Friday, 8 November 2024

Month: October 2019

Fiona McQuarrie: Unions and their unions

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Dr. Fiona McQuarrie, author and Professor in the School of Business at the University of the Fraser Valley, on the strike by CLC workers across Canada, including here in Halifax. “As the organization that represents Canada’s labour movement nationally and internationally, the CLC also has a moral and ethical responsibility to demonstrate progressive and collaborative labour relations – to use an old cliché, to talk the talk and walk the walk,” she writes.

A’Se’k – Boat Harbour: A site of centuries’ long Mi’kmaw resistance

Many different groups have challenged Mi’kmaw sovereignty over A’Se’k and the area around it, and for centuries, the Mi’kmaq have resisted and protected their homeland. Historian Colin Osmond describes how today’s Mi’kmaq protectors of A’se’k walk in the footsteps and shadows of generations of Mi’kmaq who have done the same.

Press Release: Migrant justice groups across the country denounce Liberal targeting of Halifax activist

Early this week, Justin Trudeau was on the campaign trail in Atlantic Canada. On Tuesday, October 15th, he held a rally in Halifax, a key battleground riding for the party. There, No One Is Illegal-Halifax/K’jipuktuk (NOII-Hfx) organizer Stacey Gomez was blacklisted from participation in the event. NOII-Hfx, No one is Illegal-Toronto, Justicia for Migrant Workers and Solidarity Across Borders stand with Gomez and denounce this move by the Liberals, which they say reflects a racist agenda.

Danny Cavanagh: Once again we ask, is the Nova Scotia Government above the law?

NS Federation of Labour president Danny Cavanagh on the government’s efforts to take away binding arbitration through legislation.

“Bill 203 is squarely aimed at undermining the negotiations of the attorneys now. It is also built to send a message to our 10,000 teachers who are in bargaining and other unions who, in the next 18 months, will also be heading into negotiations,” Cavanagh writes.

Judy Haiven: Questions remain in Halifax Fire gender discrimination human rights case

Last week a Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission Board of Inquiry decided that former firefighter Kathy Symington did not suffer discrimination while working at the Halifax Fire Service.

“In fact the Tessier case shows that for a woman to complain about a male-dominated workplace, such as the Fire Service, the woman has to be willing to fight for more than a dozen years, has to have an airtight complaint, witnesses, and certainly not criticize her superiors. Short of this, women are simply not believed.,” writes Judy Haiven.

Thandiwe McCarthy: Shadows at midnight – My search for Canadian Blackness

“As someone who only recently took identifying as a Black man seriously, I have struggled to look internally for the parts of me that are so socially visible and yet personally unfamiliar. Searching through music, movement and memory for the shadows that hide my Blackness in plain sight.” Thandiwe McCarthy

Press Release: Migrant justice activist speaks out after being barred from Trudeau rally in Halifax

On Tuesday, October 15th, in lead up to Monday’s federal elections, Justin Trudeau spoke at Halifax’s Brewery Market. He was joined by Halifax MP Andy Fillmore. That evening, No One Is Illegal-Halifax/K’jipuktuk (NOII-Hfx) member Stacey Gomez was barred from participating in the event by the Liberal party. NOII-Hfx stands with Ms. Gomez and denounces this undemocratic move by the Liberals.