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Written by Ted Sprague
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 |
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The 24th January marked the one-year anniversary of the lockout at the Journal de Montreal newspaper. The 253 members of the reporting and office staff were locked out after a contract dispute over salary, benefits, and media convergence. The issue of media convergence is one that the union has been fighting against.
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Thursday, 25 February 2010 |
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These days, it seems that not a week goes by without Ontario Premier
Dalton McGuinty threatening workers with some new cut or attack. His
latest volley is aimed squarely at the workers of the Toronto Transit
Commission (TTC) who have been the most successful in fending off
attacks from the bosses and the government.
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Written by Dimitri Gallos
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Friday, 19 February 2010 |
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On 7th January, Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced its plans to shut down
its refinery in East Montreal. Shell intends to transform the refinery,
which currently produces 130,000 barrels a day, into a fuel terminal.
The conversion will take roughly a year according to a spokesperson for
the company. After the conversion, the Montreal East facility will
receive gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel (most likely from Europe),
which will continue to be distributed through Shell's nearby terminal in
Montreal. This would be the second major oil refinery in Canada to
close after Petro Canada shut down their Oakville refinery in 2005. The
union that represents workers at the Shell refinery has already sounded
the alarm that the company is trying to close down the plant in July.
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Written by J.K. Ludwig
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Wednesday, 09 December 2009 |
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The Vale/Inco strike is entering its fifth month with no end in sight. Despite the efforts of the corporate press to attack the striking workers, community support for the strikers remains strong. By fighting back and winning support from the community these workers are showing that there is another option to capitalism’s race to the bottom. |
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Written by Michael Romandel
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Thursday, 12 November 2009 |
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On 2nd November 2009, 2,700 teaching assistants unionized in CUPE 3906 at McMaster University in Hamilton went out on strike. Although this strike didn't end successfully for workers, combined with recent attacks on university workers and students elsewhere in Ontario, this strike demonstrated the need for solidarity and united action in fighting for better working conditions and better conditions for all students. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Saturday, 07 November 2009 |
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In the past year, the entire world has been thrown into convulsions. Almost overnight, the underpinnings of the capitalist system were thrown out the window. Governments around the world have thrown billions upon billions toward trying to prop up the system. Now that the bourgeoisie is talking about "recovery," it is the working class that will be made to pay. In Ontario, both the provincial government and their cohorts at the municipal level are threatening workers with mass service cuts, "Dalton Days," and layoffs. However, we are beginning to see leftward moves in the labour movement that can lead a workers' fightback against these attacks. |
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Written by Kevin Bell
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Thursday, 05 November 2009 |
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HandyDart workers in Greater Vancouver, unionized under ATU 1724, are now on strike. The private company in charge of operating HandyDart services is looking to eliminate the pension plan, slash benefits, and cut shifts in half, amongst other concessions they are looking to extract from workers. This is a big shift for HandyDart workers who have never struck in their 30-year history. At the heart of the dispute is a collision of interests as HandyDart service shifts from a user managed, non-profit service to a profit-making enterprise. |
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Written by Fightback
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
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On October 27th, 2009 CUPE local 3903 (teaching assistants and sessional lecturers at York University) was put under administration by CUPE National. Administration means that the executive and members of local 3903 lose the ability to make their own decisions and the ability to determine their own fate. Fightback opposes this dictatorial measure and welcomes the attempt by CUPE 3903 members to take back their union. |
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Written by Ted Sprague
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Friday, 30 October 2009 |
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The financial press tells us that the economy is now recovering from the financial crisis. However, this doesn’t mean that the effect of the financial crisis is over for workers. Countries all over the world have poured in trillions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to prop the failing capitalist economy, creating the biggest state deficit in history. This will translate into vicious cuts in many sectors, including post-secondary education. |
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Written by Socialist Appeal (USA)
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Thursday, 01 October 2009 |
 A year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a financial avalanche, the US economy remains in a mess. Official unemployment is steadily creeping toward 10%. The total number of job losses since the recession began two years ago is now nearly 7 million. Health care remains the number one issue facing working Americans, as the average premium for family health insurance offered through an employer surpassed the $13,000 mark this year, far outpacing increases in wages and inflation. It is against this volatile background that Michael Moore premieres his latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story. The fact that a film with such broad distribution even openly calls out the system by name is a tremendous step forward, a reflection of how far Americans’ consciousness has come since the dark days of September 2001. |
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Written by Christina Rousseau
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Tuesday, 29 September 2009 |
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Sudbury, Ontario: Home of the Big Nickel, education capital of the north, mining town, working class town. Sudbury has different associations for different people. This past year, however, Sudbury is becoming more widely known because of labour unrest. On 19th September 2008 a fire completely devastated Sudbury's Steelworker hall, burning it to the ground. Looking back now, this event was a foreshadowing of a fiery year ahead for the residents of Greater Sudbury. |
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Written by Fairfax Culpepper
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Tuesday, 15 September 2009 |
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Vancouver Fightback supporters attended a rally in support of the workers of the Coast Plaza Hotel, a hotel in Vancouver's West End that is closing. The owners are building a new hotel nearby, the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel. In a blatant attempt to break the Hotel's union, the owners are refusing to transfer any of the 150 workers who stand to lose their jobs when the Plaza Hotel closes. Many of the workers, who are organized with Unite Here, have been working for Coast for decades and have been making a living wage. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Saturday, 05 September 2009 |
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The weather wasn't the only thing that was hot this summer. A series of confrontations between workers and the bosses this summer showed that despite the fact that many workers are fearing for their jobs and their livelihoods, they would not idly sit back while the bosses, the banks, and the government attempted to attack workers' living standards. On this Labour Day, we can look back at how workers are capable of fighting back, and winning, during this economic crisis. |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Monday, 03 August 2009 |
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After 39 days on the picket line the 24,000 members of CUPE locals 416 and 79 have achieved an important victory. This strike was the first major confrontation between workers trying to hold the line, and the bosses trying to make the public sector pay for their economic crisis. Management placed 118 pages of concessions on the table which, in the words of CUPE 416 President Mark Ferguson, were all beaten back. Over the focal issue of banking sick days the union gave some ground, but nowhere near the capitulation that corporate interests were pushing. The results of the strike have important repercussions for the fightback against capitalism's economic crisis. |
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Written by Jennie Ernewein
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Thursday, 02 July 2009 |
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On 12th June, CUPE held a rally in Windsor to support striking municipal workers. The rally was supported by about 2,000 union and community members. Local 82 (outdoor workers) and local 543 (indoor workers) have been on strike to save their pensions and benefits from being eroded by proposed cuts by the municipality. These cuts to pensions and retirement benefits, targeted towards new hires, are the City of Windsor’s response to the growing economic crisis. The rationale for these cuts make little sense in this context because these savings would not come into full effect until 30 years from now. The only thing that we can ask is, how long does the City of Windsor think this recession is going to last? |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Monday, 22 June 2009 |
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At the time of writing, 24,000 city of Toronto workers are on strike; almost 2000 city of Windsor workers have been on strike for 10 weeks, and many other groups of workers across Canada are in dispute or heading that way. There is a common thread running through all of these clashes – management is going on the offensive to slash wages and benefits using the economic crisis as an excuse. This slump was caused by the bosses, the bankers and the corporations. Workers are not responsible for this crisis. Fightback says, “Make the bosses pay!” |
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Written by David May (Workers' International League)
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Thursday, 04 June 2009 |
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President Obama has just passed the 100 day mark of his term in office. What a difference a few weeks makes! Even though GM and Chrysler have already been given millions in public money, Chrysler has now been allowed to go bankrupt. All of its plants will be idled until it emerges from bankruptcy. And despite putting forward the option of a UAW “ownership stake” in GM and Chrysler, Obama is at the same time addressing auto workers with the cold vocabulary of Wall Street: Viability, Profitability and Liability. And these words are not hollow. |
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Written by Elaine King
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Thursday, 28 May 2009 |
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The University of Toronto has recently passed a plan to begin charging all students a flat fee, regardless of the number of courses they take. This is yet another attack on students' ability to get themselves an education. Students and student groups need to unite to fight back against these attacks, and push forward for a campaign for free education. |
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Written by Arash Azizi
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Friday, 15 May 2009 |
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The media love to portray Canada as a country that welcomes all immigrants and gives them an opportunity to succeed. The truth, however, is that as many as 500,000 live and work without "legal" status in Canada, meaning that they are subjected to even more abuse and exploitation than other workers. In addition to this, they are under constant threat of being arrested and deported, such as with the Conservatives' recent raids. |
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Written by Fightback
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Wednesday, 06 May 2009 |
UPDATE: Workers' Compensation Board has ruled against EasyPark and a solidarity picket is being organized for Friday 8th May.
On 12 April, 2009 Jim Mullaly, a CUPE 1004 Health and Safety Rep and union activist, was fired from his job at EasyPark in Vancouver. EasyPark is a public-private partnership owned by the City of Vancouver and the Downtown Vancouver Association. Mr Mullaly recently led a safety campaign demanding proper ventilation and clean air in the underground parkade that he works in. |
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Written by Fightback -- www.marxist.ca
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Tuesday, 05 May 2009 |
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Marxists in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver were active in intervening at May Day rallies this past weekend. We publish here reports and pictures from the three cities. |
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Written by Mejda Joya and Jennie Ernewein
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Monday, 27 April 2009 |
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Over the past month, the labour movement in Ontario has been heating things up to protect workers’ severance packages, pensions, and jobs. The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) has been playing a leading role in organizing a variety of rallies and demonstrations. Here is a report of two rallies that Fightback has attended. |
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Written by Ted Sprague
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Thursday, 16 April 2009 |
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On March 16th approximately 1000 teachers at UQÀM (University of Quebec at Montreal) went on strike. Their modest demands for better salaries and extra teaching staff has proven to be too much for the administration, the government, and the capitalist system. The resolve of the teachers is strong as they have repeatedly voted 90% and over to remain on strike and the majority of the students at the University are striking in solidarity. In the face of the global economic crisis the teachers and students at UQÀM are standing up and fighting back. |
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Written by Kevin Bell
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Thursday, 19 March 2009 |
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On Tuesday, March 17th, a group of 80 workers in the industrial town of Windsor, Ontario, occupied the Aradco auto parts plant. This occupation marks the re-awakening of the occupied factories movement in Canada and is an important turning point in the ongoing crisis of the North American auto industry. |
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Written by David May in the U.S.
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Wednesday, 18 March 2009 |
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The US Workers International League analyzes the crisis in the auto industry. As the economic crisis deepens, the bosses will seek to unload the burden onto workers’ shoulders. This underlines the need for militant, class struggle policies in the unions to place the burden of the crisis where it belongs: with the bosses! |
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Written by Chris Bailey
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Monday, 02 March 2009 |
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The 85-day strike at York University contains many lessons for working class and university activists. The employer was forced to rely on the power of the State to defeat the workers. With the bosses and their government committed to making workers and youth pay for the capitalist crisis, we can expect many similar struggles to the one at York University. There would be no labour movement today if workers were not prepared to break unjust laws. With militant, democratic leadership we can beat back the capitalist offensive. |
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Written by Matthew Damario
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Wednesday, 25 February 2009 |
After years of being forced to breathe in toxic fumes the workers at EasyPark are finally breathing a sigh of relief. Just this week it was announced that the city will be temporarily closing the parkade in order to do an investigation into the health effects. However this has come only after a very long and gruelling struggle for the employees to make their work environment tolerable. The following is an interview with Jim Mulally, a Fightback supporter and one of the leaders who led the fight for better working conditions.
VIDEO: Kathy Tomlinson reports: McDonald's exhaust making us sick, parkade workers say (Runs 3:07) |
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Written by Fightback Vancouver
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Tuesday, 17 February 2009 |
For years, parking attendants at EasyPark in Vancouver have been subjected to toxic fumes vented from the restaurants above the parking lot. These obnoxious fumes vent directly into the work area and are a serious health hazard to the workers. Fightback supporters at EasyPark, members of CUPE 1004, have initiated a campaign against unsafe working conditions at their workplace. The CBC has picked up this campaign through their "Go Public" investigative news section:
"McDonald's exhaust making us sick, underground parkade workers say" |
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Written by a York U. Striker
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Sunday, 25 January 2009 |
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Yesterday, Premiere Dalton McGuinty announced that he will be calling back the legislature in order to introduce legislation to force teaching assistants and contract faculty at York University, back-to-work. If CUPE 3903 is to effectively resist this legislation it must call upon all of its members and supporters throughout Canada to resist the legislation in the streets and not just in words. |
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Written by a striking York University worker
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Saturday, 24 January 2009 |
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Dalton McGuinty has drafted legislation that will send York University workers back to work without a fair settlement. This is an attack on free collective bargaining, the right to strike and well-funded, good-quality education. There will be a rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto tomorrow, Jan 25, at 12:00 p.m. Please come out and support workers at York University and speak your mind against McGuinty’s back-to-work legislation. |
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Written by a York U. Striker
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Saturday, 24 January 2009 |
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After the appointment of a mediator, and a significant reduction in bargaining demands by CUPE 3903, the University administration is holding firm. They are backed up by every other university in the country and want to make an example of the York workers. Corporate Canada is increasing its clamour for "back-to-work" legislation and putting pressure on Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty. Support the York workers in their fight for accessible education and free collective bargaining. |
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Written by A striking worker at York University
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Thursday, 22 January 2009 |
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On Jan 9, York University appealed to the Ministry of Labour to bring its latest offer directly to the union membership for ratification. The vote took place on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Ten days after the administration walked away from the bargaining table, the results are in: Workers have voted to reject the offer. Is this a surprise? Not really. |
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Written by Fightback editorial board
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Monday, 12 January 2009 |
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January 2009 marks the 10th year that Fightback’s ideas have been present in the Canadian labour movement. Back in 1999, a small group of young activists, largely members of the NDP youth in Vancouver and Edmonton, launched the paper L’Humanité to defend Marxist ideas and promote working class unity (especially between Anglophone and Francophone workers – hence the name). Since then, we have gone from strength to strength. To resonate better with workers in struggle, we changed the name to Fightback, which now has a regular readership from Victoria, to Calgary, from Toronto to Montreal and Halifax. To commemorate our 10th anniversary, we are revisiting a subject that was addressed in our very first issue. |
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Written by Shannon Mitchell
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Monday, 08 December 2008 |
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The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario have just rejected the last proposal put forth by the Ministry of Education. The rejection of this proposal sets the stage for further labour unrest in the province. |
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Written by Fightback: www.marxist.ca
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
Workers at York University in Toronto have been on strike since November 6th. The political impact of this strike is in many ways far more important than the actual bargaining issues. York University workers, represented by CUPE local 3903, have traditionally been amongst the most militant in Canada. The York contract is a model for all university workers. Many of these workers are also students and therefore the victory of this strike is a victory in the fight for free accessible education for working class students. Thousands of students recently demonstrated for lower fees in numbers not seen in a decade and many other campus workers are heading into possible strikes. Therefore this strike has the potential of becoming the spark that ignites a generalized movement.
Sign on to Fightback's solidarity campaign to ensure a victory at York! |
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Written by Chris Bailey
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Thursday, 09 October 2008 |
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Workers at Viva Transit North of Toronto have been on strike since October 2nd. 160 workers are fighting a multinational corporation for better working conditions and sick pay. Fightback has been supporting these workers on the line. Now more than ever we need increased workers' solidarity against the bosses. |
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Written by Ted Sprague
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Thursday, 24 July 2008 |
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Sunday, the 27th of July, marks the 90th anniversary of the day that Ginger Goodwin was shot. In commemoration, we are publishing this report of Fightback's participation at this year's Miner's Memorial Day, held in Cumberland, BC. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Thursday, 26 June 2008 |
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The past few weeks at GM Oshawa have shown that workers cannot trust the bosses to provide well-paying jobs. At the same time, we have seen that workers are prepared to fight to protect their jobs. The only things lacking are a leadership that has the same militancy as the rank-and-file, and the ideas to take this militancy forward. |
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Written by Alex Grant in Toronto
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
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Yesterday, the Canadian Auto Workers local 222 held a solidarity rally outside the gates of the Oshawa GM truck plant. There was a real sense of anger amongst the workers present, most of whom were from union families, but this was not the normal crowd that attends demonstrations. These are people who either directly or indirectly will be hit hard by the lay offs. |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
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The mood of the workers was very militant and it is quite clear that they are willing to remain on the picket lines for as long as it takes to win. Terry McDonald, a member of the Oshawa Local's bargaining committee, told Fightback, "We're right. We're going to stay as long as it takes for them to realise that." |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Wednesday, 04 June 2008 |
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The Tuesday announcement of the closure of GM’s Oshawa plant is a slap in the face to auto workers everywhere. The ink is barely dry on the CAW’s new contract with General Motors, a contract that contained many concessions that were supposed to keep this plant, and others like it, open. But General Motors has shown that they never had any intention of living up to their end of the bargain. They held plant closures over the heads of the bargaining committee to get concessions and when they finally got them, they announced they’re closing the plants anyways. 2,600 jobs will be lost. GM and the other auto-giants have shown that they are incapable of running this industry without attacking workers. |
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Written by Ted Sprague and Ryan Burnham
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Wednesday, 07 May 2008 |
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After succeeding in unloading the burden of the under-funded education system onto the shoulders of students through a $500 increase in tuition fees over 5 years, the McGill and Concordia University administrations have turned their attacks towards the university workers. Their focus is on the workers who are in a more vulnerable position, namely part-time faculty at Concordia and teaching assistants at McGill. |
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Written by Fightback - www.marxist.ca
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Friday, 18 April 2008 |
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The 9000 drivers, maintenance workers, ticket collectors, cleaning and other Toronto Transit Commission staff are set to strike Monday April 21st. We call on Mayor Miller and the City of Toronto to come to a fair settlement with the workers of ATU 113 to end the strike. The Provincial and Federal Governments must provide the money to fund our public services, rather than wasting cash on corporate tax cuts and increased military spending. |
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Written by Adam Fulsom
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
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Ontario can now be considered to be in the middle of a manufacturing crisis. Over 300,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in just a few short years; decent jobs that people can build lives, families and communities on. Those living in the Ottawa valley and Thousand Islands area felt the harsh impact of the so called Free Trade Agreement, with huge plant closures and job losses in the early 90's. Now round two is upon us. |
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Written by A CUPW Shop Steward
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
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Workers at Canada Post are facing an uncertain future. A quick glance at the publicly owned corporation shows that we’re sailing in troubled waters. We have a CEO who is hell-bent on pushing down wages and working conditions and privatizing the company. The Conservative government would certainly not put a stop to this. Canada Post itself has a massive bureaucracy that is incapable of doing anything quickly or efficiently. All the while, workers are being forced to sort and deliver more mail in less time. It is becoming abundantly clear that this model for a publicly owned company is a failure, but what is the alternative? |
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Written by PTUDC (Canada)
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Friday, 22 February 2008 |
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Over a dozen people attended a meeting on the recent fraudulent elections in Pakistan on a cold blustery Toronto evening. The meeting was hosted by Canadian supporters of the Pakistani Trade Union Defence Campaign (PTUDC), the first such meeting to date in Canada. |
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Written by Kevin Bell in Vancouver
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Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
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Workers at Loomis Art Store in Vancouver recently won an important victory by organizing a union in the service sector. Some in the labour movement believe that service sector workers cannot be organized or that it is not worth the effort. Typically, the most oppressed, young, immigrant and women workers are concentrated in the service sector. Worker-organizer Kevin Bell details his experiences and shows that only a militant approach can win victory for retail workers. |
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Written by Mike Palecek in Vancouver
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Tuesday, 04 September 2007 |
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On Monday August 20th, workers at the Richmond BC Ikea store hit the picket lines in their first ever strike. Teamsters local 213 members are on the picket line in what is turning out to be a very important strike. This struggle carries with it the possibility, not only to raise the living standards of workers at Ikea’s flagship store in Canada, but also to spread the union to other stores. It has the potential to deal a decisive blow to the two-tiered wage system that has been plaguing unionized retail workers for years. This battle must be won. |
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Written by Kevin Bell in Vancouver
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Wednesday, 15 August 2007 |
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Vancouver is in the midst of a widespread strike of civic workers. CUPE Locals 15 (inside workers), 1004 (outside workers) and 391 (library workers) have been on strike for approximately four weeks, since talks broke down and the City bosses walked away from the table. For the library workers in Local 391, this is their very first job action. The city’s unwillingness to bargain, coupled with their flagrant hypocrisy around wages and benefits and painfully transparent spin leads us to believe that this will be a very long strike. |
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Written by Julian Benson and Alex Grant
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Friday, 15 June 2007 |
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Today the major industrialized country with the highest proportion of working days not worked due to strikes or lockouts is Canada, the only OECD country with a higher rate is crisis-ridden Iceland. The high strike rate in Canada is now leading to further radicalisation as workers in the manufacturing sector begin factory occupations against plant closures. Canadian workers are setting the pace; the world will follow. |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Tuesday, 10 April 2007 |
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Over the last 5 years, the Big Three automakers have laid off tens of thousands of autoworkers to protect their profits. On 31st March, workers at the Collins & Aikman (C&A) parts plant in Scarborough occupied their plant when the employer refused to pay their severance package. This occupation can be seen as a tremendous step forward for the labour movement in Ontario and Canada and a sign of things to come. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Monday, 19 March 2007 |
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Daimler-Chrysler announced in mid-February that they were eliminating 2,000 jobs at their plants in Windsor and Brampton. This is just the latest assault against beleaguered Ontario workers. Not that long ago, many workers in Ontario enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in North America, gained from years of struggle and living in Canada’s financial and industrial heartland. Now, in capitalism’s period of decay, those gains have nearly disappeared and the situation looks to be getting even bleaker. |
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Written by Adam Fulsom
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Monday, 19 March 2007 |
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The management of Hershey have released plans that they intend to cut around 1,500 jobs from Canada and the United States in order to shift production to Mexico. This means the closing down of the Hershey plant in Smith Falls, ON in the near future, where the plant is a major employer and is the lifeblood of the community. As many as six hundred workers will lose their jobs so that the company, which is recording a profit, can become even more profitable later. |
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Written by Mike Palecek, Shop Steward, Vancouver local (in personal capacity)
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Monday, 05 March 2007 |
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The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has long been known for its strength and militancy in the labour movement. When CUPW was formed in 1965, they led an illegal strike of postal workers across the country that won the right to strike for the entire public sector. Since then, CUPW has led the public sector in the struggle for better wages, working conditions, and rights. But many rank and file activists are today wondering what has become of our union. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Tuesday, 20 February 2007 |
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The federal minister of labour, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, has threatened to introduce back-to-work legislation in order to end the 10-day old strike by CN workers. On Monday evening, management at CN failed to get the Canada Industrial Relations Board to rule the strike illegal. Now, they have turned to the Conservative government in the hope that the strike can be broken. |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Wednesday, 29 November 2006 |
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Last summer Willie Lambert, a rank and file transit worker from Oakville, Ontario, challenged Buzz Hargrove for the leadership of the Canadian Auto Workers. Lambert campaigned on a program of rank and file driven action against concessions. He argued that the leadership had been moving closer and closer to management and were relying more on backroom deals than militant action. Brother Lambert also strongly criticized the CAW leadership for backing the Liberals in several ridings in the last federal election. The CAW bureaucracy came down hard on him. It was clear leading up to the convention that they were not satisfied by simply winning, but were intent on crushing Willie Lambert. |
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Written by Brent J. MacVicar
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Wednesday, 04 October 2006 |
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Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) local 175 have given a 95% strike mandate to the union leaders representing workers for Loblaws, Zehrs and Real Canadian Superstore. After a vicious period of attacks on wages and benefits in collective agreements in the food retail sector in Ontario, workers have had enough. The company has declared war against the union and brought in Allan Leighton, a man described as a “veteran of UK labour wars” by the Globe and Mail. This movement of 27,000 workers potentially ushers in a new era of class struggle and possibly a shift to the left in UFCW's largest local on the continent. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Thursday, 14 September 2006 |
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Since the betrayal of the Ontario Days of Action in 1996-97, the movement in Ontario has been at one of its lowest levels. This is in contrast to the rest of Canada where most provinces are seeing some of the most militant labour actions since the 1970s. In both British Columbia and Québec, we have seen a burgeoning general strike movement while Newfoundland recently saw the largest strike in the province’s history. |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Tuesday, 12 September 2006 |
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On 16 August, at the constitutional convention of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, delegates voted to officially sever ties with the New Democratic Party and declare “political independence”. The convention’s decision merely formalizes the political line the union leadership adopted in February after the Ontario NDP executive voted to suspend CAW president Buzz Hargrove’s membership. The break between the CAW and the NDP weakens the political position of the working class and must be opposed by all who fight for socialism. |
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Written by Brent J. MacVicar
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Monday, 11 September 2006 |
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For the past year and a half I have worked at Horizon Distributors, the leading distributor of organic and natural foods in Canada. Having its origins as a workers' co-operative, management has typically made it a point to provide good benefits and take a more relaxed attitude towards work. But, things change. Explosive double digit growth rates have meant an ever increasing workload for the same token wages. In response, we have granted ourselves the right to have a voice and a vote on what we work for. |
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Written by Maarten Vanheuverswyn -- www.marxist.com
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Friday, 11 August 2006 |
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British airports were in a state of chaos yesterday after it was revealed that a terrorist plot had been foiled. Twenty-four people have been arrested on allegations of planning to blow up ten aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean using liquid explosives carried in soft-drink bottles, and detonators disguised as electronic equipment. The gutter press was keen to pick up on the British police's declaration that the explosions could have caused "mass murder on an unimaginable scale". |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Thursday, 03 August 2006 |
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Fightback's Julian Benson recently spoke with the CAW's Willie Lambert. Lambert is a rank-and-file transit worker from Oakville, Ontario. He is running against Buzz Hargrove for the leadership of the Canadian Auto Workers, Canada’s largest private sector union. In recent years, Buzz Hargrove’s leadership has become synonymous with the idea of “strategic voting” and “lesser evil politics”. Many CAW members feel that the direction that the Hargrove administration is taking the union is one that leads further down the road of defeatism and concessions to the bosses. |
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Written by Fightback
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Wednesday, 12 July 2006 |
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The situation in Mexico is approaching a critical point. As hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets to protest the results of the recent election, leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has now laid formal charges of electoral fraud against the Mexican state. While the bourgeois media, both in Mexico and internationally, tries to denounce the claims of fraud, the evidence against the State continues to pile up. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Sunday, 09 July 2006 |
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In the past year we have seen the beginning of a mass mobilization of workers and youth against imperialist intervention in Venezuela, and now, Bolivia. In the United States, over 400 people gathered to create the Venezuela Solidarity Network and here in Canada, nearly a dozen labour councils and labour federations, including the Ontario Federation of Labour, have endorsed the Hands Off Venezuela campaign. Much of the mobilization has been with the US in mind, but we must be prepared for the real possibility of Canada playing a lead role in an intervention in Latin America. |
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Written by Cora James
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Friday, 07 July 2006 |
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On 31 May, high school students took to the streets in Chile to peacefully protest the public education system. 500,000 students marched through the streets of Santiago to demand safer and cleaner schools, free bus fare, an end to university entrance examination fees, and a new curriculum. Students were also upset about a law passed by Augusto Pinochet that put municipalities in charge of education and therefore led to a widening gap between the quality of education of rich and poor areas of Chile. |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Thursday, 06 July 2006 |
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Stop Press! As we go to print the BC Teachers’ Federation has just reached a settlement with the government. The deal appears to be a compromise with the teachers receiving a 16% wage increase over five years. Such a lengthy contract may not be the best deal for teachers, but whether or not it is ratified by the membership remains to be seen. The vote is not until September, so BCTF members will have an entire summer to consider it. Despite the recent developments, we think it is appropriate to print the original article as the general perspectives remain the same. |
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Written by Yossi Schwartz -- www.marxist.com
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Monday, 05 June 2006 |
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Calls for boycotting Israeli academics and universities that do not disassociate themselves from the oppression of the Palestinian people have been growing in several unions internationally, including CUPE Ontario's decision to boycott Israeli goods. How does this connect with the class struggle in Israel? Yossi Schwartz in Israel comments. |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Thursday, 04 May 2006 |
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In the early morning of 21st April, officers from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) attacked a housing development that had been taken over by Mohawk protestors, arresting at least 16. This is just the latest in a long series of attacks by the Canadian state against Native peoples who are tired of nearly five centuries of brutal oppression. |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Thursday, 04 May 2006 |
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Throughout our school careers, young people are told repeatedly that we are not to expect the same job security, lifestyle, or even the same living conditions that our parents’ generation enjoyed – as if this constant reminder vindicates the last generation of all wrong doing and justifies worsening conditions. What lessons can Canadian students and youth take from the victory of the French student movement? |
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Written by John Peterson
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Thursday, 04 May 2006 |
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No longer afraid of "la migra" (the INS), and feeling the strength and solidarity of their numbers, the sleeping giant of the immigrants' rights movement has begun to stir on a grand scale. Over the course of the last few weeks, this has become the most important debate in the United States. |
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Written by Rob Lyon
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Wednesday, 02 November 2005 |
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Led by former Québec premier Lucien Bouchard, a group of “prominent personalities” in Québec issued a manifesto titled Pour un Québec lucide (in English, For a clear-eyed vision of Québec). The document is a crude attempt on the part of the authors to insert themselves into the intellectual history of Québec. Attempting to draw upon Québec’s history and using some of the strongest symbols from its past, it is nothing more than a manifesto of the bourgeoisie for the 21st century. More than that, Pour un Québec lucide is a stark warning to the working class that things are about to change. (by Rob Lyon) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Tuesday, 01 November 2005 |
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As the dust settles around the British Columbia teachers' strike there is an uneasy calm hanging over the province. Two facts are immediately apparent - first, neither the government nor the labour movement were decisively defeated; and second, this was only a dress rehearsal for the bigger battle to come in the spring. |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
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In the last five years, gas prices in Canada have soared from about 65-cents per litre to over $1.10. This price hike hits the working class hardest. While the right wing are trying to blame taxes for the increase, the majority of Canadians see that corporate super-profits are the real culprit. In a recent poll, 49% of Canadians (and 67% of Quebecers) support nationalizing the oil industry. As Marxists have contended, support for radical policies is far higher than generally realized. This issue could mobilize millions given the correct lead. (by Alex Grant) |
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Written by Fightback editorial board
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
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Yet again, the BC Liberal Government has removed the democratic right of employees to strike. From the UBC TA's, to the ferry workers and hospital employees, workers rights and public programs are coming under constant attack. Now the Liberals plan to use BC's teachers as their next layer of cannon fodder. On, October 7th, 42 000 public school teachers will illegally walk the line in defence of their right to collectively bargain, to go on strike and to save education for BC's youth. |
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Written by Fightback editorial board
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
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In a matter of days, all of the contradictions that have been building over the last four years in British Columbia have come to the fore. Gordon Campbell's mis-named Liberals have spent their time in power attacking the working class - slashing social programs, closing schools and hospitals, ripping up collective agreements and sending tuition sky-rocketing. This has been met with several waves of unrest. The movement has passed through many different stages; the working class has learned from bitter experience. Now this battle is reaching new heights. The province stands on the brink of an all-out general strike. |
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Written by John Haggerty
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
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Public broadcasting is one of many sectors whose funding has been slashed by the stooges of big business in government. As a result, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has taken the same approach to cost cutting as used in all sectors; they have chosen to attack the benefits and security of the workers. Management is trying to force through a new contract on their employees - a contract eliminating restrictions on the broadcaster's ability to contract out work instead of hiring full-time employees. (September, 2005) |
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Written by Miriam Martin
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Thursday, 01 September 2005 |
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For about a month, the Truckers' strike at the Port of Vancouver was front and centre in Canada's mainstream media - 'costing British Columbia's economy $75 million a day' ... 'guns fired on the line' ... 'government pressured to intervene' ... It should be no surprise that the story was dropped abruptly when it became clear that the truckers were going to win. The ruling class is correct to be afraid of the repercussions of word getting out about the truckers' victory. (September, 2005) |
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Written by Julian Benson
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Thursday, 01 September 2005 |
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It's that time again. Time for university and college students to head back to school for yet another year. And for yet another year, students will have to suffer record high tuition fees that restrict post-secondary education for more and more young people. This brutal affair has been going on for nearly a decade now; tuition is double what it was in 1995 and it's only getting worse. (September, 2005) |
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Written by Tom Rey
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Thursday, 01 September 2005 |
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In spite of the bright lights and cheerful façade that traditionally has come to characterise the fair-going experience, there lies something far more sinister than the poly-saturated fats found in most carnival foods. What emerges is a reality of wide-spread labour violations whose magnitude would seem almost as ridiculous as the clowns, if they weren't so heinous and shameless. (September, 2005) |
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Written by Miriam Martin
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Wednesday, 01 June 2005 |
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Telus workers across BC and Alberta have been on the picket lines since Thursday July 21st, making it clear that they will not roll over and take the offer that the company is trying to impose. In five years without a contract, the members of the Telecommunications Workers Union have put up with Telus stalling, conniving, and repeatedly bargaining in bad faith, in a blatant attempt to break the union. (July, 2005) |
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Written by Fightback editorial board
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Wednesday, 01 June 2005 |
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Fightback calls for the nationalization of telecommunications under democratic workers’ control, as the only solution to the problems of poor management at Telus. (July, 2005) |
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Written by Cora James
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Wednesday, 01 June 2005 |
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For the past few weeks in Ontario, all focus has been directed towards the provincial government’s decision to overturn mandatory retirement, and replace it with voluntary retirement. The provincial government claims that it no longer wants to force people to retire at the age of sixty-five, but rather wants to allow people to choose their retirement age. On the surface, this retirement policy seems like an excellent step for the McGuinty Liberals to take: the provincial government is providing people with more “lifestyle choices”. However, voluntary retirement impacts the working class in a negative way, and only masks the crisis of capitalism. (July, 2005) |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Wednesday, 01 June 2005 |
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In the past two years, we have seen an incredible mobilization of the Canadian working class as the contradictions of capitalism have become even more evident. Ontario, however, has been the exception, even though the capitalist attacks on workers are probably the most severe in Canada . Which way forward for Ontario workers? (June, 2005) |
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Written by Fehr Marouf and Lorenzo Fiorito
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Sunday, 01 May 2005 |
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Québec is in crisis and has just witnessed the largest student strike in 30 years. What is needed now is an honest appraisal of the objective failures and successes of the strike, and a sober discussion of how to build from the current situation in preparation for future battles. (May, 2005) |
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Written by Alberto Zablit et Lorenzo Fiorito
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Tuesday, 01 March 2005 |
Les cégépiens de partout au Québec ont quitté leurs salles de classe le Jeudi 24 Février 2005 pour amorcer une grève illimitée protestant les coupures de 103$ millions en matières de prêts et bourses de la part d'Uncle Scrooge, mieux connu sous le nom de Monsieur Charest. (March, 2005)
>>>Also available in English |
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Written by Brent J. MacVicar and Cora James
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Tuesday, 01 March 2005 |
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Once again the workers of Québec are pointing the way forward for the rest of Canada. From over 100,000 taking to the streets of Montréal on May Day to the occupation of an Alcan smelting plant north of Montréal, now Québec has become the first place in North America in which a Wal-Mart store has unionized. Wal-Mart is the 4th largest retailer in the world, and is renowned for its anti-union policies. Without the correct tactics, the fate of almost 200 organized Wal-Mart employees and the fate of another store that has won union recognition, hang in the balance. (March, 2005) |
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Written by Miriam Martin
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Tuesday, 01 March 2005 |
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Mainstream feminism has attempted to reduce March 8th to a vague and depoliticized celebration of the female sex as a homogenous group, but to socialists and working class women the world over, it as a day for mobilizing. International Working Women’s Day was instituted on the proposal of comrade Clara Zetkin at the second International Conference of Women Socialists, held in Copenhagen in 1910, with the aim of mobilizing women for the struggle against bourgeois domination. Much to the chagrin of liberals and moderates alike, this is exactly the role that International Working Women’s Day has played – most notably in 1917. (March, 2005) |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Tuesday, 01 March 2005 |
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Once again, the question of race has been raised in trying to explain why some students tend to perform poorly in school. Last year, the Toronto District School Board debated whether to start collecting data based on students’ race. Now, a professor is suggesting that Toronto experiment with “black focused” schools in order to halt “the problem of black youth disengagement from school.” Is the problem simply that public schools discriminate against black students, or is capitalism at the root of the problem? (March, 2005) |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Saturday, 01 January 2005 |
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It is with great happiness that we welcome the reprinting of Ian Angus' book Canadian Bolsheviks. First printed in 1981, this book details the birth, growth, and eventual Stalinist degeneration of the Communist Party of Canada covering the period from WWI to the mid 1930s. Angus provides an excellent antidote to both the Stalinist "official" history and to dry academic histories that see Marxism and Leninism as identical to Stalinism. Most importantly the book details the lessons learned by the early communists while building the most successful revolutionary party in Canada's history. In the words of Angus, "They have a lot to teach us." (January, 2005) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Saturday, 01 January 2005 |
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After nearly four years of attacks by the Gordon Campbell Liberals, British Columbia workers are fighting back. With the NDP in a position to win May's provincial election, a major confrontation is set to take place between rank-and-file workers and the leaders of the NDP and labour movement. The task of the Marxists is to penetrate these organizations and sow them with ideas that can win. (January, 2005) |
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Written by Lorenzo Fiorito and Trevor Russell
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Monday, 01 November 2004 |
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The so-called “blue collars” of Montreal have recently been subject to attack by a court of arbitration. They had formerly enjoyed a guarantee of a four-day, 35-hour work week. Following the decision of arbiter Gilles Lavoie, this important gain for a section of the working class has just been jettisoned in the interests of the City’s bottom line. While to many in other lines of work, even the current decision may seem like easy living, the fact is that it merely represents the first wave of an assault on the working class as a whole in Quebec. The elimination of living standards which allow for an increased quality of life is, in itself, a step backward for workers’ interests. Furthermore, it is an indication of what is to come for workers who are far less protected and have far less power than do the well-organized City workers. (November, 2004) |
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Written by Camilo Cahis
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Wednesday, 01 September 2004 |
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Over 17,000 Parks Canada employees continue rotating strike action at various national parks and historic sites across the country. Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) have been on strike since early August in a dispute that has cost the federal government hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost admission at various sites. (September, 2004) |
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Written by Lorenzo Fiorito
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Monday, 01 March 2004 |
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Quebec is undergoing a rapid change to its basic social order. After ten years of "paix sociale" - so-called social peace - under the Parti Quebecois, the election of Charest's Liberals has signaled a sharp polarization between the classes, and added another factor of stress to an already tense situation. (March, 2004) |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Monday, 01 March 2004 |
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Frustrated by the lack of action against the BC Liberal government, CUPE BC President Barry O'Neill assured delegates to the BC Federation of Labour's November 2003 convention that CUPE was prepared to take action. A later meeting of CUPE local presidents committed to organizing a one-day political strike. (March, 2004) |
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Written by Rob Lyon
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Sunday, 01 February 2004 |
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The world's largest producer of aluminum, Montréal-based Alcan, announced on January 22, 2004 that it was closing its Jonquière Soderburg smelter in Arvida, Québec. In order to protect their jobs, the unionized workers of the smelter have seized it and demanded that it either remain open, or that Alcan replace the smelter with a new one. The old saying is true – workers don't need bosses and managers, but the bosses and managers need the workers. (February, 2004) |
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Written by Alex Grant
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Thursday, 01 May 2003 |
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After 8 months without a contract, 3 weeks of strike action, Government legislation, and illegal job action, the UBC strike is finally at an end. This was a strike that pitted some of the poorest student workers against an employer working hand-in-glove with the Government. The strike was widely followed by workers in Canada and had a radicalizing effect on the students involved. Alex Grant analyzes the lessons coming out of this movement. (May, 2003). |
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Written by David May
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Wednesday, 01 January 2003 |
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As contract talks are underway between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Long-shore and Warehouse Union, a Bush Administration task force has said that if the long-shore workers strike, troops of the National Guard will be sent to occupy the ports, and members of the Navy will be used to load and unload ships. But this threat has only made the workers of the ILWU more determined to fight. In the name of the "War on Terror" Bush is attempting to destroy the most fundamental gain of the Labour Movement - the right to strike. (January, 2003) |
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Written by Rob Lyon and Nick Driedger
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Friday, 01 November 2002 |
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Workers at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton have been on strike for six months and counting. The Shaw Conference Centre is a publicly owned facility, run by Economic Development Edmonton on behalf of the City of Edmonton. It is a facility used to host meetings, concerts, conferences, etc… and is a major source of revenue for Edmonton. (November, 2002) |
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Written by Mike Palecek
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Friday, 01 March 2002 |
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On February 4, 2002 thousands of teachers across Alberta walked off the job demanding smaller class sizes and higher pay. The strike had the momentum of a run-away freight train. On the first day of the strike 4,800 teachers walked out; that number grew every day until 21,000 teachers were off the job. It was the largest teachers’ strike in Alberta’s history. Public support for the teachers was strong. On February 19, the striking workers organized a demonstration at the legislature that attracted thousands. Students, teachers and parents turned out to show their anger at the right-wing government’s neglect of the education system. Parents and teachers have been demanding better classroom conditions for over ten years to no avail. The long silent working class of Alberta is beginning to wake up. This is reflected in a series of militant strikes in the province; last year thousands of ambulance attendants won their illegal strike. But, the teachers’ dispute doesn’t have the same happy ending. (March, 2002) |
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