Labour

Hands Off My Post Office Rally – London, ON

Rallies were organized across Canada on Saturday, to draw support in the Canadian Union of Postal Worker’s (CUPW) on-going struggle to keep Canada Post a public entity. This is a continuation from their 5 week strike in the fall of last year. The union has tried to work with the corporation in order to establish new, innovative ways of delivering the mail, but holds fast to maintaining adequate wages and decent benefits for all employees. The corporation has refused to move on any of the suggestions posed by CUPW’s negotiating team and is pushing the union into another strike position…

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Posters and signs at the CUPE 2073 strike line on Oxford St

“We’re falling behind”: Canadian Hearing Services workers strike for fair wages, job protections

For more than six weeks, over 200 Canadian Hearing Service (CHS) workers have been on strike across the province. Represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local (CUPE) 2073, the sign language interpreters, mental health counselors, audiologists, and other striking staff of CHS are hoping for more support from the public as they approach their sixth week on the lines. CHS is a nonprofit organization based predominantly in Ontario. The organization provides a plethora of services for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals across the country. Since Julia Dumanian became CEO of the company in 2015, service provisions in…

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Workers’ Compensation on first strike in history: wages, workload, and micromanagement primary concerns

Since May 22, over 200 workers have been on strike at the downtown London office on Fullarton Street for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Represented by the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU) Local 1750, London workers are some of the over 3,600 employed by WSIB across Ontario. These workers are responsible for administering the employer insurance program for workers who are injured on the job.  “We are wanting a fair collective agreement. We are looking for increased wages, better workload management, less micromanagement of our workloads,” said Suzanne Flannery, Unit Coordinator for the London Office and head picket…

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London Community rallies together for May Day

On Sunday, more than 70 London workers and community members gathered in Victoria Park to celebrate May Day. The celebration included music, chants, and speeches from local organizations and union chapters. May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, celebrates the labour movement and the workers behind it. The origins of May Day trace back to 1886, following a massive general strike in the United States involving workers across the nation striking to demand an eight-hour work day. In Chicago, on the third day, police officers fired into a crowd of striking workers, which incited a rally at the city’s…

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A Month on Strike: A Postal Worker’s Perspective From the Line

In the final week of the postal workers’ strike I could hardly go ten paces without someone stopping me on the street to get the latest news and to express their support for our struggle.  Everyone understands that we are living in really trying times. Inflation has exploded over the past 6 years, rents continue to rise, and our wages remain stagnant. The demands that the CUPW negotiating team went to the bargaining table with were meant to have our wages catch up with inflation, ensure any changes to the way we deliver mail will protect our jobs for the…

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CUPE Local 2361 fights for fair wages

Hundreds of community members and Western University’s groundskeepers, caretakers and tradespeople represented by CUPE Local 2361 held a strike solidarity rally on August 30 amid bargaining with the university for a renewed contract. The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2361 represents Western University’s building services and facilities operations employees, including landscaping services, trades workers and caretakers. The union entered a legal strike position on August 29. Workers and community members gathered at Western University’s main gates on Richmond Street for a solidarity rally at 12 p.m. on August 30. The atmosphere at the rally was energetic as CUPE 2361…

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Why Picket in Solidarity with Other Workers?

Originally published by the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association on September 19, 2024. When I was a kid, my dad worked as a printer-slotter in a cardboard box factory, and when he was on day shifts, I knew he would be home around the time I got back from school. At one point, he started coming home later as well as leaving earlier in the morning, and he explained to me why: there was a strike by another union (operating engineers) at the same factory, and while his union (Canadian Paperworkers Union) could not strike during their contract, he would arrive…

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Four(4) UWOFA members standing next to a UWOFA banner and a tent

Why attend Labour Day?

Originally published by the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association on August 22, 2024. More than just the last long weekend of the summer, the first Monday of September marks the Labour Day holiday across North America. Since the late 1800s, unions in Canada have been rallying on this date to celebrate their collective achievements and show their unity in working class struggles. In some communities the day is marked by a parade with union banners and marching bands.  In London, the London and District Labour Council holds a picnic with live music, a free BBQ and informative tabling displays…

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