Workplaces

Dec 102012
 

Province’s minimum wage again the lowest in Canada.

from the Alberta Federation of Labour

EDMONTON — Alberta has reclaimed the dubious distinction of having the worst minimum wage in the country.

On Saturday, December 1, the minimum wage in Saskatchewan was increased from $9.50 to $10. This leaves Alberta as the province with the lowest-paid workers in the country. It was a title the province had relinquished for only three short months after Alberta increased its minimum wage in September from $9.40 to $9.75.

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Dec 102012
 

Labour stories from around the world.

Survey shows European outlook for growth in 2013 remains bleak

Europe faces rising unemployment for at least another year, amid the most painful convulsions to hit the Continent since it first set out on a path of economic and political integration  more than half a century ago, the European Commission reported December 4.

Europe's job crisis, which has left more than 25 million people without work, has stirred rising public hostility and has severely strained the social fabric of several European countries,

including Greece, Spain, and Portugal, where unemployment has soared to over 25 percent.

The economic outlook is bleak and has worsened in recent months and is not expected to improve in 2013.  The EU is currently the only region in the world where unemployment is still rising, the report said.

First rally for workers' rights in Qatar

With a construction boom expected in the next ten years in Qatar to prepare for its role as host to the 2022 World Cup, and with billions of dollars of infrastructure projects already

underway, a major problem must be solved: what will be the status of the 1.1 million migrant workers, who will be part of the workforce?  Will they be guaranteed the right to form or join unions?

Sharon Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said that  workers live in squalid labour camps, don't receive their wages on time, and have no independent arbitrator to handle workplace complaints.

A rally on December 1 was the culmination of three days of action in Doba to press the Qatari authorities to ratify and implement ILO standards.  The first union "picnic" was held in a local park under the shadow of Doba's towering financial district.

Volkswagen limits precarious work globally

The Volkswagen Group Board of Management and the European Group Works Council signed an agreement to limit temporary work globally at the Group's plants.  The ground breaking agreement, signed on November 30, sets principles for use of temporary work in the entire Volkswagen company.

Employers and employees have agreed that there should be moderate use of temporary work at Volkswagen as a "necessary tool of flexibility and it should not exceed 5 percent."  

Equal pay — equal treatment is to be put in place, and the wages of temporary workers should evolve, based on gained experience and qualifications similar to the regular workforce.

Workers will receive vocational training that will enable them to follow a third route to become permanent staff at Volkswagen.  It is not clear whether other carmakers will offer their temporary workers similar upgrading advantages.

Singapore to deport 29 mainland Chinese bus drivers

For taking part in the city-state's first strike since the 1980s, the government is deporting 29 mainland Chinese drivers and will prosecute five others, according to news reports. The work permits of the drivers had been revoked, and immigration officials "will be repatriating them" for involvement in a two day stoppage to demand better pay and working conditions.

If found guilty of involvement in an illegal strike, they could be jailed fora  year or fined a maximum of $1, 640, the equivalent of two months pay for a driver.

A total of 171 drivers launched the strike by refusing to leave their dormitories for work, with the number falling to 88 on the second day.  They issued no strike declaration or public statement.

Tunisian unions calls of strike in Silllena

A regional Tunisian labour union has suspended a nearly week long strike in a central impoverished town, after hundreds were injured during clashes with the police.  The regional

workers' union in Sillena announced a provisional halt to the strike, hours after agreeing to a deal with the central government in Tuniisia, the capital of this North African nation.

In the deal, the regional governor Ahmad Mahjoubi, of the moderate Islamist Party, Ennabida, was pulled from his post amid accusations that he had neglected public concerns and refused dialogue.  A union leader said the strike would resume if he returned.  

The economically downtrodden Tunisian town has faced days of protests and violent battles with the police that were reminiscent of the popular uprising two years agao that grew into Tunisia's revolution.

Unions accuse French President of betrayal

French trade unions accused President Francois Hollande of betrayal on December 8, after his government backed from a threat to nationalize ArcelorMittals's Florange steelworks.The Socialist government had said on Friday that it had won promises from ArcelorMittal to avoid forced redundancies and it would inject 180 million euros to develop the Florange plant, meaning it would no longer have to take over the site.

Hollande came to office, promising to create jobs and keep open the two furnaces at the site in northern France, which the company says are not viable in a  European steel sector suffering overcapacity.  ArcelorMittal confirmed the details of the deal, saying it would negotiate a voluntary redundancy contract with unions.

Workers are angry that the furnaces will remain idle rather than re-opened.  They expressed doubt over ArcelorMittal's promise to offer them alternative posts or early retirement packages for the 630 workers affected.  "We're on a war footing," say Edouard Martin, head of the CFDT's Florange chapter.

Dec 022012
 

Many big companies  turning to subcontractors for labour to avoid being responsible for workers.

by David Moberg

Walmart may soon find it harder to avoid responsibility, as it has in the past, for the mistreatment of workers in its long supply chain.

Lawyers who sued temporary labor firms in a giant Walmart warehouse last year for violating federal and state laws with their abusive labor practices today took what they described as the "historic" step of adding Walmart as a defendant in the case.

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Nov 232012
 
Bangladeshi garment workers march for safe workplaces

117 killed in factory that supplied Walmart and other popular brands.

from International Labor Rights Forum

More than one hundred workers died as a result of the garment factory fire that started on Saturday evening at Tazreen Fashions, owned by Tuba Group.

Together with our partners in Bangladesh and around the world, ILRF is calling for an independent and transparent investigation into the causes of the fire; full and fair compensation to be paid to injured workers and to the families of the deceased; and effective action from all parties involved to prevent future tragedies.

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Nov 222012
 

Re-investing fossil fuel subsidies would create 18,000 more jobs in Canada.

from Blue Green Canada

TORONTO — A new report released today by Blue Green Canada — Canada's foremost entity bringing unions and environmentalists together – shows that investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency would create more jobs than the same amount of investment in fossil fuels.

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Nov 222012
 
CliffPilkey

Remembering Clifford Pilkey, founder, Workers Health and Safety Centre.

from the Workers Health and Safety Center

July 27, 1922 – November 17, 2012
That unmistakable voice — booming and authoritative — speaking out for working people resounds still. especially among those connected with the Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC). Clifford (Cliff) Pilkey passed away Saturday, November 17, 2012 at Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering hospital, following a lengthy illness. As founder of the WHSC he is gratefully remembered and revered.
“Cliff was an unprecedented champion of workplace health and safety whose legacy will be felt for generations. Today, the WHSC is a living tribute to Cliff’s dedication to health and safety issues and his commitment to creating the best conditions for the workers of Ontario,” says Sid Ryan, Ontario Federation of Labour president.
“We owe Cliff much,” agrees Dave Killham, WHSC executive director. “Without his vision and stewardship there would be no Workers Health & Safety Centre. He recognized all those years ago what still holds true today, workers need occupational health and safety training designed and delivered by workers and for workers. More important, Cliff was prepared to use his considerable talents and influence to realize this vision.”

Leadership
Cliff served as president of the Ontario Federation of Labour from 1976 until his retirement in 1986. He was president of the WHSC Board from 1985 to 2000 and president emeritus from 2000 to 2009. Prior to his leadership roles at the OFL and WHSC, Cliff served as Local 222 president of the then-United Auto Workers union (UAW), as a UAW National Representative, president of Oshawa & District Labour Council, City of Oshawa Councillor, and New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament for Oshawa. He was a recipient of the Order of Ontario, and most recently the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Cliff conceived of a workers’ training centre, while president of the OFL. With the passage of Bill 70, Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, Cliff understood workers and workplace representatives would require comprehensive training in order to confidently and competently exercise newly won rights and responsibilities as enshrined in the Act. He negotiated with government and even other labour leaders to secure centrally pooled grants in support of an OFL health and safety training project.
On the strength of this project’s success, Cliff made the case for sustained funding from the then-Workers’ Compensation Board.  His voice was heard and thus a workers’ training centre was created within the province’s health and safety system. Later known as the WHSC, the organization (with Cliff’s stewardship) would lead the system on worker training priorities.
Among other training issues, the WHSC was out ahead on joint health and safety committee certification, new worker awareness, hazard-based workplace health and safety programs and training related to the prevention of occupational disease, musculoskeletal disorders and workplace violence.

Lives Saved
Gord Wilson, who succeeded Cliff as OFL and WHSC president (as well as WHSC president emeritus) knew Cliff for almost 50 years. He said, “Cliff was proud to belong to a social movement that fought for and achieved our nation’s defining social safety net. Instead of resting on these laurels though, Cliff drew strength from them. He understood the power of what we could achieve together. Worker experiences like those at Elliot Lake’s Denison Mines and Scarborough’s Johns-Manville asbestos plant also showed him there was much work left for the doing. Consequently, throughout his public life no one was more passionate about worker health and safety than Cliff.”
“I for one have been proud to help preserve and build upon the amazing heritage that Cliff has left us,” says Wayne Samuelson, also a former OFL president and now WHSC president. “Cliff understood we needed an autonomous workers’ training centre that put worker priorities and principles first. He has helped save countless worker lives. Supported by WHSC training hundreds of thousands of workers and workplace representatives are creating safer, healthier working environments, one workplace at a time.”
Funeral services for Cliff will be held at the Oshawa Funeral Home, 847 King Street West, Oshawa. Visitation is Thursday, November 22, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The funeral will be Friday, November 23, 11:00 am. Reception to follow at the CAW 222 Hall, 1425 Phillip Murray Avenue, Oshawa.
For more details, visit the Oshawa Funeral Home website.

Also be sure to visit the Ontario Federation of Labour website for a comprehensive overview of Cliff’s career and contributions on a host of worker and social justice issues.

Nov 192012
 
LabCoat

New boss seeks to slash wages of new hires in high-speed, high-pressure jobs.

from Health Sciences Association of Alberta

CALGARY — Employees at outpatient pharmacies at three Calgary hospitals are warning the public today about a threat to the level of care being provided to patients.

“These pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are committed to providing the best level of care for patients, but their ability to provide that care is being undermined,” says Laine Burlingham, Labour Relations Officer at the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA/NUPGE), which represents the nearly 50 employees.

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Nov 162012
 

Provincially-owned educational station faces five percent cut across the board.

from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union

TORONTO, November 13, 2012 — The job losses announced this morning at TVO will be harmful to the quality of content produced by the station. In an announcement this morning, TVO said it is cutting roughly 40 jobs and long-standing shows such as Saturday Night at the Movies, Allan Gregg in Conversation, and Big Ideas.

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Oct 292012
 
JanWong250

Toxic workplaces inspire (common but costly) "depessive realism".

by Jan Wong

Depressives see their glasses as always half empty, which some would argue is a more accurate and realistic view of the world around them, especially if they toil in a toxic workplace. In Mourning and Melancholia, Freud suggested that depressives have “a keener eye for the truth.” Andrew Solomon describes a study in which depressed people who played a video game for half an hour knew precisely how many monsters they had slaughtered whereas those who weren’t depressed guessed four to six more than they had actually killed.

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