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.
April 26, 2024
Elementary students kept indoors after staff member hurt in unprovoked attack on school grounds
Winnipeg Free Press
A staff member at a Wolseley neighbourhood elementary school was assaulted earlier this week in an unprovoked attack.
International grads feel excluded as Manitoba provincial nominee program prioritizes work experience
CBC
Manitoba's NDP government took more heat Thursday over its handling of the provincial nominee program, after a recent draw for applicants excluded some recently graduated international students.
More graduates will pursue family medicine in Canada, up from 2023
Globe and Mail
More new medical school graduates will train to be family physicians in Canada this year than ever before, a development that will help but not solve a primary-care crisis that has left millions without a family doctor.
As some U.S. universities negotiate with pro-Palestinian protesters, others quickly call the police
Globe and Mail
The students at Columbia University who inspired pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country dug in at their encampment for the 10th day Friday as administrators and police at campuses from California to Massachusetts wrestled with how to address protests that have seen scuffles with police and hundreds of arrests.
TA union reaches a tentative agreement with Western, strike continues
The Gazette
Western’s graduate TA union reached a tentative agreement with Western administration on Thursday and will continue to strike until the deal is ratified.
N.W.T. teachers, gov't sign deal for salary increase after nearly a year of bargaining
CBC
N.W.T. teachers will see their pay rise by 12 per cent over the next couple years.
Posthaste: Canadian parents 'dreading' paying to send their kids to university
Financial Post
The cost-of-living crisis has a majority of Canadian parents “dreading” financing their children’s university education but still determined to go to the financial wall to give their kids the leg up they believe higher learning can provide, a new survey suggests.
Universities Must Resist The Pressures Of Politicization
Forbes
The protests roiling American universities have been cast as the most recent skirmish in the fight over free speech on campus. In fact, they are something more. They are the latest and most dramatic example of the politicization of our colleges and universities by actors across the political spectrum. If we want to understand the dangers inherent in this development, history offers an example.
Foreign states targeting sensitive research at UK universities, MI5 warns
The Guardian
MI5 has warned universities that hostile foreign states are targeting sensitive research, as ministers consider measures to bolster protections.
Collective Bargaining In the Age of Telework: A New Paradigm
BCF Ventures
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that we can rely on telework to remain productive and that its flexibility provides undeniable benefits.
Alberta to fill primary health care gaps with $15-million nurse practitioners program
Globe and Mail
Alberta has announced a $15-million program aimed at supporting nurse practitioners to work independently, part of the province’s plan to improve access to primary care.
Calgary nurses file for unionization
Alberta Worker
Last week, the Alberta Labour Relations Board published a new applications report, which included applications that had been filed between the 8th and the 15th of this month.
Writers Guild Of Canada “Overwhelmingly” Votes To Authorize Strike Action, CMPA Says “Labor Dispute Would Be Extremely Damaging” To Industry
Yahoo
Last year it was strike action in Hollywood, now it’s Canada.
Inequality Inc: Corporate power vs. workers’ rights
Rabble
The season’s third episode takes us back to George Brown College’s 32nd annual Labour Fair in Toronto, ‘Corporate Power vs. Labour Power: It’s Our Work!!’
An often overlooked jobs indicator reveals deep cracks in Canada’s labour market
Financial Post
Canada’s job market is less robust than the country’s most closely watched employment indicator suggests.
Amazon faces legal challenge over workers' rights revelations
GMB Union
GMB Union has today filed legal proceedings against Amazon.
April 25, 2024
Compensation board rife with its own workplace problems: source
Winnipeg Free Press
The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba is struggling to process a mountain of outstanding claims as it grapples with a rising number of vacancies and a corresponding increase in workload for staff who remain, the Free Press has learned.
MPI trims management in wake of scathing audit
Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba Public Insurance has eliminated 18 per cent of its management positions after an external audit criticized the Crown corporation for having too many bosses.
Ontario to do away with sick note requirement for short absences
Globe and Mail
Ontario will do away with sick note requirements for short absences as part of a larger effort to ease the administrative burden on doctors.
Unifor to stage protest against Wescast Industries’ overseas owners for withholding $10 million from workers
Unifor
Unifor members will stage a protest at the Wescast plant in Wingham, Ontario tomorrow at 11 a.m. against the company’s China-based owners for withholding an estimated $10 million from workers.
‘We just want to get paid’: Airport security screeners in Atlantic Canada take job action
Global News
Workers who carry out security screening at 15 airports across Atlantic Canada are taking job action over unpaid wages, while their employer is blaming it on a “processing error.”
Union reaches tentative deal with AGO workers to end 1-month strike
CityNews
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) says a tentative deal with Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) workers was reached late on Tuesday.
CUPE president silences members who call her out for wearing keffiyeh at union meeting
National Post
Some members of a Toronto-area public sector union say it has become an unsafe space for Jews after their union president wore a keffiyeh during a video meeting and then muted fellow union members who raised objections to her “political” attire.
Reviewing The State Of The Labour Market – March 2024
The Maple
Earlier this month, Statistics Canada released its monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS), covering March 2024. Though economists expected modest job gains last month, StatCan’s figures demonstrate that Canada’s labour market is treading water. A relatively strong post-pandemic labour market continues to slowly weaken and crack.
US applications for jobless claims fall to lowest level in 9 weeks
Winnipeg Free Press
Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market continues to hold up despite higher interest rates imposed by the Federal Reserve in its bid to curb inflation.
Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’
The Conversation
Most American workers are hired “at will”: Employers owe their employees nothing in the relationship except earned wages, and employees are at liberty to quit at their option. As the rule is generally stated, either party may terminate the arrangement at any time for a good or bad reason, or none at all.
Manitoba school trustee faces calls to resign after comments on residential schools, reconciliation
CBC
A school trustee in western Manitoba is facing calls to resign, and the province says it's launching a review, after a presentation in which he made comments decried as hateful, including questioning the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools.
Tennessee passed a bill to arm teachers. This mom says it won't keep her son safe
CBC
Sarah Shoop Neumann doesn't like the idea of sending her six-year-old son to school, knowing that his teacher might have a gun.
How antiwar student protests are spreading across U.S. universities
Washington Post
The arrest of 100 antiwar protesters at Columbia University on Thursday sparked a new wave of campus unrest. Demonstrators set up encampments at colleges spanning the nation, with students demanding that their universities cut ties or reveal their involvement with corporations doing business with Israel or profiting off the war in Gaza.
Student Protest Movement Could Cause a Tumultuous End to School Year
New York Times
As a wave of pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses showed few signs of abating on Tuesday, the demonstrations have raised new questions about what shape the end of the semester may take for thousands of students across the United States.
Tenured faculty at UM-Flint unionize, say having 'a voice' united the effort
The Detroit News
Tenure track faculty members at the University of Michigan-Flint have formed a union that has been recognized by the university, faculty and union officials announced Tuesday.
April 24, 2024
Employers boost recruitment of temporary foreign workers, despite softer labour market
The Globe and Mail
Canadian companies ramped up their recruitment of temporary foreign workers last year, even as the labour market softened and the unemployment rate drifted higher.
Union, Federation of Labour say violence against Saskatoon Transit workers 'out of control'
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Violence against transit workers in Saskatoon is “out of control,” and Saskatoon Transit is failing to adequately respond, the local union and Saskatchewan Federation of Labour say.
Atlantic Canada’s airport security screeners take job action over GardaWorld’s non-payment of wages
Yahoo
Security screeners from 15 airports across Atlantic Canada are taking job action in response to their employer’s non-payment of wages.
N.W.T. government and union reach bargaining impasse
CBC
The government of the Northwest Territories and the Union of Northern Workers have reached an impasse in their bargaining over a new collective agreement.
SAQ employees begin two-day strike
CityNews
The union representing some 5,000 workers at the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), begins its two-day strike on Wednesday.
Biden administration expands overtime pay to cover 4.3 million more workers. Here's who qualifies.
CBS News
About 4.3 million U.S. workers who previously didn't qualify for overtime pay could soon receive time-and-a-half for working more than 40 hours a week thanks to a new rule from the Biden administration.
Italy fines Amazon 10 mln euros for alleged unfair commercial practices
Reuters
Italy's antitrust authority has fined two subsidiaries of Amazon (AMZN.O) a total of 10 million euros ($10.7 million) for alleged unfair commercial practices, the regulator said on Wednesday, a decision the U.S. e-commerce giant said it would appeal.
First Unlimited Faculty Strike at McGill University
Association of McGill Professors of Law via X
Today, McGill University triggered the first unlimited faculty strike in its 200+ year history.
New Brunswick Community College instructors in bitter contract dispute with Higgs government
SaltWire
Close to 700 instructors at New Brunswick Community College could go on strike in the new school year over a contract dispute with the Higgs Progressive Conservative government, says a labour leader.
A unionized Volkswagen plant in Tennessee could mean big things for workers nationwide
Vox
The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has about 5,500 employees. On April 19, almost three-quarters of them voted to join the United Auto Workers.
Medical schools raise alarm over declining interest in family medicine
Globe and Mail
Medical-school leaders are raising the alarm over their students’ declining interest in providing traditional cradle-to-grave primary care at a moment when the country is desperate for more family doctors.
Columbia University says it’s making progress with Gaza war protesters after encampment arrests
Globe and Mail
Columbia University said early Wednesday that it was making “important progress” with pro-Palestinian student protesters who set up a tent encampment and was extending a deadline to clear out, yet standoffs remained tense on campus.
Protesters cleared from University of Minnesota campus for second time in a day
MPR News
A University of Minnesota student protest was cleared late Tuesday night for the second time in a day.
Thousands of community members sign open letter requesting increased campus safety, academic freedom
Columbia Spectator
More than 3,000 Columbia faculty, alumni, staff, students, parents, and “concerned neighbors” have signed a letter requesting that the University uphold campus rules and regulations, “strictly enforce” ID-only access to campus, and “protect free speech rights while maintaining viewpoint neutrality,” as a result of “increasingly dangerous circumstances.”
Columbia Faces a Day That Lays Out Its Troubles
The New York Times
Columbia University awoke Wednesday to a calendar that lays bare the breadth of its troubles.
Academic Freedom Is More Important Now Than Ever
Time
At least since the 1800s, colleges and universities in the United States have emphasized their civic missions. American college students weren’t just supposed to get better at exams and recitations, they were supposed to develop character traits that would make them better citizens. In the last fifty years, whether one attended a large public university or a small private college, chances are the mission statement of your school included language that emphasized the institution’s contribution to the public good. So why today is there a chorus of critics urging higher education leaders to cultivate neutrality, to cede the public sphere to others?
Buenos Aires: Thousands protest against education cuts
BBC
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires on Tuesday to demand increased funding for public universities.
April 23, 2024
Veteran mediator appointed to head inquiry into disputes at B.C. ports
Globe and Mail
Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan has appointed veteran mediator Vince Ready to head an industrial inquiry commission into disputes at British Columbia ports.
Union takes step to represent Amazon warehouse workers in Laval, Que.
CBC
A Quebec-based union is trying to represent hundreds of Amazon.com Inc. workers at a warehouse in Laval, Que., a first of its kind in Canada if they succeed.
Govt workers push back against AB finance minister
Alberta Worker
Last week, Alberta’s finance minister, Nate Horner, published a media release on the government’s website regarding collective bargaining with some public sector workers.
Alberta Finance Minister tries bargaining through the press
Rabble
Last week on April 15, Alberta’s Finance Minister Nate Horner stated that the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE)’s position on wages is extreme.
Treasury Board's vaccine mandate not 'disguised discipline': labour relations board
Ottawa Citizen
The federal labour relations board says Treasury Board’s decision to suspend without pay those public servants who refused to be vaccinated does not amount to disguised discipline.
Blog Series: The 1980s Struggle for Domestic Workers’ Rights
uOttawa
Part 1 - “A View from the Kitchen: Immigrant Women Speak Out on the Value of Housework.”
Starbucks takes on federal labour agency before U.S. Supreme Court
Globe and Mail
After Starbucks fired seven workers who were trying to unionize their Tennessee store, a U.S. government agency obtained a court order forcing the company to rehire them. Now, Starbucks wants the Supreme Court to curb the government’s power in such cases.
How the FBI Destroyed the Careers of 41 Women in TV and Radio
The MIT Press Reader
“How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin,” joked Ronald Reagan in 1989. “And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”
EU to ban forced-labour products in move mostly targeted at China
EuroNews
The European Parliament has approved sweeping new rules designed to stamp out products tainted with forced labour from the EU market.
Climate change creates a ‘cocktail’ of serious health hazards for 70 per cent of the world’s workers, ILO report finds
ILO
A “staggering” number of workers, amounting to more than 70 per cent of the global workforce, are likely to be exposed to climate-change-related health hazards, and existing occupational safety and health (OSH) protections are struggling to keep up with the resulting risks, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
UPEI student frustrated by lack of wheelchair access on campus
CBC
A UPEI student says he's spent the past six years feeling frustrated about his inability to get around campus.
Province argues against school psychologist, teacher unions joining gender-identity suit
CBC
The New Brunswick government wants to block the unions representing school psychologists, teachers and support staff from joining a lawsuit against the province's gender-identity policy for schools.
Talks break down again, but Western TAs say a deal is within reach
CBC
The union representing about 2,000 striking graduate teaching assistants at Western University said the two sides aren't far apart on the major issues, despite talks breaking off on Sunday.
'Everybody is exhausted': UVic unions speak out against budget cuts
Times Colonist
Six unions from the University of Victoria presented a letter Monday urging the province to put an end to years of budget cuts.
Columbia University switches to hybrid learning amid protests over Israel’s war in Gaza
Globe and Mail
Columbia University’s main campus will switch to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester amid protests over Israel’s war with Hamas that have roiled colleges across the U.S., officials announced.
UK is ‘accelerating’ in wrong direction with proposed dissolution of university senate | Opinion
Yahoo
I recall a riddle from my childhood: How many legs does a sheep have if you call its tail a leg? The answer: Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one. The same applies to the shocking changes proposed to the rules structure of the University of Kentucky by President Capilouto. His intention is to remove elements of shared governance from the University Senate. Capilouto claims that, by demoting the Senate, with its elected membership, and, primarily, by appointing a 16-person committee made up of unelected students, staff, faculty, and administrators, he is increasing shared governance. This is a sheep’s tail.
April 22, 2024
Danielle Smith wants ideology 'balance' at universities. Alberta academics wonder what she's tilting at
CBC
From the exam-marking trenches to the ivory tower executive suites, Premier Danielle Smith has injected nervousness throughout Alberta's post-secondary sector.
N.S. post-secondary students graduate with among the highest debt: Statistics Canada
CBC
Georgia Saleski wants to get a master's degree and take the next step in their post-secondary education.
York University strike ends as union votes in favour of tentative agreement
Global News
The union representing about 3,000 striking academic workers at York University voted in favour of accepting the tentative agreement with the post-secondary institution on Friday, bringing an end to a seven-week strike.
'Unproductive day at the table': Negotiations between Western graduate TAs and university stall
CTV News
Flanked by major union players from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Federation of Labour, graduate-level teaching assistants (GTAs) at Western University remain on the picket line.
Private or Public? No Decision on Process to Pick Next MUN President
VOCM
The body overseeing the search for MUN’s next president insists no decisions have been made on the selection process this time around.
Spike in international student asylum claims an abuse of study permits, experts warn
Globe and Mail
Asylum claims by international students have risen more than 1,500 per cent in the past five years, figures obtained by The Globe and Mail show, as experts warn that the study-permit system is being exploited as a way to enter and remain in Canada.
Navigating The Murky Waters Of Antisemitism, Free Speech, And Academic Freedom
Forbes
Unlike the presidents of Penn, Harvard, and MIT, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik’s testimony unequivocally condemned antisemitism on the New York City-based campus. Shafik also issued an essay in The Wall Street Journal the day before her April 17 hearing, proclaiming: Antisemitism and calls for genocide have no place at a university.”
Academic Freedom and Free Speech Are Distinct. Both Matter.
The Harvard Crimson
All year we’ve bandied about phrases like “civil discourse,” “open inquiry,” “academic freedom,” and “free speech.” It’s time to clarify them, and what living by them requires.
What We Know About the Protests at Columbia University
The New York Times
Columbia University is grappling with the fallout from its president’s promise to Congress that she would crack down on unsanctioned protests, and her decision to ask the police to clear an encampment on campus.
At least 45 arrested at Yale after riot police storm campus during pro-Palestine protest
The Independent
At least 45 people have been arrested at Yale University after police in riot gear stormed the campus during a pro-Palestinian protest on Monday.
This teen was poisoned by carbon monoxide on the job. His parents say the employer got off easy
CBC
When Wil Krotenko got his first part time job in the meat department of the local Co-op grocery store last summer, the then 14-year-old couldn't wait to start making his own money — never imagining the job could kill him a few months later.
Shortage of skilled tradespeople is hitting all Canadians in the pocketbook, economists say
CBC
A shortage of qualified people to work in skilled trades is making rising costs of living even worse, economists and trade industry veterans say.
Airbus workers at Quebec plant reject company’s third contract offer
Globe and Mail
Unionized workers at an Airbus assembly plant north of Montreal have rejected a contract offer for the third time.
Arbitrator awards 65,000 Ontario hospital workers 6% wage increase
CityNews
An arbitrator has awarded 65,000 Ontario hospital workers a six per cent wage increase that will “lift the spirits of frontline hospital workers,” the union that represents them said in a release.
First Outside U.S. As Amazon Workers Win Right To Vote Over Union
Forbes
Amazon’s U.K. business could be forced to recognize unions for the first time after members of union the GMB at its Coventry, West Midlands warehouse were given the green light to hold a legally binding vote.
USA: Historic union victory at Volkswagen factory an “inspiration for democracy at work”
ITUC
It is the first successful vote for unionisation at an auto factory in the southern USA since the 1940s. Nearly 75 per cent of workers voted for union representation.
