Community members and allies from throughout Southern Ontario have been occupying the Hanlon Creek Business Park (HCBP) development site in the south end of Guelph since 27 July 2009, halting preliminary developments of the planned 675-acre corporate industrial development.

The occupation serves to prevent one of the last Old Growth Forests in Guelph (for example, there exists the Victoria & Wild Goose Woods in The Arboretum at the University of Guelph which are Old Growth Forests --Yup! They’ve never been clear cut, thank god), not to mention in Southern Ontario, and the lands surrounding it from being forever damaged by commercial and industrial development.

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Today, the Government of Saskatchewan announced that it is engaging the Conference Board of Canada to analyze the proposed Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan takeover. My first thought is to hope that the Conference Board does a better job on potash than it did on TILMA. My second thought is, “Doesn’t Saskatchewan have a civil service?” Presumably, the [...]

At leasts some CEP Locals are organizing the unorganized. Ming Pao employees launch union drive TORONTO, Aug. 23 /CNW/ - Employees at one of Toronto's highest circulation Chinese-language newspapers, launched a union drive today to resolve long-term dissatisfaction with wages, benefits and working conditions. An open organizing committee of four employees, from a broad range of departments at the newspaper, presented management with a letter announcing the drive at the start of business...

Wonder what deal was cut to change the pension. Farmers Dairy workers reach deal Last Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010. A tentative deal has been reached in the contract dispute at Farmers Dairy. The deal was reached at in the early hours of Thursday morning, said Kim Power, representative with fhe Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. The union was called to a meeting with company representatives Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn't expected that bargaining would...

Simply, two things. Let’s make sure our public school system recognizes two things: Our children are priceless individuals with immense capacity to excel, not standardized, interchangeable commodities who can be warehoused in assembly line learning factories. Thinking matters, not just filling up heads with data. A week before the new school year starts is a [...]

The Government of Saskatchewan wants nothing to do with a state (read China) corporation takeover of Potash Corp.  The Globe reports: “The Saskatchewan government signalled Wednesday that it is unlikely to support a takeover of the Saskatoon-based company by a sovereign wealth fund or other state-owned firm from China or other large potash-buying nation. The fear [...]

For those involved in social change work, these days can be frustrating ones. Just as the neoliberal order of tax cuts, deregulation, resource extraction and free trade seems to be maxed out, like the Energizer bunny it keeps coming back. Meanwhile, progressive forces (academics, unions, NGOs and political parties) can give a good fight from [...]

09/01/2010 Published The Ottawa Citizen The newsprint industry will continue to dwindle, but mills producing paper towels and diapers will prosper, Bert Hill writes. The Paper Trail The forestry industry that built the Ottawa-Gatineau economy appears to be on its last legs. Hammered by the Internet's growing grip on personal communications, the rich Canadian dollar and intense competition, the forestry industry continues to slash operations in the hopes of finding a smaller, ...

West Wind Aviation signs union deal The StarPhoenix August 28, 2010 West Wind Aviation Ltd. reached its first collective agreement with its pilots' union, the company said in a news release Friday. Last year, the pilots joined the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) after three pilots at the company were fired for organizing a union drive the year prior. The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) issued the decision last April in Ottawa to allow the union to...

Our Sister Lynn Flandera from Local 40 sent us a picture of our Union banner at the Hyatt protest a few weeks ago, speaking out against unfair working conditions and practices.

Our Brothers and Sisters at ITF Seafarers need our help to put an end to piracy.  As of today there are still 350 seafarers being held by pirates.  By clicking on the link below, following the instructions and signing the petition you can help put an end to this by reaching, or exceeding, the goal [...]

OLRB Hearing - CULE vs CEP - update August 25th, 2010 CEP vs PSAC vs CULE - Ontario Labour Relations Board Hearing August 23-24, 2010 - Toronto, Ontario This hearing was set to determine the outcome of the CEP Raid of Ontario CULE members. The parties met at the appointed time of 9:30 am at the Board offices in Toronto. The Board appeared at 10am and upon seeing Counsel for the PSAC, one of the Board members asked for a recess. Upon returning it was revealed a Board member had a conflict of...

Yesterday’s GDP numbers were worse than they seemed.  And they highlighted a curious feature of modern capitalism.  Nowadays, non-financial businesses have become major net lenders to the rest of the economy.  Instead of borrowing money (in various forms: debt, equity, etc.) from other sectors to finance real investment, non-financial businesses are not even reinvesting their [...]

This summer Canada ratified its first International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention in over a decade.

I guess the CEP needs to have the council of Canadians on side before coming out with a position. Wonder if the numbers are correct. Funny that CEP's position would be local workers first when they are bring in contstruction workers from across the country. Potash takeover bad for workers, bad for Saskatchewan, bad for Canada 08/24/2010 OTTAWA –A foreign takeover of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan would threaten potash mineworkers and their communities across the country, says the...

AbitibiBowater closes 2 Que. plants Last Updated: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 | 4:34 PM ET. Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/08/24/que-abitibibowater-plants.html#ixzz0yD8ffIIf AbitibiBowater has permanently closed two idled Quebec paper mills that once employed 570 people. The newsprint giant, which has been operating under bankruptcy-court protection from creditors for more than a year, said Tuesday the facilities in Dolbeau and Gatineau won't be part of its operations...

ILWU Canada wishes you a safe and enjoyable Labour Day weekend!

Come celebrate 100 years of organized labour on the Prince Rupert waterfront by attending the dinner & dance, rally and BBQ all happening this Labour Day weekend!  Click on the events tab for more information on the festivities, or call the ILWU Canada office at 604-254-8141

Harper must intervene in Potash takeover, says Council of Canadians 08/20/2010 Published Council of Canadians Ottawa – This morning, the BHP Billiton takeover bid of Saskatchewan-based Potash Corp, moved into hostile territory, with BHP announcing it would buy $39 billion worth of shares directly from the shareholders. The Council of Canadians is not satisfied with the Harper government’s claim it will undertake a ‘rigorous review’ of the takeover, as this new development indicates time is...

UPDATE (September 1): Quoted in The Toronto Star. Canadian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew modestly in the second quarter, but that modest growth returned GDP to a level not seen since before the economic crisis. Recent Developments: The Second Quarter Canada’s output expanded at a quarterly rate of 0.5%, which corresponds to an annual rate of 2.0%. Such [...]