Labour and education in the news

Below are recent news stories on labour and education related issues.  Click the headline to be taken to the article. Some may require a subscription. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for article text.

May 9, 2025

Rural school board latest to cut educational assistants funded by Jordan’s Principle
Winnipeg Free Press
A Manitoba school division in which four in 10 students self-identify as Indigenous is cutting 40 educational assistants in response to sweeping changes to Jordan’s Principle.

Alberta teachers reject mediator's recommendation, consider strike vote
CBC
Teachers in Alberta's public, Catholic and Francophone schools have rejected a mediator's proposal that would have given them an average wage increase of 15 per cent over four years.

Employees 'devastated' as Fanshawe College moves to cut 400 jobs
CBC
Staffing at Fanshawe College will be cut by 35 per cent — roughly 400 full-time employees — as the school faces financial pressures driven largely by a sharp drop in international students.

Cape Breton University eliminating staff positions amid $6.8M deficit
CTV News
The Cape Breton University Board of Governors has approved a $106.5 million operating budget as part of a three-year plan that will result in cuts to dozens of staff positions.

Ontario opposition grills Ford government over education spending
Yahoo
As multiple Ontario school boards brainstorm ways to dig themselves out of multi-million dollar deficits, Premier Doug Ford's government faced heated questions from opposition leaders Thursday over its education spending.

Avi Benlolo: Universities are a wrecking ball against civilization
National Post
Harvard’s Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism released a sprawling 300-page report last week that attempts to confront the antisemitism festering on its campus. But beneath its ambition lies a troubling truth: antisemitism has become embedded in the ideological core of many universities. And the real question is no longer just how to address it — but whether universities can even be rehabilitated at all.

Professors publish book on the corporatization of higher education at the U of A
The Gateway
A group of six professors have published a collection of their work on the corporatization of higher education in The Contest Future of Higher Education: Lessons from Alberta. The works were first published in the Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies.

Why ‘Leo’? New pope shows support for workers, labor unions
Los Angeles Times
On Thursday, Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was introduced to the world as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and the first American pope, taking the name Leo XIV.

Australian prime minister says reducing student debt is his re-elected government’s first priority
Winnipeg Free Press
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told his government colleagues on Friday that reducing student debt would be the first legislative priority for his administration that was returned to power in the nation’s first election in which the Baby Boomer generation was outnumbered by younger voters.

UCP introduces private, for-profit hospitals
CUPE
A bill before the Alberta Legislature will, if passed, allow for the operation and funding of hospitals by private, for-profit entities.

Tentative agreement reached to end Kaiser mental health strike
NUHW
Kaiser Permanente and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract covering approximately 2,400 mental health and addiction medicine employees in Southern California. With this tentative agreement, NUHW will end its open-ended strike in Southern California.

The Polish delivery app workers organising to stop digital platforms taking them for a ride
Equal Times
The image of a person rushing through the city on a bicycle with a brightly coloured, box-shaped insulated backpack has become a common sight around the world. These yellow, red, orange or blue backpacks, with a clearly identifiable logo, are just a small glimpse of the radical change sweeping through an increasing number of sectors, from food delivery to care and cleaning services. Digital platforms are increasingly present in all of them, impacting a growing number of workers and profoundly changing the way we work and interact with each other.

May 8, 2025

Many Winnipeg paramedics considering quitting: survey
Winnipeg Free Press
Minutes after resuscitating an unresponsive child, stabilizing an injured patient or administering life-saving medication to an overdose victim, Winnipeg paramedics often rush to their next call without time to catch their breath, union leaders said Wednesday.

Winnipeg paramedic union calls for help amid 'unbelievable' violence levels, burnout on the job
CBC
The union representing paramedics in Winnipeg is sounding the alarm about poor working conditions, following results from a recent member survey that showed high rates of violence and burnout on the job and inadequate staffing and support from management.

Fed-up, frustrated, frightened nurses from across province rally at legislature, tell Kinew government to ‘wake up’
Winnipeg Free Press
Hundreds of pink-clad nurses jammed the steps of the Manitoba legislature Wednesday, carrying signs reading “Wake Up!” and “Same Shift, Different Day” — the ‘f’ in “shift” cheekily crossed out.

Film workers on both sides of the border would be hurt by proposed Trump movie tariffs
Rabble
Film industry workers in Canada and the U.S. would be hit by the foreign film tariffs proposed by U.S. president Donald Trump on Sunday night.

Grocery Workers VS Goliath
In These Times
In early February, when temperatures in Denver plunged to seven degrees below zero and snow dusted the sidewalks, Martin Bonilla, bundled in two jackets and a neck warmer, walked a picket line 1,000 miles from his home of Fillmore, Calif. Bonilla works in the produce department at Vons and had flown to Colorado in the early morning after finishing an 11-and-a-half-hour shift.

Amazon loses bid to block NLRB case over NYC union bargaining
Reuters
A divided U.S. appeals court has rejected Amazon.com's attempt to block a National Labor Relations Board case involving the online retail giant while it pursues claims that the agency's structure is unconstitutional.

‘Blue Dog’ Democrats vote to roll back paid sick leave for workers at small farms and businesses
Minnesota Reformer
Six self-described “Blue Dog” Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Tuesday to weaken the paid sick leave law they supported just two years ago and repeal the benefit for tens of thousands of workers at small farms and micro-businesses.

Is It Time for Unions to Rethink Everything?
The Nation
This past March saw the emergence of a new working-class nightmare for the unionized, the union-hopeful, and the union-apathetic.

School boards hit with ransom demands linked to PowerSchool cyberattack
CBC
Canada's largest school board and others across North America have received ransom demands connected to the massive PowerSchool cybersecurity breach that hit during the winter break — this after the company paid hackers a ransom to delete the stolen data.

Ontario’s colleges are a safety net for workers. It’s time the government funds them properly.
CCPA
Ontario’s colleges stand at a critical crossroads. For decades, the province’s college system has endured severe funding shortfalls, with Ontario contributing less than 25 per cent of operating revenue, a stark contrast to other provinces where provincial governments fund 60 per cent of college’s operations

Fighting on Three Fronts
Academe Blog
The all-but-finalized departure of University of Michigan President Santa Ono for the same, yet even more lucrative, position at the University of Florida, where his apparent hostility to student protest (even when expressed via democratic referendum) and eagerness to abandon DEI programs made him an ideal candidate to serve Governor Ron DeSantis, avatar par excellence of the authoritarian assault on academic freedom and shared governance.  As Michigan professor Silke-Maria Weineck, one of higher ed’s most insightful and fearless faculty leaders, put it in a must-read piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education this week, it was as if his brief tenure in Ann Arbor was but “an auditioning tape” for the loathsome Florida governor.

Major universities sue to block Trump cuts to NSF research funding
CNBC
Major U.S. universities have filed a lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump’s administration from carrying out steep cuts to federal research funding provided to academic institutions by the National Science Foundation.

NYPD arrests pro-Palestinian protesters after Columbia University library takeover
USA Today
Police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who took over part of Columbia University's main library on May 7.

May 7, 2025

Peter MacKinnon: The University of Saskatchewan is on an ideological mission. It needs to end
National Post
I must disclose my background here; I was employed by the University of Saskatchewan for 40 years including 13 years as president. The institution’s distinctive origins combined the development of liberal education with a responsibility to build the province’s agricultural industry, and it did the latter with world-class agricultural programs and research institutes, and with faculty and students of many backgrounds from around the globe.

LETTER: Algoma University’s crisis was years in the making
SooToday.com
Residents of Sault Ste. Marie have watched Algoma University grow over the years, particularly through the influx of international students. But behind the scenes, this growth has masked a slow-moving crisis - one that could have been avoided if the right people had acted sooner.

About 30 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after occupying University of Washington building
NBC News
About 30 pro-Palestinian students was arrested Monday night after they occupied a building at the University of Washington in Seattle, setting dumpsters on fire and creating a "dangerous" environment, university officials said.

Columbia University cuts 180 staffers funded by federal grants revoked by Trump administration
NBC News
Columbia University announced Tuesday that it laid off 180 staff members working on federal grants impacted by the Trump administration's decision to revoke the university's funding.

Quebec unions representing 400 subsidized daycares reach tentative deal with province
CBC
After 13 strike days, the labour federation representing workers at 400 subsidized daycares in Quebec says it has reached an agreement in principle with the province.

Hudson’s Bay to bring back commission for workers: Unifor
CityNews
Unifor says Hudson’s Bay has reversed a decision to stop paying commission to workers.

Ontario Investing $1 Billion in Skills Development Fund to Protect Workers
Province of Ontario
As the next step in its plan to protect Ontario workers in the face of tariffs and economic uncertainty, the provincial government is expanding its Skills Development Fund (SDF) by nearly $1 billion over the next three years, for a total of $2.5 billion. This funding will help train and reskill Ontario workers, including those directly impacted by layoffs resulting from tariffs and ensure they have the necessary support to find good-paying jobs and help strengthen Ontario’s economy.

Judge expresses sympathy for fired federal workers but questions if reinstatement is proper remedy
CityNews
A federal judge expressed sympathy on Tuesday for thousands of federal employees who were suddenly fired by the Trump administration earlier this year, but he also voiced skepticism about whether reinstating them to their jobs was a proper remedy and questioned what the courts could ultimately do.

Florida's Plan to Replace Migrant Workers With Children Falls Apart
Newsweek
A bill that would have loosened child labor laws in Florida has died in the state Senate.

As Trump Pushes Privatization of USPS, Amazon May Be Preparing to Take Over
Truthout
It would have been easy to miss. Buried deep within Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s annual letter to company shareholders — a glowing, energetic 5,000-word essay released in April — was a foreshadowing of the company’s keen interest in capitalizing on the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Workers meet MPs to call for changes to equal pay law
GMB Union
Workers will meet MPs in Parliament today [Wednesday] calling on them to back changes to equal pay legislation.

‘I think there will be a big rebellion’: Pay equity advocates blindsided after years of work
The Post
Marianne Bishop recalls when a home support worker she knew was finally able to afford a new car. This was not a fancy new car, but a “good, reliable trustworthy” vehicle they needed to get around for work.

May 6, 2025

Students ‘not props,’ Speaker tells legislature after MLAs’ behaviour prompts complaints from school groups
Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba legislature tour guides have recorded an uptick in complaints from field-trip groups that have been drawn into political debate.

Carleton to cut back on contract instructors amid $32-million budget hole
CBC
Carleton University is planning to slash its contract instructor workforce in half as it deals with a $32-million deficit, much to the dismay of the instructors' union.

Academic leaders condemn Nova Scotia bill as threat to university autonomy
CBC
New legislation affecting post-secondary institutions in Nova Scotia drew the ire of members of the Canadian Association of University Teachers at a meeting this weekend in Ottawa.

University of Guelph divests fully from fossil fuel companies
CBC
The University of Guelph has accomplished a task that was five years in the making by completely divesting from fossil fuel companies.

McGill platform becomes safe space for conserving U.S. climate research under threat
Globe and Mail
Academics at McGill University in Montreal are providing the U.S. scientific community a platform to protect climate research under attack.

CRA won’t renew contracts for more than 1,000 term workers, union says
CTV News
The Canada Revenue Agency won’t renew contracts for more than 1,000 term workers across the country later this month, says the union representing them.

Montreal IKEA employees go on strike, call for higher pay raises
CBC
Employees at the IKEA store in Montreal went on strike for two days this weekend over the employer's insufficient wage offers, their union said.

Canada Post could be headed for another strike later this month as deals set to expire
Globe and Mail
Canada Post employees could be headed to the picket line in just over two weeks, with existing deals between the Crown corporation and the union expiring on May 22.

The problem with switching industries, even for workers laid off because of tariffs
Globe and Mail
Jean-Francois LeBlanc, a 29-year-old steel mill worker, spent eight years climbing the ranks at Ivaco Rolling Mills in L’Orignal, Ont., which is on the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Montreal. Tariffs have destabilized work at the mill, leaving Mr. LeBlanc stuck with an entry-level role after his previous position training other workers was terminated. Even his new role is unstable, as on-again off-again layoffs affect him and more than 100 other Ivaco workers.

Denied again: Canada Post employee’s long-term disability claim denied because cancer diagnosis came during strike
CTV News
With yet another strike deadline looming, the effects of the last postal workers’ strike are still being felt by a Kitchener, Ont. woman.

Hudson’s Bay backtracks on cutting workers’ commission pay, but still won’t offer severance
RCI
Hudson's Bay Co. has backtracked on its decision last month to cut commission pay earned by hundreds of cosmeticians and fragrance advisers during liquidation sales, CBC News has learned.

“They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case
The Intercept
An immigration raid in western New York on Friday targeted a group of immigrants involved in a landmark statewide effort by farm workers to unionize.

AFGE president says downsizing after Trump’s order threatens the union’s survival
CityNews
The president of the nation’s largest union for federal workers said Monday the organization’s ongoing staff downsizing will devastate the services it provides members and threatens the group’s survival.

Exclusive: US cancels FDA bargaining session over layoffs, union says
Reuters
The Trump administration last week canceled the first bargaining session scheduled with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's largest workers union since its ability to represent government staff was temporarily restored by a federal court, according one of the union's bosses.

LA firefighters union heads suspended, audit finds $800,000 in undocumented spending
ABC News
Top officials at the Los Angeles firefighters labor union were suspended Monday after an audit conducted by its parent organization found over $800,000 in credit card spending, some of it by the union's president, could not be accounted for.

May 2, 2025

Manitoba needs ‘scientific talent strategy’: open letter
Winnipeg Free Press
Premier Wab Kinew’s invitation to disgruntled U.S. scientists to relocate north has prompted another warning — this time, from students — about status quo research funding and workforce challenges.

Pembina Trails conducts deep-dive into hacked files
Winnipeg Free Press
Cybersecurity experts are scanning a new dataset of leaked files from 12 schools in south Winnipeg for passport scans and social insurance numbers.

BUFA motion disappointing
Brandon Sun
From the officers of the Brandon University Board of Governors:
As the officers of the Brandon University Board of Governors, we feel obliged to make a statement in response to the motion that was passed last Thursday by the Brandon University Faculty Association and reported in the Brandon Sun on Monday, April 28. This is our joint statement as individuals, as we have not yet had an opportunity to discuss this with the full board.

Number and salaries of full-time teaching staff at Canadian universities (partial), 2024/2025
Statistics Canada

U.S. National Institutes of Health pulls funding for UBC research on HIV and women
Globe and Mail
The U.S. National Institutes of Health has pulled funding from a University of British Columbia research project on women and HIV care, with the government agency blaming the project’s “amorphous equity objectives” and commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Donald Trump says he will strip Harvard University’s tax-exempt status
Globe and Mail
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he planned to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, the latest salvo against the Ivy League school amid a larger crackdown on elite U.S. universities.

WCB’s $122-M rebates to employers misdirected, unions complain
Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba’s unions are questioning the decision by the Workers Compensation Board to distribute $122 million in rebates to employers — and the NDP’s decision to tout the rebates as a way to support those employers during a trade war.

Manitoba regulator proposes fast-track for U.S. physicians
Winnipeg Free Press
Facing the second-largest doctor shortage in Canada, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba has launched a review to make it easier for American-certified physicians to become licensed in Manitoba.

GM cutting shift at Oshawa plant that employs 3,000 workers, citing U.S. tariffs
CBC
General Motors is cutting one of three shifts at its Oshawa Assembly Plant, which employs around 3,000 workers, due to U.S. tariffs, the company and the union representing workers confirmed on Friday.

The job market for new Canadian graduates is brutal – and could get even worse
Globe and Mail
As young Canadians finish school and look to start their careers, they’re being confronted with a harsh reality: This is the worst job market for graduates in decades.

Public-service unions seek clarity on Liberal government’s pledge to cap number of federal employees
Globe and Mail
Four federal public-service unions say they are seeking answers from the newly elected Liberal government, wanting clarity about its promise to cap the number of federal employees.

May Day: protesters rally across US over workers’ and immigrants’ rights
The Guardian
Protesters rallied nationwide on Thursday in support of workers’ and immigrants’ rights in the latest round of demonstrations against Donald Trump and his administration.

House Republicans advance plan to cut federal worker benefits and undermine civil service protections
Government Executive
Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted Wednesday mostly along party lines to advance a series of proposals that would require federal workers to pay more toward their retirement benefits and reduce the value of those benefits, despite criticism from Democrats and one of their own members.

May 1, 2025

Ontario considering shortening length of teachers' program, documents suggest
CBC
The Ontario government is considering shortening the length of a required teachers' program in order to address a worsening shortage of educators, documents obtained by The Canadian Press suggest.

Tuition increases incoming for University of Regina students
CTV News
The University of Regina’s Board of Governors has approved its 2025-26 budget – warning that the student population will see tuition and fee increases going forward.

Protecting academic freedom and our democracy: The role of faculty unions
CAUT
In the United States, we face a grave authoritarian threat. President Donald Trump is swiftly implementing the destructive, dehumanizing and undemocratic dictates from Project 2025, the authoritarian playbook for his second term.

US probes Harvard and its law review for 'race-based discrimination'
Reuters
President Donald Trump's administration said on Monday it was probing whether Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review violated civil rights laws when the journal's editors fast-tracked consideration of an article written by a member of a racial minority.

Harvard professors pledge to take pay cut in support of university's fight against Trump
CBS
Dozens of Harvard University professors are pledging to take a temporary pay cut to support the school as it fights the Trump administration's move to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding.

Students sue Texas university, governor over Gaza protest arrests
Reuters
Four current and former University of Texas at Austin students sued the college and Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday, alleging they faced unlawful arrest and retaliatory discipline for demonstrating against Israel's assault on Gaza.

How Chicago Teachers Union election impacts those well past city limits
Illinois Policy
The Chicago Teachers Union election has two groups competing to lead one of the most militant unions in the nation. CTU has a hand in federal, state and local politics.

Health care in B.C. is the most dangerous sector to work in, that needs to change
HEU
The National Day of Mourning on April 28 is not only a day to reflect on the 146 workers who lost their lives in 2024 due to job-related injuries or illness, but it’s also a reminder of the enormous changes still required to make our workplaces safer.

Workers Can Say Goodbye to Heat Protections Under Trump
Jacobin
President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the nation’s workplace safety agency is a former safety executive for companies that were repeatedly cited by the same agency for worker illnesses and deaths amid extreme heat, according to federal records reviewed by the Lever.

Trump’s attack on federal unions a ‘test case’ for broader assault, warn lawyers
The Guardian
The Trump administration is seeking to strip collective bargaining rights from large swaths of federal employees in a test case union leaders argue is part of a broader attack on US labor unions that could land before the US Supreme Court.

US weekly jobless claims jump to two-month high
Reuters
The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits surged to a two-month high last week, but that likely did not mark a material shift in labor market conditions as the rise was related to school spring breaks in New York state.

Disgruntled French workers encouraged to arrive late in protest over pension age rise
The Guardian
Changes to France’s pension system have been a hot potato for French presidents for decades, bringing disgruntled people on to the streets, leading to civil unrest and nationwide strikes that have brought the country to a standstill.