R&F.ca Weekly Update
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- Published on Friday, 10 July 2015 03:15
- Written by editor
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WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT SCABBING?
By Doug Nesbitt
Scabs, strikebreakers, finks, rats. There are a lot of more appropriate names for what the press, politicians and employers call “replacement workers.”
Scabs are people who cross picket lines to do the work of those on strike or locked out. Scabs include outside people hired by the employer, or people who belong to the union but are crossing the picket line. People are scabs for many reasons. They can be anti-union right-wingers, selfish, or is often the case, getting special treatment by the boss.
In this day and age when the labour movement isn’t what it used to be, there’s also the chance that a scab is someone who is simply ignorant of why scabbing is wrong and how it undermines workers ability to struggle collectively so everyone gains. Sometimes scabs think they are hard up for cash and need the work more than others – but there is always someone else in the same boat who stays on the picket line. And it is collective self-help and solidarity that can help pickets get through tough times. Scabbing means getting ahead for yourself while undermining everyone else. It’s the ethic of capitalism, not democracy. Read more!
BOOK REVIEW: VANCOUVER WORKING CLASS & LABOUR HISTORY WALKING TOURS
By Daniel Tseghay
Despite the mayor’s ban on street meetings in January of 1912, thousands of unemployed Vancouverites gathered to hear Richard Parmeter Pettipiece of the Socialist Party of Canada speak at the Powell Street Grounds.
When the police ordered their dispersal, the crowd remained on the Powell Street Grounds, later renamed Oppenheimer Park, after the city’s second mayor and the second largest property owner, David Oppenheimer. When the police arrested Pettipiece, the crowd protested. Nearly a hundred officers, some mounted and others on foot, invaded the crowd, throwing their clubs and horsewhips around. 25 people were arrested while others ran. Some “went down like ten-pins before the irresistible onslaught of the officers”, according to a Vancouver Province report the next day. Read more!
VANCOUVER ELEMENTARY TEACHERS RALLY AGAINST SCHOOL BOARD AUSTERITY
By Lisa Descary
On Monday, June 29 after school had let out for the summer, most Vancouver teachers were taking a well-deserved break. However, a small but determined group of teachers and other trade unionists gathered outside the Vancouver School Board (VSB) office as the Vancouver School Trustees met to vote on the budget for the next school year.
The flash demonstration was called by the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association (VESTA) to show support for Vancouver’s elected school trustees. Teachers were concerned that the recent passage of Bill 11 and the appointment of a ‘special advisor’ to oversee the VSB’s budget process meant that the Liberal government was moving towards eliminating school boards’ ability to decide their own budgets. Read more!
RAISE WAGES NOT SEA LEVELS
By Octavian Cadabeschi
On July 4, 400 Vancouverites gathered on sunset beach, joining communities across Canada in a nationwide day of protest to stand up for jobs, justice, and climate action.
Protests overlooked English Bay, the site of April’s bunker fuel spill, where the bulk carrier cargo ship Marathassa leaked thousands of litres of the highly toxic bunker C oil into Vancouver harbour.
“For too long, the environmental movement has branded itself as just protecting environmental interests,” says Kaschelle Thiessen, an organizer with the Vancouver Day of Action. Read more!
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