I have the following op-ed on page A19 of today’s Toronto Star. It reiterates points made before on this blog. The only substantive difference is that I had previously low-balled the annual profits of Ontario’s Crown corporations at $4 billion. Today’s op-ed assumes $4.3 billion, the amount anticipated for the current fiscal year. That assumption probably [...]

Catalyst Paper proposes restart plan for Elk Falls paper mill Source Catalyst Paper Corporation RICHMOND, BC, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Catalyst Paper (TSX:CTL) today announced that it resubmitted a proposal to the union that could allow for the restart of the Elk Falls paper mill at a labour cost, all in, of approximately $40 per hour. This reflects current market realities and includes changes to wages and benefits similar to those already implemented with management and staff...

Yesterday afternoon, I caught the subway down to Queen’s Park to find out whether the throne speech would shed any light on the provincial government’s privatization plans. As it turned out, the speech included only a couple of lines on Crown corporations. But I ran into blogger extraordinaire Warren Kinsella at the legislature and note that [...]

Fraser Papers' workers in Edmundston ratify pension deal From Forestry Talk Blog CEP members at Fraser Papers' Edmundston mill have voted 69.3% to ratify an agreement to change the pension plan and complete the conditions required for the company to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy protection. "This was a very difficult decision for our members but it was the least of two evils," said CEP Atlantic Vice-President Ervan Cronk, following ratification meetings held over the...

OTTAWA -- The CEP marked the twentieth anniversary of the Humanity Fund with a renewed commitment to grow the Fund. The CEP established the Humanity Fund in 1990 as a registered charitable foundation to help people facing disasters and poverty and promote decent work and equitable development in Canada and around the world. Since then, thousands of CEP members in more than 100 local unions have negotiated a small, tax deductible contribution of a penny per hour worked into the Humanity Fund...

Fraser Papers' N.B. workers accept contract Last Updated: Monday, March 8, 2010 | 6:18 PM AT Sixty-nine per cent of the workers voted in favour of ratifying the contract on Sunday, said Doris Lavoie, who represents Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), Local 29. Under the deal, workers will see a 30 per cent cut in their pensions, down from the initial suggestion of 40 to 50 per cent, he said. Those who are under 55 will now have to wait until they're 65 to collect...

The agreement actually involves 4,000 workers not 8,000 as in a previous article post. AbitibiBowater and union reach tentative deal to help exit court protection By Ross Marowits (CP) The agreement requires about 4,000 workers at 12 pulp and paper mills in Quebec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada to accept wage concessions that would be used to fund pension contributions for the existing employees and 8,000 retirees. Members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada are...

There are a number of things that you can do to should your displeasure over Bill 80. Getting on the MENU should not be the reason why CEP supports Bill 80 and CLAC. Visit the website: Say No To Bill 80 Join Facebook cause: Stop Bill 80's Amendments to the — Construction Industry Labour Relations Act Sask. Party and labour is bad news Local Content - Letters to the Editor Thursday, 28 January 2010 15:48 Editor: With the political parties already gearing up for a new election, it...

I’ve been remiss in not posting information about and links to the federal budget analysis that we did at CUPE, as Paul Tulloch had urged on this blog.   In addition to the press release we issued, there’s an overview and summary that I prepared on budget day, and a dozen really good detailed issue sheets that different [...]

I was pleasantly surprised to see a report published yesterday by Don Drummond and Francis Fong at the TD Bank on the Changing Canadian Workplace.   It provides a short but decent summary of some different issues affecting labour: macro trends, educational requirements, changing composition, women, immigrants, aboriginal Canadians, older workers, widening income gaps, income security, etc.   These are [...]

Today’s day-after-International-Women’s-Day story in the New York Times by Nancy Folbre links to four indices of gender equity. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/the-worlds-best-countries-for-women/ How is Canada doing? Canada ranks 4th in the Human Development Index (we were number one for eight years) as well as the UNDP Gender Development Index, behind Norway, Australia and Iceland. Norway has been ranked the [...]

St. Marys Paper to lay off 300 PAPER MILL: Virtually all employees will be indefinitely put on the street Posted By MICHAEL PURVIS AND ELAINE DELLA-MATTIA, THE SAULT STAR St. Marys Paper says it will lay off virtually all of its employees and indefinitely halt production of specialty supercalendered paper grades as it "recalibrates its business plan," in light of difficult business conditions. The company announced the indefinite March 12 shutdown on Monday. Rene Lindquist, national...

Last week, the Harper government released a do-nothing budget, relying largely on corporate tax cuts - and completely lacking in any kind of strategy to help put Canadians back to work. Hidden in the 424 pages of the budget, though, are changes to programs that will have a huge effect on CUPE members and other working Canadians. To help understand what's actually in there, CUPE researchers have prepared a series of fact sheets. From pensions to privatization, from climate change to child care,...

Last weekend, I spoke at a community event celebrating International Women’s Day in Vancouver. It got me thinking about the status of women in the Canadian economy, reflecting both on the successes over the last half century and on the areas where work is still needed to achieve gender equality. As a young woman in Canada, [...]

There is still an opportunity to get out to the last meeting on Bill 80.

Even figurative stabs in the back are not good for your health "The HST is actually a tax-burden transfer from business to consumers, and will not a generate a dime to pay for new public services. "Yet [Finance Minister Colin] Hansen is preparing to pass a law that will try to argue the HST will generate billions of dollars for health care -- one of the most deceptive tricks yet with this stab-in-the-back tax." - Michael Smyth (the Province), March 3, 2010 The only relevant hockey comparison...

EDMUNDSTON, NB -- CEP members at Fraser Papers’ Edmundston mill have voted 69.3% to ratify an agreement to change the pension plan and complete the conditions required for the company to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy protection. "This was a very difficult decision for our members but it was the least of two evils," said CEP Atlantic Vice-President Ervan Cronk, following ratification meetings held over the weekend. “Bargaining into the wee hours of the morning, we were able to...

MONTRÉAL, March 7 /CNW Telbec/ - After arduous negotiations, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) has agreed to a tentative agreement with AbitibiBowater to renew the collective agreement. This deal fulfills an essential condition towards the emergence of the company from the current restructuring process. "We have the best possible agreement, given the precarious financial condition of the company", says CEP President Dave Coles. "We are proud to have been able to...

Vancouver, B.C., March 3, 2010 – The provincial government tabled its 2010/11 – 2012/13 Community Living BC ( the Crown Agency responsible for supports and services for adults with developmental disabilities) and the Ministry of Children and Families (the ministry responsible for supports and services for children and youth with special needs). At a time when [...]

The Pulper April 2006 Bulletin of CEP Local 1129 in pdf format Wage Caucus Delegates Irate Bro. Coles Raked Over CEP’s ‘Sub-CLAC’ Contractors Delegates from CEP Locals representing members at Catalyst Paper mills spearheaded an irate denunciation of CEP Western Region Vice President Dave Coles at a March 27-29 CEP Pulp and Paper Wage Caucus meeting in Vancouver. Their anger, and the anger of other delegates, was sparked by a recent Collective Agreement reached between an outside contractor...