This week @ rabble.ca: UP! Canadian labour rising

Details: Published on Monday, 12 May 2014 09:40; Written by editor

09 May 2014

Hey rabble readers!

This week, we launched our new series "UP! Canadian labour rising," which invites debate and solutions to the challenges facing Canada's labour movement. In her introduction, guest editor Nora Loreto writes about the vision for UP!, and her hopes for labour's future, and in the first installment, Duncan Cameron reflects on why the labour movement is more important than ever. You can check out the rest of the series here.

The Canadian Labour Congress Convention kicked off on Monday in Montreal, and rabble.ca was there, bringing you news from the convention floor -- including results from the nail-biting leadership election. Mainstream media didn't cover the CLC convention, but our labour reporter, H.G. Watson, did! Catch up on all of our convention coverage right here.

Mayworks Festival of... Working People and the Arts in Toronto continues from now until May 15! Visit www.mayworks.ca for the program of exciting visual art exhibits, panel discussions, poetry readings, musical performances, and more.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union Convention is May 8-10 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Come say hi to the folks at the rabble.ca table and visit this page for more info.

This week's top news

Inside the unlikely alliance that's changing the climate movement
The Cowboy Indian Alliance has formed again, this time to take on Keystone XL. This activism and resistance is remaking the climate movement.
By Kristin Moe

Libby Davies remembers poet and activist Bud Osborn
Poet, and activist Bud Osborn died today. Libby Davies knew Bud well through his and her work in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. She remembers him here.
By Libby Davies

Why we might be winning this tar sands fight (as long as we keep kicking ass!)
The May 10 National Day of Action asks political leaders to make climate change a priority. As Jason Mogus states, we may just be winning this tar sands fight after all.
By Jason Mogus

Young workers are organizing at the CLC
A forum of young workers at the CLC convention talked about the best ways to organize, get involved and the challenges they face as youth in the labour movement.
By H.G. Watson

Conservatives and abolitionists are missing the big picture on sex work
As Justice Minister Peter MacKay prepares to table new laws governing sex work, the debate about the Nordic model surges on. What is the Nordic model and is it useful for sex workers in Canada?
By Jason Congdon

Introducing... UP! Canadian labour rising
UP! Canadian labour rising invites debate and solutions to the challenges facing Canada's labour movement. Nora Loreto writes about the vision for UP!, and her hopes for labour's future.
By Nora Loreto

First Nations Education Act 101: A settler's guide
There is an important conversation happening among Indigenous communities right now about the First Nations Education Act. If you are confused about the details, here is a great primer to help.
By Correy Baldwin

This week's top blogs

Child care's rough ride
Child care in Ontario has been having a rough ride for years. The current election illustrates the precariousness of child care in the absence of a federal role and without solid provincial policy.
By Martha Friendly

Don't stop the pressure on the First Nations Education Act
Even following National Chief Shawn Atleo's resignation, the First Nations Education Act is not dead, only "on hold." Don't stop fighting until it's dead, says Pamela Palmater.
By Pamela Palmater

Fruits of labour: Migrant farmworkers in the Okanagan Valley
The wine and fruit industries in B.C. now rely on the SAWP. What needs to change?
By Christina Turner

Harper has tarnished Canada's reputation for 'sustainable governance' -- new report
The internationally respected Bertelsmann Foundation has given the Harper government a failing grade on the environment, access to information, and more, in its sustainable governance rankings.
By Karl Nerenberg

Hey Rob Ford! Toronto women don't need fixing
Enough with Rob Ford's sexist, racist and homophobic words! Toronto needs a mayor who will address the links between City Council, social policy and the silencing of the voices of women.
By Dr. Kara Santokie

Growing outrage over government inaction on missing and murdered Aboriginal women
New figures compiled by the RCMP show the number of murdered and missing Aboriginal women in Canada in the past 30 years is close to 1,200. The government has been saying it is half that number.
By Roger Annis

Revolution 101: Krystalline Kraus on Indigenous protest
The big issue at stake here is the concept that Indigenous communities have been bored, ineffective and thus idle for 600 years.
By Krystalline Kraus

This week's top columns

Austerity bites, employment rate falls again
Today's labour force numbers are ugly, there's no other word for it. The employment rate is hardly any higher than the low point reached in July 2009, when the recession officially ended.
By Jim Stanford

Capitalism, oligarchy and the new economic order
After reading Thomas Piketty's book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," can we safely say that America, as the icon of capitalism, is no longer a democracy but an oligarchy?
By Monia Mazigh

Increasing inequality and the rise of a super-rich in Canada
An immensely rich and powerful class right here in Canada is quietly amassing ever greater wealth and power to hand down to their heirs, who will be still richer and more powerful.
By Linda McQuaig

Harper takes a swing at the Supreme Court after losing yet another case
A recent string of well‑deserved thrashings in court have demonstrated that the Supreme Court is truly an independent, non‑partisan body, able to act as a check on the Harper government's actions.
By Priya Sarin, Pro Bono

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