Labour days – This Magazine https://this.org Progressive politics, ideas & culture Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:15:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.4 https://this.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/cropped-Screen-Shot-2017-08-31-at-12.28.11-PM-32x32.png Labour days – This Magazine https://this.org 32 32 Vote on Canada’s most underrated rebellion https://this.org/2007/07/02/vote-on-canadas-most-underrated-rebellion/ Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:15:13 +0000 http://this.org/blog/2007/07/02/vote-on-canadas-most-underrated-rebellion/
As Canadians, most of us have learned about such nation-defining events as the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada or the Red River Rebellion, but in the next issue of This, we chronicle four under-appreciated rebellions that explode the myth of Canada as a place with a peaceful (and boring) history.
The July/August issue of the magazine is set to hit stores soon, but right now you can read up on the chosen rebellions and vote for the one you think has had the most lasting impact on Canadian life.

]]> AFSCME: The f—ing union that works for you https://this.org/2007/04/11/afscme-the-f-ing-union-that-works-for-you/ Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:04:39 +0000 http://this.org/blog/2007/04/11/afscme-the-f-ing-union-that-works-for-you/ If you believe Internet lore, this clip is the result of a voice-over outtake done when the original commercial was shot, produced and aired more than 25 years ago. Today, it’s receiving all kinds of online plaudits from younger labour-conscious folks who say it embodies the kind of approach the labour movement should be taking now to attract new members.

One thing is for sure: it’s really funny.

]]> Canada continues to fail guest worker https://this.org/2006/09/05/canada-continues-to-fail-guest-worker/ Tue, 05 Sep 2006 07:06:16 +0000 http://this.org/blog/2006/09/05/canada-continues-to-fail-guest-worker/

Monday’s Toronto Star carries a Labour Day feature updating the plight of Hermelindo Gutierrez, a Mexican who worked as a seasonal farm worker in Ontario for several years before kidney failure left him dependent on a dialysis machine—an unthinkable expense in Mexico for the working class.

Hermelindo’s story was previously told in the pages of This Magazine thanks to the crafty pen of writer Maria Amuchastegui.

Unfortunately, things haven’t improved much for Hermelindo, save for the fact that his wife is about to give birth to their third child. He has applied for refugee status, but until that is sorted out he remains isolated from his family in Mexico, without much help from either the Mexican or Canadian governments.

If anyone has a kidney to spare, now would be a good time to look into donating it…

]]> Bad boss stories https://this.org/2006/06/30/bad-boss-stories/ Fri, 30 Jun 2006 07:32:08 +0000 http://this.org/blog/2006/06/30/bad-boss-stories/ If you’ve ever been curious about the differences between the labour movements in Canada and the U.S., have a look at this quirky little contest from Working America, an AFL-CIO affiliate. The winner of the best “bad boss” story competition wins a vacation (sorry, the voting period is already past), and there are some real doozies (click the Top Stories tab). One entrant tells of their boss, a dentist, who took $100 from every employee—after his clients cancelled their appointments during the week of 9/11. Ouch. Anyway, quite and innovative approach to raising a union’s profile, n’est pas?

]]> The end of solidarity– for now. Forever? https://this.org/2006/05/31/the-end-of-solidarity-for-now-forever/ Wed, 31 May 2006 21:32:36 +0000 http://this.org/blog/2006/05/31/the-end-of-solidarity-for-now-forever/ Don’t know how other Torontonians felt about it, but being stuck in traffic for an hour while I tried to drop off my kids at daycare, and then struggling through the same smoggy traffic to get back to one of the kids when he fell ill made this middle-aged lefty mighty cranky with the illegal strikers over at the Toronto Transit Commission.
Don’t tell me it was an accident that the union leaders chose a hot, humid smog-emergency Monday to call the walk-off.
I personally saw old people struggling along the sidewalk, walking to the hospital in the west end through car-choked streets. The Toronto Sun yesterday published a photo of a striker lounging in a fold-out chair on the picket lines.
Hell of a PR committee that union has.
Morons.

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