“Keep your promises,” say laid-off workers

Ontario’s Second Career training program in doubt, while federal EI training programs don’t meet expectations Toronto, On — Public and private sector unions including the IAMAW as well as laid off workers are calling on the provincial and federal governments to keep their word and to ensure that those who were promised training get it. “Too many workers in general are employed in low-skill, low-wage jobs,” says IAMAW Education Representative

Pensions en crise : un mythe ou une réalité?

Si vous avez lu les journaux cette semaine, vous pourriez croire que les régimes de pension ont fait l’objet d’une transformation soudaine et radicale au Canada, et il faudrait vous pardonner votre erreur de perception. Il appert que tout le monde écrit sur la crise qui frappe les régimes de pension : régimes qui disparaissent, faillites, perte de droits à pension, retraités qui craignent de ne plus pouvoir subvenir à

Pension Crisis?

If you look at the newspapers this week, you could be forgiven for thinking that there have been sudden dramatic changes in Canadian pension plans. It seems like everyone is writing articles about the pension crisis – disappearing pension plans, bankruptcies, workers losing plans, retirees afraid of starving. Unfortunately, lot of what is being written is confusing and in some cases, confused, so I’ll try to briefly sort out what

Excellent story about SMS in Canada - by Carlos Da Costa

“Excellent story about SMS in Canada”Recently, I came across a very interesting but lengthy story about Safety Management System (SMS) in Canada titled “Fly At Your Own Risk: Why is Transport Canada moving toward self-regulation for the country’s airlines?” Once in a while you come across a story that just can’t be ignored and captures the issue in its entirety from someone else’s perspective. This story featured in The Walrus

Ambutrans Workers Ratify First Agreement

Toronto, ON – Members of IAMAW Local Lodge 1295 employed with Ambutrans have ratified their first collective agreement. The four-year agreement provides wage adjustments in the first year as well as wage increases of two per cent in each year. Other agreement highlights include : • Paid lunch • Meal allowance for long distance trips • Overtime and holiday provisions • Vacation increases – 3 weeks after 5 years of service

It’s Time to Re-Regulate Aviation (by Louis Erlichman and Carlos DaCosta)

In the wake of the global economic meltdown and its stunning display of the failures of corporate-dominated markets, there has been a lot of talk (but little action) about re-regulation in the financial sector. In the aviation sector, however, the deregulation express seems actually to be accelerating, with moves in Canada and elsewhere to get rid of the last vestiges of airline regulation. Starting in the early days of commercial

A federal election? What are the issues?

With all the talk about the likelihood of the Conservative Government being defeated and bringing on a federal election, some of the pundits are saying that it would be a waste of time – an election without issues. While this may be an accurate reflection of the similarity of Liberal and Conservative policies, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t crucial issues that need to be dealt with – whether or

New UN Agency for Women's Equality and Rights

The United Nations General Assembly voted Monday to create a new, more powerful agency for women, in a move supporters hailed as a breakthrough for women’s equality and rights. An Assembly resolution called for the amalgamation of four existing United Nations offices dealing with women’s affairs into a single body to be headed by an under secretary general. The unanimous vote followed three years of negotiations.

Compulsory votes on certification applications!

Dear Sisters: Dear Brothers: As you may have read in both French and English newspapers from Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke, analysts at the Montreal Economic Institute claim, on democratic grounds, that compulsory votes must be held on certification applications (requests to unionize) to confirm the intention of the concerned workers. Who is in agreement with this claim? Well, the Employers’ Council (whose former president now heads the Montreal Economic