Danny Cavanagh, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, calls for an end to unpaid sick leave. “Daycare workers, food handlers in restaurants and food supply stores, no matter what your occupation, working sick is not working for Nova Scotia,” he writes.

“We need to think outside of the box and stop thinking that of making it sound like taking sick days is something bad. Let’s look at the real cost. Many employers can legally require their employees to provide a sick note, which doctors complain clogs up clinics with sick patients who could have otherwise just recovered at home.”

Kendall Worth returns to the topic of paid poverty advocacy work, and how to make it a win win for everybody. It can be done. Business plan attached!

Some excellent points were made at a well-attended press conference organized by low income people in the North End on the topic of poverty and the municipal election. It fell a bit on deaf ears, though, as just one reporter and one municipal candidate made an appearance.

The City of Halifax applies a fair wage consideration when evaluating bids for services. But it’s just fluff, as the recent awarding of a parking enforcement contract shows. HRM doesn’t really care how well third party workers are paid, as long as costs are down.

Chances are that Justin Trudeau,federal ministers and Stephen McNeil are going to find their inboxes and Facebook and Twitter timelines rather full this week. The group that is trying to stop Alton Gas from dumping brine into the vulnerable Shubenacadie River kicked off a one-week social media blitz to make the politicians aware of the issues.