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August-September 2009

Features

  • 17

    OUR VERY OWN FILM FESTIVAL

    By Michele Jeyakumar

    Working people need to be able to tell their own stories in their own words, and using their own images. The first-ever Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLiFF) intends to do just that, this November.

  • 21

    THE PEOPLE’S PENSION

    By Valerie Dugale

    The current economic downturn has got companies racing to downsize or shed their pension obligations. It’s also got government policymakers, pension experts, labour and others debating about what the baby boom generation will do for retirement income.

  • 28

    FILIPINO-CANADIAN SOLIDARITY

    By Kristin Schwartz

    “If your friend or colleague is killed, it can strike fear,” says Filipino trade unionist Ferdinand Gaite, “but it can also cause outrage.” Along with fellow unionist Antonio Tinio, Gaite was welcomed into Canadian homes, union offices and community centres this year as part of a union-supported worker-to-worker solidarity exchange.

  • 35

    TALKING ABOUT ORGANIZING: LESSONS LEARNED

    By Andrew Stevens and Krystle Maki

    We tried to organize graduate teaching assistants (TAs) and teaching fellows (TFs) at Queen’s University. We almost won. Maybe next time we will. This is our story.

  • 42

    CARTOONING FROM THE SHOP FLOOR

    By Kerry J. Schooley

    Last year Roy Carless still lived within walking distance of the site where he’d worked more than 30 years on an assembly line, building electrical home appliances and finding inspiration for his cartoons.

Departments

  • 5

    NOTES

    Toronto City Workers * B.C. Teachers on the Bus * Old Dutch Lock-Out

  • 7

    WEBWORK: INTERNATIONAL INTERNET

    By Derek Blackadder

    One of the defining characteristics of the Internet is that it (mostly) transcends national borders, yet most of us hardly ever take advantage of this.

  • 9

    OUR TIMES TALLY

    By Sean Cain

    Percentage of Canadian workers who believe “their employer is genuinely interested in their well-being”: 16.

  • 11

    UNION EXCHANGE: POSTAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

    By Marion Pollack

    Globalization issues affecting postal workers were recently explored at the first-ever International Modern Post Conference, sponsored by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

  • 13

    WORKING FOR A LIVING: MAKING WAVES

    By Noella Friedlander

    Anyone who talks about the glamour of radio hasn’t sat in a computer-dominated control room at 5 a.m., looking forward to delivering tightly controlled content for the next eight hours.

  • 20

    POETRY

    By Christopher Levenson

  • 46

    REVIEW: THE FACTORY VOICE

    Review by Maureen Hynes

    The Factory Voice is a quick-paced, character-driven novel, full of rich historical detail and surprising twists and
    turns.

  • 48

    COMMENTARY: THE RECESSION IS OVER, REALLY?

    By Nrinder N. K. Nann

    The recession might be over for bankers and corporate CEOs. But for the newly unemployed, it shows no sign of letting up.