McDonald's is a "world wide partner" of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, it seems that McDonald's is not much of a partner to their employees in the province of British Columbia (or anywhere else for that matter). Under British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell's Liberal Party government, his province has the distinction of having the lowest provincial minimum wage in Canada at C$8.00 per hour. But, BC also has a so-called "training wage" of C$6.35 and that's what McDonald's...

Much ink has been spilled and audio/video bits and bytes used over the actions of some anti-Olympics protesters who smashed store windows in Vancouver. While I support the anti-Olympics movement, the actions of this particular group of protesters was just plain stupid in my opinion. When the mainstream media is filled with Winter Olympics hype and looking for any excuse to discredit dissent, why give them exactly what they're looking for? I've got a much better idea. The best way to deal...

About a month ago I lost my cellphone. Well it got lost and then someone found it and stole it! I've since picked up a new one though and am back connected with the world. My old cellphone was definitely "old" technology by today's standards but sometimes I like old tech. It was a Motorola V235 flip camera phone. The on board camera took crappy little photos and even crappier little videos. One of the things that I really liked about it is that I could use the free (as in freedom)...

Wow, life sure can get busy! It's been over a year since I've posted anything here. It's about time I got back at it. The funny thing is that in this country we again find ourselves with a prorogued Parliament...a "coup d'etat" in my humble opinion by the Harper Conservative government. This time Parliament has been prorogued for even flimsier reasons than last year; namely the Harper government's refusal to answer opposition questions on the torture of Afghan detainees. Back in 1852...

[an English message follows] Membres du SCFP 2626, Plusieurs d’entre vous savent que notre convention collective actuelle prend fin le 31 août 2010. Par conséquent, nous devons entamer le processus de négociation cet été, soit avant le début de la prochaine année scolaire. L’objectif de ce processus consiste à négocier un nouveau contrat (c.-à-d. négocier les modifications à la convention collective actuelle). Il y a pourtant beaucoup de travaux de prénégociation à accomplir avant de...

Assemblée générale annuelle Le 10 mars 2010 à 18 h Auditorium des Anciens, UCU (un repas léger sera servi à 17 h 30) Membres du SCFP 2626, Notre prochaine assemblée générale annuelle (AGA) s’approche à grands pas. Nous avons donc pensé à vous rappeler de l’importance de ces assemblées, ainsi qu’à vous communiquer l’ordre du jour prévu. L’AGA est composée de tous les membres en règle du SCFP 2626, le syndicat représentant les assistants d’enseignement et de recherche, les correcteurs, les...

Annual General Assembly March 10, 2010 @ 6pm Alumni Auditorium, UCU (a light meal will be served at 5:30pm) Dear Members of CUPE 2626, Our next Annual General Assembly (AGA) is fast approaching, so we thought we’d remind you of the importance of these assemblies, as well as what to expect on the agenda. The AGA is composed of all members in good standing of CUPE 2626, the union of teaching and research assistants, markers, demonstrators, tutors, proctors, lab monitors, and lifeguards at the...