April’s jobs numbers were released this week, showing unprecedented job losses in some areas. The numbers are so low that either our economy is tanking fast, or there were inaccuracies in survey. Either way, not a great sign…
- In related news, Bombardier announced today that it would be laying off 2,900 workers in Montreal, Toronto, and Belfast.
- Bill C-377 flies to the Senate, where Liberals plan to re-introduce amendments proposed two years ago on the bill’s first trip through the upper chamber. This bill has become a ticking political time bomb. Almost everyone, even some Tories, are hoping that it ends up back in the gutter it came from.
- Canadian-owned Gildan garment factory has some of the worst working conditions in Honduras, according to feminist labour organization CODEMUH. Gildan has been accused of firing workers for organizing unions and failing to comply with occupational health standards in Honduras, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
- Ramping up their Stop Harper campaign, Unifor is running radio ads in five swing ridings. The ads, to be aired in Moncton, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Regina challenge the Conservatives’ economic record.
- What does community support look like? For workers at the copper and zinc mine in Flin-Flon Manitoba it comes, in part, in the form of discounted haircuts and chiropractic adjustments. The workers have been on strike since April 20, when workers voted 96 per cent in favour of rejecting the companies offer. The 200 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 1848 are holding out for better wages.
- Last week the Harper government introduced the omnibus budget implementation Bill C-59, which included a provision that would override the collective bargaining process with federal employees to change sick leave provisions. After the news hit, the Public Service Alliance of Canada said it needed time to regroup and would not be returning to the bargaining table this week.
Ella Bedard is rabble.ca’s labour intern and an associate editor at GUTS Canadian Feminist Magazine. She has written about labour issues for Dominion.ca and the Halifax Media Co-op and is the co-producer of the radio documentary The Amelie: Canadian Refugee Policy and the Story of the 1987 Boat People.
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