Danny Cavanagh, president of the NS Federation of Labour, lists a series of demands and recommendations based on feedback from workers from across the province. Danny tackles workers safety, job security, paid sick leave, migrant workers, EI, and more. It’s a good list!
These are difficult times for many workers, and the people delivering the mail are no exception. “It would seem not all management are taking this pandemic as seriously as our membership, which often leaves our members with no choice but to refuse unsafe working conditions. There have been many occasions that individual managers and supervisors have made the wrong call,” writes Toni MacAfee.
Judy Haiven reflects on the dangers faced by healthcare workers in the days of the pandemic.”In these times of crisis and uncertainty and fear, do the wages of any of the heroes make up for the dangers they face?”
Danny Cavanagh: “Are you a worker in Nova Scotia? Take a minute and help us get better protections for all workers in the midst of this pandemic.”
“As a result of Halifax Transit being exempted from the social distancing order, we are seeing buses fully loaded with passengers forced to sit side by side, without any physical distancing at all,” says Wilson. “People will get sick. This level of bus loading will not flatten the curve”
Migrant, undocumented, low-waged, racialized organizations across the country, including No One is Illegal – Halifax/K’jipuktuk, are calling on Parliamentarians to ensure comprehensive income supports are immediately accessible to everyone regardless of immigration or previous work status. There’s also a link to an on line petition.
A COVID-19 mini guide compiled by the Halifax Workers Action Centre: Can your boss send you home, do you still get paid, and what supports are there? Also, can you refuse unsafe work?
The need for all to engage in social distancing reveals a conflict of interest between corporate profit and doing the right thing, writes Judy Haiven.
Preparing for cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre is calling for paid sick leave for all employees along with legislation to prohibit employers from requesting doctors’ notes to confirm absences due to illness.
A new booklet recently issued by Statistics Canada highlights the huge economic gap between Black people and the general population in terms of employment, income and child poverty. The situation is bad in Canada, and compared to other large cities the situation is especially bad in Halifax.