Vol. 31 No. 1 February-March 2012
FEATURE STORIES
14 A BIG WIN FOR LABOUR
A landmark decision has restored Saskatchewan workers' right to fair collective bargaining.
By Cheryl Stadnichuk and Janet Szliske
19 OLD AGE SECURITY IS A WOMEN'S ISSUE
Most women are still clustered in low-paying jobs with little job security and no benefits.
By Monica Townson
22 LIKE WATER FOR PROFIT
Corporate gold-diggers want to secure windfall profits by creating and controlling a market for the treatment and delivery of our water. They have a problem, though: most Canadians don't view water as a commodity. How a
community fought back and kept its water public.
By Diane Kalen-Sukra
COVER STORY
30 STANDING UP TO THE STATUS QUO
Halifax-based comedian Candy Palmater advocates on behalf of the socially marginalized in her public speaking and her stand-up routines.
By Melissa Keith
37 THE PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
The U.S. education reform movement is, at its heart, a platform to advance an agenda of privatization, market-based reforms, and attacks on unions. And what's happening in the U.S. is coming to Canada, too.
By Tara Ehrcke
REGULAR DEPARTMENTS
5 NOTES
CoDev and Gender Equity * CETA Threat to Public Water * Bottled Water Free Day * Fair Tax Summit * Letter to the Editor * Migrant Workers Fund * Burns Lake Report
WEBWORK
9 NEW MODEL WEBSITES
In our organizing, we need more troops out front. Our online communications efforts are no exception.
By Derek Blackadder
JOBS, ENVIRONMENT, JUSTICE
12 A LIVING WAGE FOR ALL
If every union in Canada became a living-wage employer, they would be demonstrating a concrete commitment to social justice.
By Mae Burrows and Donald Gutstein
17 POETRY
By Joan Crate
TALKING ABOUT ORGANIZING
43 RETAIL WORKERS MAKE HISTORY
The decision by workers at the fashion chain H&M to unionize offers important insights for the future of retail organizing.
By Kendra Coulter
REVIEW
46 WRITING THE REVOLUTION
Feminists owe a debt of gratitude to Second Story Press and the Feminist History Society for publishing Michele Landsberg's book Writing the Revolution.
Review by Shannon Devine
COMMENTARY
48 HARPER'S THREAT TO DEMOCRACY
Even if Harper expands his assault on the working class and organized labour, we should not despair. Mortal threats to social movements have the capacity to energize movements in unpredictable ways.
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley
