a disturbance by shouting, uttering threats, and throwing punches at staff members, according to RCMP.
Province inks jobs deal for school builds
Winnipeg Free Press
The province has signed its first jobs agreement with Manitoba Building Trades to create employment through the construction of four new schools.
Manitoba signs agreement with union coalition for jobs on public infrastructure projects
CBC
The Manitoba government has signed an agreement with a coalition of trade unions to prioritize giving local labour work on major public infrastructure projects in the province.
P.E.I.'s migrant workers grappling with fewer hours or layoffs due to Chinese seafood tariffs
CBC
Hundreds of temporary foreign workers in P.E.I.'s seafood processing sector have seen their hours cut or faced layoffs this year after China imposed tariffs on Canadian seafood, says a group that supports the workers.
Air Canada flight attendants' union asks to cancel mediation process, sending wage issue to arbitration
CBC
The union representing Air Canada's flight attendants requested a cancellation of mediation after members voted against a wage agreement earlier this month, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
WestJet flight attendants’ union gives airline notice to enter contract talks
Globe and Mail
The union representing WestJet flight attendants says it has given the airline notice to begin contract talks.
Federal union expands campaign denouncing staffing cuts at Canada Revenue Agency
Globe and Mail
The federal union representing workers at the Canada Revenue Agency has started the second phase of its online campaign denouncing staffing cuts.
Black unemployment is rising. That's an ominous sign for the whole economy.
MSNBC
Warning signs in the labor market are raising concerns about the U.S. economy’s health. The economy lost jobs in June, the first monthly net loss since the end of 2020. In August the unemployment rate reached 4.3 percent, a level not seen since November 2021. In particular, the unemployment rate for Black workers rose sharply over the summer. That’s a serious concern — first and foremost for the harms it poses for that community, but also for what it may portend for the economy at large. Labor market trends for Black people can be the canary in the coal mine for the economy as a whole, with Black people tending to be the first fired in advance of a downturn.
NASA workers, supporters protest deep funding, staffing cuts
Federal News Network
NASA Needs Help, a grassroots group made up of NASA employees and supporters, gathered peacefully outside the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Monday to protest funding and staffing cuts that threaten to decimate the nation’s premier scientific institution.
September 16, 2025
Manitoba Government Investing Nearly $200 Million in School Capital Projects
Province of Manitoba
The Manitoba government is investing nearly $200 million in school capital projects for the 2025-26 fiscal year, reinforcing its commitment to ensuring that students across the province have access to safe, modern and comfortable learning environments, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt announced today.
Early childhood educators give high marks to job satisfaction: poll
Winnipeg Free Press
Despite eight in 10 early childhood educators reporting high levels of job satisfaction, many employers in the sector continue to struggle with staffing shortages.
UCN awarded $5 million from Mastercard Foundation to strengthen Indigenous education
The Winnipeg Sun
University College of the North (UCN) has received $5 million from the Mastercard Foundation to expand educational opportunities for Indigenous youth, part of a landmark national investment announced this week.
Learn, Honour and Advance Truth and Reconciliation
The Manitoba Teachers' Society
The Manitoba Teachers’ Society is committed to supporting truth, reconciliation, and healing. September 30 — the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — is a time to reflect on the ongoing legacy of residential schools, honour Survivors and their families, and deepen our collective understanding of Indigenous histories, cultures, and rights.
Dalhousie, faculty association come to tentative agreement
CBC
Dalhousie University and the Dalhousie Faculty Association have come to a tentative agreement that could end their contract dispute.
Sask. university researchers aim to develop new vaccines with quantum computing
CBC
A University of Saskatchewan lab is hoping to stop the next pandemic before it begins with the help of some very large and powerful computers.
Digital textbook deals spark controversy
University Affairs
It’s an American trend that’s slowly gaining attention — and controversy — in Canada. Instead of buying new or used textbooks, or independently purchasing a digital licence, students are being automatically enrolled in fee-based subscription services to access their textbooks and course materials online.
To close its productivity gap, Canada needs to rethink its higher education system
The Conversation
Canada is facing a productivity crisis that threatens wages, competitiveness and long-term prosperity. Canadian productivity lags behind the United States by 28 per cent and ranks 18th among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
The Shrinking Research University Business Model
HESA
For most of the past 30 or so years, big Canadian universities have all been working off more or less the same business model: find areas where you can make big profits and use those profits to make yourself more research-intensive.
The Manchurian candidate goes to Harvard
CAUT
What if Donald Trump were a real-life Manchurian candidate? This is the subject of a recent essay by Christopher R. Browning in the New York Review of Books.
Alberta takes teachers' union to labour board over accusations of false claims
The Canadian Press
The Alberta Teachers’ Association says the province is delaying and sabotaging the bargaining process after the government announced it has filed a complaint with the Labour Relations Board against the union representing the province's 51,000 teachers.
Union for over 7,000 engineering students at Polytechnique in Montreal to strike
CityNews
The union representing more than 7,000 engineering students at Polytechnique in Montreal says it will strike next week, after the university announced it would phase out grants aimed at offsetting education costs.
City hall safety issues ignored?
Winnipeg Free Press
Another Winnipeg workplace — this time the seat of civic government — is under a cloud of security concerns as the city’s largest union considers the next step of a grievance over staff safety at city hall.
Government lays out next steps in probe of unpaid work in airline industry
CBC
The federal government has outlined the next steps it will take in its investigation into unpaid work in the airline industry, saying it will consult with both employees and employers and hold two roundtable discussions with stakeholders.
‘I’m not even convinced that a human is involved’: Is AI hurting the hiring process?
Globe and Mail
Leanne Elnicki says she applied to more than 200 jobs over roughly six months. As a journalist-turned-communications manager with more than 30 years of experience, Ms. Elnicki is a stickler for a well-written cover letter. She crafts a new one for each application she submits and doesn’t use tech to take short cuts with her writing. Despite painstaking effort, Ms. Elnicki says she’s landed only three interviews.
The return-to-office shove: Why employers chose this moment to go against worker preferences
Globe and Mail
Before the pandemic, Danielle N. and her husband were faced with a difficult choice: stay in Toronto so she could maintain her career in asset management at a major bank or relocate so he could pursue a significant career opportunity in another city.
Calgary screeners denied water and washrooms, says Unifor
Canadian Occupational Safety
Screening officers at Calgary International Airport are working under conditions so extreme that some have soiled themselves on shift, while others with medical conditions like diabetes are denied access to food and water, according to their union.
Air Transat Pilots File Notice of Dispute with Federal Government Following Stalled Negotiations
Air Line Pilots Association Int'l
After nine months of negotiations without meaningful progress, the Air Transat Master Executive Council, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), has filed a Notice of Dispute with the Federal Minister of Labour and the Federal Mediation Service of Canada as contemplated by s.71 of the Canada Labour Code.
UK public has paid £200bn to shareholders of key industries since privatisation
The Guardian
The public has paid almost £200bn to the shareholders who own key British industries since they were privatised, research reveals.
Trump’s cuts to global labour rights funding hits US$726m, new analysis reveals
Equal Times
More than US$726 million of funding to prevent child labour, modern slavery and workplace repression is set to be axed in a bonfire of worker protections being stoked by the Trump administration, Equal Times can reveal.
September 15, 2025
Manitoba Government Provides $20 Million to Support Construction of Permanent Home for National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg
Province of Manitoba
The Manitoba government is providing $20 million to support the construction of a permanent home for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) at the University of Manitoba, Premier Wab Kinew, minister responsible for Indigenous reconciliation, announced today.
U of T professor placed on leave after online post about Charlie Kirk shooting
Globe and Mail
A University of Toronto professor whose social-media post after the assassination of American political activist Charlie Kirk was criticized by Ontario’s Minister of Colleges and Universities is now on leave, according to the university.
How does Alberta teacher pay compare with other provinces?
CBC
Alberta teachers are on the precipice of a provincewide strike with an Oct. 6 deadline to reach a deal.
How Canadian universities became cheering sections for political violence
National Post via Yahoo
When a wave of Canadian figures took to social media this week to publicly celebrate the assassination of U.S. political commentator Charlie Kirk, it shouldn’t have been all that surprising that a disproportionate number of them worked in academia.
DFA calls for end to lockout as petition targets university president
CKBW
The Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) says it has made major concessions at the bargaining table and is urging the Board of Governors to accept its latest proposal to bring an end to the faculty lockout.
Trump’s travel ban keeps international students from coming to the U.S. for college
CTV News
With the Taliban barring women from college in her native Afghanistan, Bahara Saghari set her sights on pursuing higher education in the United States.
U of Minnesota, Teamsters reach deal, ending weeklong strike
KARE11
The University of Minnesota and Teamsters Local 320 have reached a tentative agreement, ending a weeklong strike and clearing the way for Farm Aid 40 to proceed as planned, the union and the organization announced Saturday.
Texas A&M's firing of professor is a 'dangerous turning point' for academic freedom, advocates say
MSN
Texas A&M University's move to fire a faculty member involved in social media controversy over a gender and sexuality lesson is sounding major alarm bells among multiple free speech advocacy organizations, who say the move endangers academic freedom in the state.
New rift appears amid Ontario labour with union's departure from federation
National Post
A new fissure has appeared in the landscape of Ontario union politics. The Labourers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) is leaving the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), saying that the OFL is engaging in “bad politics.”
BCGEU wants remote work language added into new agreement
CHEK News
As strike action for thousands of BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) workers nears the two-week mark, the union’s president says he wants remote work language added into a new contract, but a Chamber CEO says that could further damage downtown businesses.
The women are rising
Rabble
On August 16 Air Canada flight attendants stood up against an employer that is hanging onto unpaid labour. On August 17, they defied back to work legislation from a government that didn’t even give them one day to stand up for their rights. And on September 6 in an unprecedented move, they rejected their union leadership’s compromises. And all these actions were almost unanimous among the workers. It’s been a long time since we have had such labour militancy and yet public opinion was massively on their side. What’s going on?
Postal Workers Can’t Wait Forever!
CUPW
Over a month ago, postal workers soundly rejected Canada Post’s offers in a government-forced vote. The Corporation’s plan to bypass the Union and impose rollbacks on us failed.
Carney says federal public service cuts will happen through attrition
CTV News
Amid concerns of potential job cuts, Prime Minister Mark Carney says any reduction of the size of the federal public service will “happen naturally through attrition.”
Auto workers union condemns Hyundai working conditions in wake of federal raid on Georgia site
Yahoo
The United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union is condemning Hyundai for what it calls a "disgraceful record on worker safety" following an immigration raid at an electric car battery factory in Georgia.
How California reached the unthinkable: A union deal with tech giants
Politico
In roughly six weeks, three California Democrats, a labor head and two ride-hailing leaders managed to pull off what would have been unthinkable just one year prior: striking a deal between labor unions and their longtime foes, tech giants Uber and Lyft.
A third of UK firms using ‘bossware’ to monitor workers’ activity, survey reveals
The Guardian
A third of UK employers are using “bossware” technology to track workers’ activity with the most common methods including monitoring emails and web browsing.
September 11, 2025
Student injured after encounter with homeless person during outdoor gym class
Winnipeg Free Press
A St. Vital high school has paused some outdoor gym classes and is investigating after a student was hurt following an encounter with a homeless person living in Dakota Forest.
Transit changes get failing grade from U of M students
Winnipeg Free Press
The father of a first-year University of Manitoba student is angry his daughter was late for class on her first day after waiting more than an hour in the pouring rain as several Winnipeg Transit buses whizzed past her because they were full.
Guidance, tutoring offered to U of M Indigenous students
Winnipeg Free Press
Aleks Settee is counting on services and programs for Indigenous students at the University of Manitoba to help them avoid the problems that prevented them from graduating with a psychology and fine arts degree six years ago.
Manitoba Government Announces $1-Million Investment for Ovarian Cancer Research
Province of Manitoba
The Manitoba government is investing $1 million over three years in ovarian cancer research through Ovarian Cancer Canada (OCC) and the Manitoba Ovarian Cancer Research group, Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced today.
More than 10,000 college support workers go on strike across Ontario
CBC
More than 10,000 full-time support workers from Ontario's 24 public colleges are going on strike starting Thursday in an effort to ensure job security, says the union.
No new dates set for conciliation between Dalhousie board, faculty association
CBC
No future conciliation dates have been scheduled in the contract dispute between the Dalhousie University board of governors and the Dalhousie Faculty Association.
Dalhousie Student Union demanding tuition refunds amid three-week lockout
CTV News
The Dalhousie Student Union is demanding tuition refunds as a university lockout involving nearly 1,000 faculty members hits the three-week mark.
Mastercard Foundation Announces $235 Million to Post-secondary Educational Institutions in Canada to Recognize Strides Toward Reconciliation
Mastercard Foundation
The funding marks the 10th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report and Calls to Action
Education has always been a privilege
The Medium
In late 2024, I was on video call with a Palestinian woman named Leena Almadhoun, a local organizer, student, and co-founder of a food sovereignty initiative in Gaza called Thamra. As a writer, I planned to ask her about how she and her team in North Gaza managed to transform poisonous soil and the aftermath of bombs into urban gardening sanctuaries for local Gazans. But the conversation soon derailed into the emotional grief and psychological pain of losing lived spaces—schools, universities, and community centers—that held memories, experiences, and futures in them.
Staffing questions loom large as St. Boniface Hospital close to opening expanded, redeveloped ER
Winnipeg Free Press
A massive redevelopment of the St. Boniface Hospital emergency department is just weeks from opening but it’s not clear how Winnipeg’s health authority will staff the expanded facility.
Alberta unions put Smith government on notice: “If you take on one of us, you’re taking on all of us!”
AFL
“For months now, several of Alberta’s largest public sector unions have been in protracted negotiations on behalf of their members. This includes the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), representing 40,000 teachers; the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), representing 100,000 workers in government, health care, and post-secondary education sectors; and the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), representing 30,000 health care workers in a wide range of professional occupations. On Wednesday of last week it was announced that members of several AUPE locals working for the Government of Alberta have voted to ratify a mediator’s recommendation. Many other public sector workers remain on high alert.
What unions have asked the government to cut instead of public servants' jobs
Ottawa Citizen
With less than a week before Parliament resumes, speculation is ramping up about what the federal government will cut in its upcoming fall budget.
Windsor city workers' union leadership removed
CBC
Union leadership representing 1,600 workers at the City of Windsor have been replaced by an administrator appointed by CUPE's national executive.
How unions are preparing for the age of AI
Globe and Mail
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of work. From shrinking work forces to stagnating wages, the fingerprints of automation and AI are increasingly visible in Canadian workplaces — and unions are taking notice.
Union says 4,000 workers on 22 pickets as B.C. public service strike expands
Vancouver Sun
Picket lines by B.C.’s public service employees are expanding to 22 sites involving more than 4,000 workers in an escalation of their labour dispute with the province.
Boeing reaches tentative labor deal with striking defense workers
CNBC
The union that represents striking Boeing defense workers said Wednesday it has reached a tentative agreement with the company, subject to final voting this Friday.
9/11 responders face a growing death toll and healthcare crisis
International Association of Firefighters
Twenty-four years after the Sept. 11 attacks, diseases tied to Ground Zero exposure are still claiming fire fighters’ lives.
South Korea sends plane to bring back workers detained in U.S. immigration raid
CBC
A South Korean charter plane left for the U.S. on Wednesday to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia last week, though officials said the return of the plane with the workers on board will not happen as quickly as they had hoped.
