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.
October 21, 2024
CUPE, MGEU ratify deals for health-care support workers
Winnipeg Free Press
Union members representing more than 25,000 health-care support workers have voted to ratify a new collective agreement.
New health-care contract will lift wages 27% over 4 years, unions say
CBC
A union representing Manitoba health-care workers says the new deal reached with the province and voted for by members is a result of health-care workers who made sure no one was left behind.
Canadian Workers Win First Walmart Warehouse Union North of Mexico
Truthout
Eight hundred workers near Toronto have won the first Walmart warehouse union in Canada or the U.S.
SAQ workers launch surprise strike on Friday
CityNews
SAQ workers walked off the job Friday afternoon in a surprise strike, amid frustrations at the bargaining table for a new collective agreement.
Joint Statement: “This is why we are retiring in poverty:” Health care workers slam SickKids for choosing not to pay into pension plan for 26th year
Ontario Nurses' Association
Health-care workers at SickKids Hospital in Toronto are outraged by their employer’s recent announcement that it will continue its “pension holiday” rather than improve retirement benefits for its staff.
Ottawa expected to boost minimum hourly wage to hire higher-paid temporary foreign workers
Globe and Mail
The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.
Boeing machinists to vote on new proposal with 35% raises that could end strike
CNBC
Boeing and its machinists’ union have reached a new contract proposal, the union said Saturday, outlining a deal that could end a more than monthlong strike that has hobbled the manufacturers’ aircraft production.
Boeing’s new contract proposal may lead to more than US$1-billion in wage-related costs over four years
Globe and Mail
Boeing is expected to book more than $1-billion in wage-related expenses from its proposed labour contract, analysts said, although its shares rose 3 per cent on Monday on hopes of an end to a crippling strike.
Italian autoworkers go on strike, as troubled Stellantis faces pressure over production plans
Globe and Mail
Workers in Italy’s troubled automotive sector are holding a national strike on Friday for the first time in 20 years, with a massive demonstration crossing the center of Rome.
Protecting Undocumented Organizers From Retaliation Is Vital
Jacobin
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to organizing, for workers everywhere, is the fear of retaliation. This is an even greater factor when the workers are undocumented immigrants. Not only do you fear being suspended or fired, but the idea of being deported if the employer calls immigration and being separated from your family multiplies the fear.
Australia's Qantas told to pay $114,000 to 3 sacked workers in landmark outsourcing case
Reuters
A court on Monday ordered Australia's Qantas Airways (QAN.AX) to pay a combined A$170,000 ($114,000) to three baggage handlers it unlawfully sacked in 2020, implying a big damages bill for a lawsuit involving about 1,700 former workers whose jobs were outsourced.
Ontario public college faculty authorize strike mandate: union
CBC
The union representing faculty at Ontario's 24 public colleges says its members have delivered a strong strike mandate.
Edmonton Public School support staff to go on strike Thursday
CTV News
Edmonton Public School support workers will go on strike on Thursday.
'I am humbled': Meet the 87-year-old Ontario woman who graduated from York University
CTV News
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
A hard diversity quota for medical-school admissions is a terrible, counterproductive idea
Globe and Mail
There are several good reasons why medical schools would want to graduate physicians who reflect the diversity of Canada’s population. Studies show that patients tend to feel most comfortable with physicians who look or sound like them, who can communicate in their native languages, and/or who understand their cultural norms or religious practices. We know that institutional bias still exists in our medical system, and that Black, Indigenous and other racialized Canadians experience poorer health outcomes as a result. At worst, this bias manifests in extreme cases of medical neglect, such as that of Indigenous woman Joyce Echaquan, who was taunted by Quebec hospital staff as she writhed in pain, dying of pulmonary edema.
Eleven teachers suspended over allegations of ‘toxic’ climate at Montreal primary school
Globe and Mail
Eleven teachers at a Montreal elementary school have been suspended after a government investigation found they fostered a “toxic” climate of fear and intimidation.
October 18, 2024
Manitoba reaches deal to join federal school food program
CBC
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's NDP government is set to become the second province to sign on for a slice of the $1 billion federal school food program.
UPEI implementation plan is underway
University Affairs
The University of Prince Edward Island has detailed the steps it’s taking to address the controversial findings of the University of Prince Edward Island Review in a recently released implementation plan. The review was initiated following the 2021 resignation of the then-president amidst widespread workplace misconduct allegations. Released in June 2023, the review looked at both the allegations as well as the university’s harassment and discrimination policies and practices. It concluded that “the university has failed to create a safe, respectful, and positive environment for working and learning for all members of its community.” Known colloquially as the Rubin Thomlinson report, it caused substantial fallout for the university, with overhauls to both administrative and board leadership.
Engineering vs arts: Tuitions for university programs vary wildly and make a huge difference in the final cost
Globe and Mail
You’ve opened an RESP, you top it up and invest the money – so you feel confident that you’ve got things under control. But figuring out exactly how much your kids’ education will cost is tricky and the reality is that you probably won’t know the final amount until just a few months before the bills start coming in.
International student cap will cost schools $600-million next year, Ontario universities project
Globe and Mail
Ontario universities say the federal government’s cap on international study permits will mean a loss of $300-million in revenue this year and more than $600-million next year, a drop that its association says will have a “profound impact.”
Drop in international students leads Ontario universities to project $1B loss in revenues over 2 years
Toronto Star
Ontario universities say the federal government’s cap on international students is going to cost them almost $1 billion over two years — and the estimate has not even factored in the extra 10 per cent cut to new study permits Ottawa recently announced.
The War Profiteers Who Are Quashing Gaza Dissent on Campus
The New Republic
More than a year into the genocide in Gaza, many universities and cultural institutions in the United States remain silent on the Israeli attacks that have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and are now escalating the conflict into a regional war. While many students, staff, and faculty have demanded their institutions condemn the slaughter of civilians and the desecration of education infrastructure in Palestine and divest from the violence, several universities have responded to those demands with violent repression.
Dozens killed in Israeli airstrike on school used as shelter in Gaza City
The Guardian
At least 28 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school turned shelter in the Jabaliya neighbourhood of Gaza City, amid accusations Israel intends to forcibly expel the remaining population in a renewed ground campaign.
Federal office mandate burdening Ottawa doctors as public servants seek medical notes
CBC
Family doctors in Ottawa are seeing an influx of public servants looking for medical notes to support work-from-home requests, putting added strain on an already overburdened health-care system.
Amazon is going beyond the pale in challenging unionization in Quebec
Globe and Mail
On April 19, 2024, around 200 workers at the DXT4 Amazon warehouse in Laval, Que., announced their desire to form a union. On May 10, the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal certified the DXT4 workers’ union, which is affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). This made DXT4 the first Amazon warehouse in Canada to unionize, and only the second in North America, after the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York.
FIQ nurses union approves conciliator recommendation on new contract
Montreal Gazette
Members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) union, which represents the vast majority of the province’s nurses, auxiliary nurses, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists, has voted 66.3 per cent in favour of a new collective agreement.
Paid sick days and pharmacare build hope for labour organizing
Rabble
More workers had access to paid sick days through their employer in 2023 than in 2021. Data from Statistics Canada shows 64 per cent of workers now have access to paid sick leave at their main job.
'Unacceptable': Edmonton Public Schools support staff vote in favour of striking
Microsoft Start
An overwhelming majority of educational assistants and support staff at Edmonton Public Schools have voted in favour of striking.
Union drive at Wells Fargo heats up as employees allege intimidation tactics
Los Angeles Times
After Wells Fargo was mired in a 2013 scandal over employees who opened millions of fake banking accounts, the bank created a new centralized unit to review customer complaints and employees’ allegations of workplace abuses.
'In 21 years, I’ve never seen anything like this': Illinois union-represented prison employees picket statewide over workplace safety
NBC 5 KSDK
There were pickets at prisons across the state of Illinois on Thursday afternoon.
He’s been on strike for two years, but his union family helps keep him going
Pittsburgh Union Progress
What a difference a day makes. Or in the case of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh’s strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, what a difference 731 days make in one’s life.
UK wealth gap surges by nearly 50% in under a decade, research finds
Independent
The wealth gap between the richest and poorest in the UK soared by nearly 50 per cent in less than a decade, as stalling wages and rising asset values fuelled inequality at the height of austerity, new analysis suggests.
October 17, 2024
‘Confused about Canada’: international student enrolment down 30 per cent at U of M
Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba universities and colleges are receiving fewer applications from overseas owing to the “chill” of a new cap on international students that has already taken a toll on bottom lines and affected tuition rates.
Governments must step up on university funding
Winnipeg Free Press
Universities are a public good.
Cap on foreign student permits costing Atlantic Canada $163M: report
CBC
Atlantic Canadian universities say Ottawa's cap on foreign student permits has cost the region an estimated $163 million, according to a consultant's report.
School board art trip to Italy that cost $145,000 questioned by Ontario Education Minister
Globe and Mail
Ontario’s Education Minister questioned the fiscal responsibility of a Catholic school board that spent $145,000 to send four trustees on a trip to Italy to buy art, including religious statues, for a new high school that is being built.
7-Month Boston University Grad Worker Strike Ends, but Fight May Not Be Over
Inside Higher Ed
Boston University graduate student workers signed off on their first union contract with the university this week, ending a nearly seven-month strike. The contract, approved Wednesday, gives doctoral students major raises but still grants them and other grad workers far less in compensation than they demanded.
4.8M borrowers — including 1M in public service — have had student debt forgiven, Biden admin says
NBC News
The Biden administration announced a milestone Thursday in its effort to cancel Americans' student debt: it has provided relief to more than one million borrowers who work in public service.
Telus union loses bid to save Ontario office workers from Quebec move
Global News
Some 150 Ontario Telus workers will either have to move to Quebec or find a new job after their union lost its return-to-office fight.
Canada's job market defies expectations with 47,000 new positions in September
Wealth Professional
The Canadian labour market showed stronger-than-expected performance in September, according to BNN Bloomberg.
Black female and Latina trailblazers revolutionize American labor unions
rollingout
In the rich tapestry of American labor history, the threads woven by Black women and Latinas have often been overlooked. Yet, their contributions have been integral to the fabric of the labor movement since its inception. From the cotton fields of the antebellum South to the factories of the Industrial Revolution, these women have been at the forefront of the fight for workers’ rights, often facing dual discrimination based on both their gender and race.
Amazon Is Still a Health and Safety Nightmare for Workers
Jacobin
Amazon claims it has markedly improved workplace safety at its notoriously dangerous warehouses in recent years. A closer look at the data for the corporation’s workplaces in the US and Canada shows Amazon still boasts abysmal injury rates.
Telling the Amazon Labor Union’s Story
The Nation
When most of the city is asleep, warehouse workers at Amazon’s JFK-8 fulfillment center on Staten Island are just starting their day, ferried on MTA buses to their shifts, which can begin at 1 am, 3 am, or 6 am. The commute is mostly quiet, with some dozing off and others just savoring their final moments of peace before entering the warehouse, with its deafening sounds and mechanical churn of orders being packed and sorted. In the spring of 2021, that idyll for workers before the start of their shift was regularly interrupted at the bus stop outside the warehouse, with a new sound replacing the thrum of machines: the voices of coworkers cajoling them to join a union.
Understanding America’s Labor Shortage
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
We hear every day from our member companies—of every size and industry, across nearly every state—that they’re facing unprecedented challenges trying to find enough workers to fill open jobs. Right now, the latest data shows that we have 8 million job openings in the U.S. but only 6.8 million unemployed workers.
Australian fashion brands fail to pay garment workers a living wage
The Sydney Morning Herald
Almost all major Australian fashion brands are failing to pay garment workers a living wage, with school formal favourites Bec & Bridge and streetwear retailer General Pants Co scoring in the bottom 20 per cent of a new industry review.
How these workers are getting a $30k pay rise
Australian Unions
For too long, big business have used labour hire as a loophole to drive down wages and conditions – leaving labour hire workers to miss out on pay and protections, compared to their directly-employed workmates.
