Reposted by Alex P
72% do not feel that they can influence decisions affecting the UK.
Why? Because our political and economic institutions have been captured by the wealthy.
And our democracy is failing as a result.
graceblakeley.substack.com/p/the-uks-fa...
Why? Because our political and economic institutions have been captured by the wealthy.
And our democracy is failing as a result.
graceblakeley.substack.com/p/the-uks-fa...
The UK's Failing Democracy
The Carnegie Foundation's Life in the UK report shows the weakness of UK democracy, and the suffering caused as a result .
graceblakeley.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:31 AM
72% do not feel that they can influence decisions affecting the UK.
Why? Because our political and economic institutions have been captured by the wealthy.
And our democracy is failing as a result.
graceblakeley.substack.com/p/the-uks-fa...
Why? Because our political and economic institutions have been captured by the wealthy.
And our democracy is failing as a result.
graceblakeley.substack.com/p/the-uks-fa...
Reposted by Alex P
As I was saying.
Gil now planning for a general strike in Alberta to fight the government’s use of notwithstanding clause.
I’d expect the Canadian labor movement to push back hard at governmens that override fundamental Charter protected freedom of association.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
Gil now planning for a general strike in Alberta to fight the government’s use of notwithstanding clause.
I’d expect the Canadian labor movement to push back hard at governmens that override fundamental Charter protected freedom of association.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
October 30, 2025 at 4:05 AM
As I was saying.
Gil now planning for a general strike in Alberta to fight the government’s use of notwithstanding clause.
I’d expect the Canadian labor movement to push back hard at governmens that override fundamental Charter protected freedom of association.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
Gil now planning for a general strike in Alberta to fight the government’s use of notwithstanding clause.
I’d expect the Canadian labor movement to push back hard at governmens that override fundamental Charter protected freedom of association.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
Reposted by Alex P
Canada Post workers may not end up with widespread public support for their strike (which is a genuine shame), but they can still win the battle. Here's how.
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: How Canada Post workers can still win, even without the public’s backing
The federal government’s planned cuts aren’t a deal-breaker for many Canadians, even if job losses result. But there is a way forward for the union
www.theglobeandmail.com
October 17, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Canada Post workers may not end up with widespread public support for their strike (which is a genuine shame), but they can still win the battle. Here's how.
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by Alex P
Today's Marxist Sociology Blog post is a banger from @lwestheuser.bsky.social & Linda Beck based on their Critical Sociology article. It examines how workers think about class & class politics. Against ideas that they are irrelevant or "lost to the right" 1/
marxistsociology.org/2025/10/work...
marxistsociology.org/2025/10/work...
Workers’ Political Consciousness in Demobilized Class Societies: Redistribution, Recognition and Representation | Section on Marxist Sociology
A sole focus on right-wing ideology captures only a narrow part of working-class consciousness. Most workers—including many right-wing voters—are politically demobilized and distant from all politics,...
marxistsociology.org
October 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Today's Marxist Sociology Blog post is a banger from @lwestheuser.bsky.social & Linda Beck based on their Critical Sociology article. It examines how workers think about class & class politics. Against ideas that they are irrelevant or "lost to the right" 1/
marxistsociology.org/2025/10/work...
marxistsociology.org/2025/10/work...
Reposted by Alex P
An impressive analysis of the broader context surrounding the current contract dispute at Canada Post. The author puts workers at the center of the story, showing of how changes in the structure of work at the post office concretely affect workers’ lives.
maisonneuve.org/article/2025...
maisonneuve.org/article/2025...
Return to Sender
maisonneuve.org
October 4, 2025 at 1:32 AM
An impressive analysis of the broader context surrounding the current contract dispute at Canada Post. The author puts workers at the center of the story, showing of how changes in the structure of work at the post office concretely affect workers’ lives.
maisonneuve.org/article/2025...
maisonneuve.org/article/2025...
Reposted by Alex P
Reposted by Alex P
If a company doesn’t comply with labour standards after being given repeated opportunities:
- prosecute and imprison the directors/owners;
- ban them from being directors in a business in the future.
We are way to soft on wage thieves in Canada.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
- prosecute and imprison the directors/owners;
- ban them from being directors in a business in the future.
We are way to soft on wage thieves in Canada.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
This temporary foreign worker is owed $60,000 in unpaid wages from his time in Canada. He may get nothing
Migrant workers who prove wage theft are increasingly unable to recover the money they are owed even when Ontario government is trying to collect it.
www.thestar.com
September 30, 2025 at 12:32 PM
If a company doesn’t comply with labour standards after being given repeated opportunities:
- prosecute and imprison the directors/owners;
- ban them from being directors in a business in the future.
We are way to soft on wage thieves in Canada.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
- prosecute and imprison the directors/owners;
- ban them from being directors in a business in the future.
We are way to soft on wage thieves in Canada.
www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
Reposted by Alex P
Reposted by Alex P
The government is reducing service standards and Canada Post’s biggest advantage: its nationwide network.
This plan is about cutting back the postal service instead of investing to give it new revenue tools through things like postal banking. It’s shameful.
This plan is about cutting back the postal service instead of investing to give it new revenue tools through things like postal banking. It’s shameful.
Liberal government frees Canada Post to end home delivery, close some post offices | CBC News
With Canada Post on track to lose $1.5 billion in 2025 and contract discussions between the union and the corporation stalled, the federal government is embarking on a modernization plan it says will ...
www.cbc.ca
September 25, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The government is reducing service standards and Canada Post’s biggest advantage: its nationwide network.
This plan is about cutting back the postal service instead of investing to give it new revenue tools through things like postal banking. It’s shameful.
This plan is about cutting back the postal service instead of investing to give it new revenue tools through things like postal banking. It’s shameful.
Reposted by Alex P
Postal workers now on lawful strike after federal government intervenes to hand Canada Post much of what it was looking for, including an end to home delivery and closure of many post offices.
Big layoffs seem certain.
Not what for negotiations?
www.thestar.com/business/pos...
Big layoffs seem certain.
Not what for negotiations?
www.thestar.com/business/pos...
Postal union launches nationwide strike after Ottawa gives Canada Post the OK to end home delivery
CUPW leadership is "outraged" after Canada's public works minister cited "unsustainable" losses to justify the Crown corporation's restructuring.
www.thestar.com
September 26, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Postal workers now on lawful strike after federal government intervenes to hand Canada Post much of what it was looking for, including an end to home delivery and closure of many post offices.
Big layoffs seem certain.
Not what for negotiations?
www.thestar.com/business/pos...
Big layoffs seem certain.
Not what for negotiations?
www.thestar.com/business/pos...
Reposted by Alex P
The disappearance of America’s leadership class at a time like this means that the rest of us have to be leaders. We can no longer wait to be led by those with the power and authority to lead. You must lead, I must lead, all of us must lead. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.
September 23, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The disappearance of America’s leadership class at a time like this means that the rest of us have to be leaders. We can no longer wait to be led by those with the power and authority to lead. You must lead, I must lead, all of us must lead. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.
Reposted by Alex P
In 1987 CUPW STTP Canadian Union of Postal Workers began rotating strikes to protest privatization of the post office. The government responded with strikebreaking actions including barbed wire around facilities. Cafeterias and cots were set up inside to accommodate scabs.
November 18, 2024 at 6:54 PM
In 1987 CUPW STTP Canadian Union of Postal Workers began rotating strikes to protest privatization of the post office. The government responded with strikebreaking actions including barbed wire around facilities. Cafeterias and cots were set up inside to accommodate scabs.
Reposted by Alex P
Sorry to hear of the passing of Leo Gerard, former head of the Canadian and International Steelworkers' Union.
I had the pleasure of meeting Leo several times. He was one of the smartest and toughest, but also kind people in the labour relations world.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
I had the pleasure of meeting Leo several times. He was one of the smartest and toughest, but also kind people in the labour relations world.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Leo Gerard, former United Steelworkers international head from Sudbury, Ont., dead at 78 | CBC News
Leo Gerard, a well-known labour activist from Sudbury, Ont., has died at age 78. Gerard was international president of the United Steelworkers until his retirement in 2019.
www.cbc.ca
September 22, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Sorry to hear of the passing of Leo Gerard, former head of the Canadian and International Steelworkers' Union.
I had the pleasure of meeting Leo several times. He was one of the smartest and toughest, but also kind people in the labour relations world.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
I had the pleasure of meeting Leo several times. He was one of the smartest and toughest, but also kind people in the labour relations world.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Alex P
Attention, all labour relations nerds
www.cirhr.utoronto.ca/events/SWLec...
www.cirhr.utoronto.ca/events/SWLec...
Trade Unions and Citizenship at Work: Why Union Experimentation Matters | 2025 Sefton-Williams Memorial Lecture (Hybrid Event)
Register Now for our 2025 Sefton-Williams Memorial Lecture, Trade Unions and Citizenship at Work: Why Union Experimentation Matters, delivered by Professor Gregor Murray. We will also present the Seft...
www.cirhr.utoronto.ca
September 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Attention, all labour relations nerds
www.cirhr.utoronto.ca/events/SWLec...
www.cirhr.utoronto.ca/events/SWLec...
Reposted by Alex P
Remember: If we allow ourselves to fall into fatalism, or wallow in disappointment, or become resigned to what is rather than what should be, we will lose the long game.
The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.
The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.
September 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Remember: If we allow ourselves to fall into fatalism, or wallow in disappointment, or become resigned to what is rather than what should be, we will lose the long game.
The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.
The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.
Reposted by Alex P
Good article. One point not mentioned is that the Canada Labour Code, unlike labour legislation in other Canadian jurisdictions, doesn't require a ratification vote at all. This is what allows CUPE to say that a rejection of the proposed deal means all terms are settled except wages.
September 4, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Good article. One point not mentioned is that the Canada Labour Code, unlike labour legislation in other Canadian jurisdictions, doesn't require a ratification vote at all. This is what allows CUPE to say that a rejection of the proposed deal means all terms are settled except wages.
More Pay But Less Union Democracy--A Complicated Victory--David Camfield
tempestmag.org/2025/08/more...
The last paragraph is awesome:
tempestmag.org/2025/08/more...
The last paragraph is awesome:
September 4, 2025 at 7:03 PM
More Pay But Less Union Democracy--A Complicated Victory--David Camfield
tempestmag.org/2025/08/more...
The last paragraph is awesome:
tempestmag.org/2025/08/more...
The last paragraph is awesome:
Reposted by Alex P
For Labour Day, I was invited on @globalnews.ca to talk more broadly about the future of Canada’s labour movement, and particularly how government intervention in strikes factors into that:
globalnews.ca/video/113765...
globalnews.ca/video/113765...
Future of Canada’s labour movement | Watch News Videos Online
Watch Future of Canada’s labour movement Video Online, on GlobalNews.ca
globalnews.ca
September 3, 2025 at 5:42 PM
For Labour Day, I was invited on @globalnews.ca to talk more broadly about the future of Canada’s labour movement, and particularly how government intervention in strikes factors into that:
globalnews.ca/video/113765...
globalnews.ca/video/113765...
Reposted by Alex P
Building fascism, Step 5:
Eliminate effective independent unions, one of the only institutions capable of resisting oligarchs and fascists.
Eliminate effective independent unions, one of the only institutions capable of resisting oligarchs and fascists.
New administration will mow down the green shoots of labor revival.
www.rawstory.com/trump-unions...
www.rawstory.com/trump-unions...
New Trump admin to deliver 'body blow' to unions after courting union workers: report
President-elect Donald Trump courted union voters during his successful 2024 presidential bid, and now Bloomberg reports that his incoming administration is poised to deliver a "body blow" to organize...
www.rawstory.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Building fascism, Step 5:
Eliminate effective independent unions, one of the only institutions capable of resisting oligarchs and fascists.
Eliminate effective independent unions, one of the only institutions capable of resisting oligarchs and fascists.
Reposted by Alex P
Humans are so stupid. Adopt policies that produce vast inequality, resentment, anger.
Result: authoritarianism, war.
Announce inequality is bad & fuels authoritarianism, war.
Adopt policies that promote wealth distribution, voice.
Turn against these policies.
Produce inequality, etc
Repeat.
Result: authoritarianism, war.
Announce inequality is bad & fuels authoritarianism, war.
Adopt policies that promote wealth distribution, voice.
Turn against these policies.
Produce inequality, etc
Repeat.
“We never used to tolerate such high levels of compensation and inequality,” @marclee.bsky.social said. “Now we do. We’ve just been beaten over the head with it for a number of years.” @policyalternatives.ca #inequality www.ashcroftcachecreekjournal.com/national-new...
Statistics Canada numbers say wealth gap getting bigger
Bottom 40 per cent of Canadians combined for 17.2 per cent of national income
www.ashcroftcachecreekjournal.com
August 27, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Humans are so stupid. Adopt policies that produce vast inequality, resentment, anger.
Result: authoritarianism, war.
Announce inequality is bad & fuels authoritarianism, war.
Adopt policies that promote wealth distribution, voice.
Turn against these policies.
Produce inequality, etc
Repeat.
Result: authoritarianism, war.
Announce inequality is bad & fuels authoritarianism, war.
Adopt policies that promote wealth distribution, voice.
Turn against these policies.
Produce inequality, etc
Repeat.
Reposted by Alex P
Working on research that traces historical cycles:
Wars, fascism lead politicians to recognize crucial importance of democracy at work, collective bargaining to fight inequality, alienation.
Then politicians forgot historical lessons & pursue market liberalization til inequality, fascism returns.
Wars, fascism lead politicians to recognize crucial importance of democracy at work, collective bargaining to fight inequality, alienation.
Then politicians forgot historical lessons & pursue market liberalization til inequality, fascism returns.
Unions do more than just improve wages and benefits. They build stronger communities and strengthen democracy. A new report from @epi.org shows that where unions thrive, communities thrive.
Imagine what we could achieve if more people had a voice at work.
www.epi.org/publication/...
Imagine what we could achieve if more people had a voice at work.
www.epi.org/publication/...
New report details the benefits of unions to workers, communities, and democracy
A new Economic Policy Institute report documents the strong correlation between higher levels of unionization and a range of economic, personal, and democratic well-being measures. In the same way uni...
www.epi.org
August 20, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Working on research that traces historical cycles:
Wars, fascism lead politicians to recognize crucial importance of democracy at work, collective bargaining to fight inequality, alienation.
Then politicians forgot historical lessons & pursue market liberalization til inequality, fascism returns.
Wars, fascism lead politicians to recognize crucial importance of democracy at work, collective bargaining to fight inequality, alienation.
Then politicians forgot historical lessons & pursue market liberalization til inequality, fascism returns.
Reposted by Alex P
Not to get all academically, but we teach & learn in labor relations/labor law classes that the Canadian labour relations System is result of a complex balancing of many factors over decades.
Pull on a string & the System responds, sometimes in unanticipated ways.
1/6 🧵
Pull on a string & the System responds, sometimes in unanticipated ways.
1/6 🧵
August 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Not to get all academically, but we teach & learn in labor relations/labor law classes that the Canadian labour relations System is result of a complex balancing of many factors over decades.
Pull on a string & the System responds, sometimes in unanticipated ways.
1/6 🧵
Pull on a string & the System responds, sometimes in unanticipated ways.
1/6 🧵
Reposted by Alex P
Hot off the pixels at @theglobeandmail.com : my op-ed on the history of the right to strike in Canada, and the current Liberal government’s failure to learn the lessons of that history:
#CanLab
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
#CanLab
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
Opinion: Ottawa’s Air Canada strike debacle shows it failed to learn from history
By ordering flight attendants back to work, the government may be stoking further labour unrest
www.theglobeandmail.com
August 18, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Hot off the pixels at @theglobeandmail.com : my op-ed on the history of the right to strike in Canada, and the current Liberal government’s failure to learn the lessons of that history:
#CanLab
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
#CanLab
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
Reposted by Alex P
When politicians allow the system to be rigged in favour of employers, workers have no choice but to resist. Unions can’t be expected to bow to unjust laws — and the way the Liberals have abused section 107 is clearly unjust.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#canlab #cdnpoli
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#canlab #cdnpoli
Air Canada flight attendants to defy back-to-work order, remain on strike: union | CBC News
Air Canada flight attendants will defy the back-to-work order and remain on strike after the federal government ordered binding arbitration to end the work stoppage, the Canadian Union of Public Emplo...
www.cbc.ca
August 17, 2025 at 3:42 PM
When politicians allow the system to be rigged in favour of employers, workers have no choice but to resist. Unions can’t be expected to bow to unjust laws — and the way the Liberals have abused section 107 is clearly unjust.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#canlab #cdnpoli
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
#canlab #cdnpoli