Articles
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How Far We’ve Come
When Linda Shuto started teaching in Burnaby in 1969 she never imagined she’d become a leading champion of women’s rights within the BC Teachers’ Federation. It started with a simple decision to ignore the rule that said women teachers had to wear skirts. Keep reading…
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If I Had My Way
This is How a Union Would Combat Racism
lt is not uncommon in labour education settings that, when race and gender are being discussed, someone will raise the issue of class as a corrective, or as a way to reinsert their own voice as the centre of attention. The implication here is that class war is universal, but race, gender, abilities, faith and sexuality are only identity politics. Keep reading…
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Lessons from A Virtual Lawyer
Immerse yourself in how the Labour Rights Law Office does its good work. How they do what they do is how your union could be offering services to members in many, many places — and how you could be building the union by bridging gaps that no longer need to be there. Keep reading…
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Canada’s Brick Wall of Racism
February 11, 2016, marks the 47th anniversary of a day that was profoundly important to the struggle for civil rights and the anti-racism movement in Canada. But why does the Sir George Williams affair seem to be missing from our history? A ground-breaking new film aims to change that. Keep reading…
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Building Community, Defying Expectations
An Interview with Ramon Antipan
Ramon Antipan came from Chile to Edmonton as a refugee in the late 1970s. In restaurant kitchens, on construction sites and, ultimately at the Edmonton mail depot for Canada Post, he discovered quickly that racialized immigrant workers are rarely seen as assets, as leaders who bring with them their own histories of fighting injustice. Keep reading…
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Never A Glass of Water from Their Tap
In Indian Country, First Nations have been fighting for decades for many of the same basic human needs that refugees have been fighting for. Keep reading…
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Out of The Workplace, Into Community
If the Canadian labour movement is to survive and grow, organizing efforts should focus on a community model rather than a workplace approach. The Chinese Workers’ Network does just that. Keep reading…
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Moving Our People Forward
Reflections by Janice Gairey
Labour activist Janice Gairey reflects on the past, present and future of the labour movement. Keep reading…
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Esmail Abdi & The Threshold
On his way to the Education International World Congress in Ottawa in July, Iranian teachers’ union leader Esmail Abdi was arrested. Thoughts on the Canadian campaign to have him freed. Keep reading…
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Great Expectations
It was mostly young men in the 1950s and ‘60s who pushed the old union guard into militant positions, and it was mostly young women in the ‘70s and ‘80s who demanded to be heard at the bargaining table, making things like parental leave, pay equity, and anti-harassment policies an increasing reality. Keep reading…
