R&F.ca Weekly Update
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- Published on Friday, 18 March 2016 03:15
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LABOUR BOARD DECISION SHOWS NEED TO CLOSE SUBCONTRACTING LOOPHOLES
By Jason Edwards
In a recent decision, Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) Vice-Chair Kelly Waddingham dealt a blow to employers who use subcontracting schemes to avoid responsibility for paying workers’ wages and upholding other employment standards. While the decision is a positive development for working people, it exposes a glaring gap that exists in the legal framework governing employment relationships in Ontario.
This decision, titled Gilmour Services, concerned the unpaid wages of fourteen workers, amounting to just over $20,000. The workers were employed by Reco Cleaning Services, performing construction clean-up work. Their services were obtained through a subcontractor, Gilmour Services, which was a small company, owned and operated by an individual who also performed cleaning duties. Read more!
ONTARIO NDP IS MIA ON THE FIGHT FOR $15 AND FAIRNESS
By David Bush
As the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign rolls along in its struggle to raise living standards for Ontario’s workers, it has to be asked, where is Ontario’s NDP?
The Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign was launched last spring in an effort to address the systemic problems facing low-wage and precarious workers in Ontario. The province has seen an explosion in the growth of precarious work. In 2004 22 per cent of jobs in Ontario were low-waged, ten years later that number jumped to 33 percent.
The Liberal government in February 2015 announced their Changing Workplaces Review, a full-scale review of both the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Labour Relations Act (LRA). Read more!
CHARLES DEMERS TALKS COMMIES, MOBSTERS AND SEAMEN
30 years ago, Jim Green, former Vancouver city councillor, longshoreman, steel cutter, shop steward, taxi driver, academic, community organizer, and university lecturer, wrote Against the Tide: The Story of the Canadian Seamen’s Union.
It’s the story of a cross-Canada union that fought some hard battles during the middle of the 20th century. There was the red-baiting, as well as the deplorable role the federal Liberal government played in using the mob-dominated Seafarers’ International Union to intimidate the workers. But through all this, the Canadian Seamen’s Union continued the fight and even took their struggle across shores, making it the first international strike in Canadian history. Read more!
SHAKING UP OTTAWA'S LABOUR COUNCIL, PART TWO
By Doug Nesbitt
On February 18, the Ottawa & District Labour Council held its biannual election. Sean McKenny was re-elected as president for a seventh consecutive term but a strong challenge was mounted by a campaign group that put forward Joel Harden for president. Harden, chief steward for CUPE Local 4600, received 44 percent of the vote.
Rankandfile.ca’s Doug Nesbitt spoke with Joel Harden on March 3 2016. In part two of this interview, Harden talks about the sorts of public events that are needed to build the local labour movement, and how strike support has been and can be organized through the labour council. Read more!
Check out our weekly labour news update every Monday for a summary of the past week's top labour news stories, and our feature labour video every Saturday! @rankandfilca Youtube r53 | r54
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