Published Wednesday August 3, 2016 in the Huffington Post
In one week, Unifor will begin its first-ever round of bargaining with the Detroit Three automakers in what may be the most important round of bargaining to take place in the sector in more than a generation.
When I and representatives from each of the Unifor bargaining units at the Detroit Three automakers sit down with the companies to formally open negotiations on August 10 and 11, we will have one clear and simple message for them.
Published Wednesday July 27, 2016 in the Huffington Post
Stephen Harper emerged recently from his self-imposed obscurity to say goodbye. I say good riddance.
The former prime minister who once boasted, “You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it,” lost the federal election last October and stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party, but remained a Member of Parliament.
Published in the Huffington Post Wednesday July 20, 2016
As Canada’s provincial premiers arrive in Whitehorse for their annual meeting, they will be joined by many groups interested in what happens at the meeting, from doctors to business people to academics to labour.
This article was published on Wednesday June 29, 2016 in the Huffington Post.
I have made no secret of my respect for our new Prime Minister, especially after the disdain I held for his predecessor.
That’s why it can be tough at times to watch – as good Canadian jobs are lost to Mexico, a place of horrible human rights abuses – while Justin Trudeau publicly talks about being such good friends with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Imagine this. You buy a house. You like the house a lot. You find it welcoming, and can imagine having a long life with that house. You particularly like the kitchen, and the neighbours seem nice. So you sign the deal, and go to the bank to work out the mortgage.
Just as you get to the bank, your realtor calls. Turns out, that kitchen you liked so much? It’s no longer part of the deal. Or maybe it will be. It’s going to take a couple of years living in the place to sort out.
In the meantime, the sale price stays the same, and your mortgage will be just as high as before.
There has been a thaw of sorts lately in Ottawa and other corridors of power, as far as labour’s relations with government go – and that’s a good thing for working people across this country.
After a decade of being frozen out by the Harper Conservatives, what we are seeing now is a rebalancing of the voices heard by our members of parliament – including those who sit in cabinet.
(and I would argue moral) ambiguity about the place of unions in Canada.
Conservative governments who can't rewrite the constitution to take that right away will use underhanded tactics to rob Canadians of their rights at work.
For the latest example of conservative politicians working hard to undermine constitutional rights, just look to Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister.
Loren Remillard’s ideological tirade against unions (June 20 “Secret ballots and democracy”) is both under-researched and misleading.
Remillard falsely asserts that workers in Manitoba cannot vote by secret ballot to join a union. In fact, it has been enshrined in Section 40(1)2. of the Labour Relations Act for decades.
Vote with your heart. Vote for the person in your area and the national party you believe will best address your biggest concerns.
That is the ideal of how elections are meant to work, and the guiding principle of those who have long advocated electoral reform to replace our current first past the post system with some form of proportional representation.
This was published in the Huffington Post Friday June 10, 2016.
Unifor’s Auto Council made a momentous decision recently about the all-important contract talks to get underway this summer.
In two unanimous votes, the 120 delegates passed resolutions calling for each company to commit to bringing new products to Canada, and to specific investment mandates for Canada for assembly and powertrain operations.
That means there will be no deals with GM, Ford or Fiat-Chrysler without specific commitments from each that we will have new products made right here in Canada.
