Articles / Features
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Stand Up for Teachers
An Interview with Comedian/Teacher Paul Bae
“It was my mother’s idea for me to be a comedian,” Bae says. But back in the 1990s, Bae had other ideas. He wanted to become a teacher. He says his parents tried to talk him out of it. Keep reading…
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Return to Sender
Fighting the Plan to End Door-to-Door Delivery
Victoria, BC, postal worker Frances Maher says, “I had a lady give me a hug today. She was in her 70s and was very upset. We had been talking about the new community mailboxes.” The fight to save door-to-door delivery. Keep reading…
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Organizing to End Poverty
The Struggle for Economic Justice
Listening to leaders from some of the Greater Toronto Area’s most disenfranchised communities taught me a lesson in the realities of marginalization, but also in the amazing work being done to challenge it. Keep reading…
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Glace Bay’s Union Daughter
An Interview with Suzane MacNeil
Suzanne MacNeil is the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour’s vice-president for young workers, and also the first female president of the Cape Breton District Labour Council. Her primary interest is helping the labour movement tune in to the realities faced by younger workers and recent graduates, while revitalizing itself in the process. Keep reading…
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A Call for Solidarity with Bangladeshi Garment Workers
Interviewing Kalpona Akter
The fire at the Tazreen garment factory in 2012 killed more than 110 workers. In 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory killed more than 1,100 workers, and injured 1,600 more.These were not the first, nor, likely, the last tragedies to take place in Bangladesh’s garment industry. Keep reading…
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Project Of Heart
Teaching the Untold History of Residential Schools
Sylvia Smith, an alternative high school teacher in Ottawa, never dreamed a buried episode in Canadian history would come to light as she was teaching Grade 10 history seven years ago. It all began when the class was reading the very few words in their textbook dedicated to Indian residential schools. Keep reading…
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Time for Union Renewal
Starting the Conversation: Part Two
Unions need to reach out to their own members and the many others whom the economy is not adequately serving, and develop a short list of common objectives that place improved security, well-being and community development at the forefront of the new kind of conversation Canada so desperately needs. Keep reading…
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Collective Bargaining as a Constitutional Right
A Supreme Decision
It’s not often that labour celebrates a decision by the courts, but a June 8th ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, in a case involving health care unions and the British Columbia government, is a notable exception. Keep reading…
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Labour, Climate Change and Alberta’s Oil Sands
In the Belly of the Beast
The oil companies leading the charge in Fort McMurray are doing more than developing oil sands; they are also developing a lot of clout in political circles. They have enough influence to make sure that no Conservative politician whispers a word about slowing down the pace of development, or dealing with the environmental consequences the development creates. Keep reading…
