Workers Issues in Canada
Canada’s Liberals debate aid for Bombardier as it slashes 7,000 jobs
By Roger Jordan, 20 February 2016
The urgency of the bailout talks has intensified following the company’s announcement that it is slashing 7,000 jobs, close to 10 percent of its global workforce.
On what program should workers oppose the sellout agreement in Quebec’s public sector?
By the Socialist Equality Party (Canada), 2 February 2016
Quebec public sector workers face a political struggle. In rejecting the sellout agreement touted by the inter-union Common Front, they will be challenging the austerity program of the entire ruling elite.
Montreal: Labour board upholds draconian suspension of 2,000 city workers
By Laurent Lafrance, 15 January 2016
The victimization of the Montreal blue-collar workers is part of the systematic “illegalization” of worker resistance by governments across Canada.
Police agent-provocateurs exposed at Montreal anti-austerity demonstration
By Carl Bronski, 5 January 2016
The Montreal Police Department is strongly defending the actions of an undercover cop who drew his revolver and threatened protesters who had “outed” him.
Quebec: Common Front unions promote sell-out agreement
By Laurent Lafrance, 24 December 2015
The Common Front leaders are seeking to impose a concessionary agreement that will enshrine the massive cuts the Liberals have made to public services.
Montreal suspends 2,400 workers for participating in an “illegal” meeting
By Laurent Lafrance, 19 December 2015
Montreal’s mayor is accusing workers of “bullying” while his administration is attacking wages, pensions and benefits won through generations of struggle.
Quebec: Wave of walkouts against Liberals’ austerity agenda
By Laurent Lafrance, 12 December 2015
The unions are determined to suppress the growing working class challenge to the Liberals’ assault on public services and workers’ wages and pensions.
Quebec public sector unions cancel three-day strike
By Richard Dufour, 1 December 2015
The cancellation was announced at the same time that the unions presented a “counteroffer” that goes a long way toward meeting the Quebec government’s concession demands.
Unifor prepares Canadian autoworkers for more concessions after UAW sellout deals
By Carl Bronski, 30 November 2015
Declarations that “job security” is the top priority of Unifor officials is coded language intended to convey that the union will attempt to push through more wage and benefit cuts.
Quebec unions silent about plans to illegalize workers’ job action
By Laurent Lafrance, 14 November 2015
Hundreds of thousands of Quebec public sector workers mounted one-day strikes this week to protest against the Liberal government’s attack on public services and working conditions.
Quebec repackages concessionary public-sector contract offer
By a WSWS reporting team, 7 November 2015
The unions have been silent on government plans to illegalize public sector worker job action and impose concessionary contracts by decree.
Unifor union in Canada hails UAW-Fiat Chrysler sellout contract in US
By Carl Bronski, 2 November 2015
Officials are claiming that the contract pushed through at Fiat Chrysler, and a tentative agreement at General Motors, validate “grow-in” concessions contracts forced on Canadian workers.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
27 October 2015
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Quebec public sector workers outraged by Liberal concession demands
By a WSWS reporting team, 5 October 2015
Saturday’s demonstration against the Liberals’ austerity agenda and in support of the public sector workers was 150,000-strong.
US Steel Canada issues ultimatum to end pension payments and health benefits
By Carl Bronski, 3 October 2015
Should an Ontario Superior court not rule in its favor, the steel company has threatened that it will shut down the entirety of its operations in Canada by the end of this year.
Canadian election: Militarism and reaction dominate foreign policy debate
By Roger Jordan and Keith Jones, 30 September 2015
The leaders of Canada’s three main parties used Monday’s foreign policy debate to stake their claim as the most capable and determined defenders of Canadian imperialism.
Strong support from Canadian Fiat Chrysler workers for an international struggle
By Jerry White, 24 August 2015
A campaign team distributed the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter to FCA workers in Brampton, Ontario.
WSWS campaigns for unity of US and Canadian autoworkers
By Jerry White, 22 August 2015
A World Socialist Web Site Autoworkers Newsletter reporting team spoke to workers at the General Motors plant in Ontario about the need for an international strategy for autoworkers to fight for jobs and wages.
US, Mexican and Canadian autoworkers face common fight
By David Brown and Jerry White, 12 August 2015
As talks for a new labor contract continue, the US-based automakers are threatening to shift more production to Mexico and other lower wage countries.
Canada: Unions join Liberals, NDP in “Anybody but Conservative” campaign
By Dylan Lubao and Roger Jordan, 23 July 2015
The collaboration between high-level NDP, Liberal and trade union operatives highlights the preparations for a possible coalition government after this October’s federal election.
Canada: Ontario Liberals orchestrate outlawing of teacher strikes
By Carl Bronski, 28 May 2015
While the government claims it is acting to save students’ school year, its real aim is to push through social spending cuts and impose concessionary contracts on teachers.
Unions reaffirm ties to Parti Québécois as it prepares to anoint arch-right winger
By Laurent Lafrance, 14 May 2015
The installation of Pierre-Karl Péladeau as leader of the Parti Québécois will represent a further rightward lurch on the part of the big business, pro-Quebec independence party.
Canada’s Conservatives pledge more austerity and war
By Keith Jones, 24 April 2015
Tuesday’s federal budget is a blueprint for dismantling public services, redistributing wealth to the most privileged, and expanding the military and national-security apparatus.
Unifor Canada preparing to collaborate in slashing auto workers’ pensions
By Carl Bronski, 21 April 2015
Unifor is willing to surrender the last remnants of a defined-benefit pension plan for newly hired workers at the Big Three automakers in Canada.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
14 April 2015
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Quebec Liberals respond to student anti-austerity strike with repression and threats
By Keith Jones, 26 March 2015
The greatest fear and concern of the Canadian ruling class is that the student protests could trigger an eruption of mass working-class struggle.
Canadian oil workers laid off without warning
By Roger Jordan, 19 March 2015
One thousand oil construction workers were fired from their jobs at a remote site in Alberta last week.
Toronto: University strikers denounce union officials
By Carl Bronski, 12 March 2015
Striking education workers at Toronto’s York University have roundly rejected tentative contracts the union had hailed as “historic.”
Toronto university strikes: OFL head conceals unions’ support for Liberals
By Carl Bronski, 9 March 2015
Ontario Federation of Labour head Sid Ryan masqueraded as an opponent of Ontario’s Liberal government at rallies to support 10,000 workers at Toronto’s two main universities.
Unions demobilize Canadian railway workers
By Carl Bronski, 26 February 2015
Unifor reached a pact with CN Rail late Monday evening under threat of a management lockout of 4,800 safety inspectors and rail maintenance workers and Conservative government intervention.
United Steelworkers reaffirm support for big business Parti Quebecois
By Laurent Lafrance, 25 February 2015
The United Steelworkers union is championing Martine Ouellet’s bid to win the leadership of the Parti Quebecois—a pro-austerity big business party.
Citing government threats, Teamsters suppress Canadian Pacific rail strike
By Carl Bronski, 17 February 2015
The Teamsters union capitulated to the Conservative government’s threat of strikebreaking legislation and ordered an end to the strike little more than 36 hours after it began.
Obama administration intervenes against West Coast dock workers
By Jerry White, 16 February 2015
The White House is intervening entirely on behalf of the shipping and terminal owners and, more generally, the corporate and financial elite in the US.
Harper government to criminalize Canadian Pacific railway strike
By Carl Bronski, 16 February 2015
Canada’s Conservative government is set to introduce legislation today outlawing a two-day-old strike by 3,300 CP Rail workers.
Canadian prime minister praises troops as military clashes escalate in Iraq
By Roger Jordan, 2 February 2015
The growing involvement of Canada’s armed forces in ground combat makes a mockery of the government’s claim that the deployment in Iraq is purely a training and assistance mission.
Target CEO’s “golden parachute” exceeds total severance for 17,600 Canadian workers
By Carl Bronski, 31 January 2015
Steinhafel was forced by Target’s Board of Directors to resign after he had spearheaded the expansion of Target stores into Canada, which turned into a fiasco.
Mass job losses unfold in global oil industry
By Gabriel Black, 26 January 2015
Several major oil service companies announced that they would cut significant sections of their workforce, leading to tens of thousands of new layoffs.
Media magnate Péladeau seeks Parti Québécois leadership
By Laurent Lafrance, 20 January 2015
Presenting himself as the “sovereignty candidate,” Péladeau is focusing his campaign around the claim that independence is the best vehicle for the Quebec ruling class to enrich itself.
Oil price plummet roils Canadian economy
By Dylan Lubao, 31 December 2014
Plummeting oil prices are causing Alberta and several other provinces to initiate new austerity drives and Canadian oil producers to slash investments and jobs.
Social inequality in Canada far higher than official statistics claim
By Laurent Lafrance, 8 December 2014
The share of Canada’s national income going to the top 1 percent is 13.3 percent once private corporation income is included.
Death of 15-year-old exposes growing use of child labour by Canadian employers
By Ashley Tseng, 26 November 2014
The fatality at an Alberta gravel-crushing site has exposed the myth that child labour is a problem only in the developing world.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
18 November 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
11 November 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature
Canada’s government tables bill to expand intelligence agency powers
By Roger Jordan and Keith Jones, 28 October 2014
Canada’s Conservative government tabled legislation yesterday to significantly strengthen the powers of the CSIS.
CLC president helped scuttle BC teachers’ strike
By Carl Bronski, 11 October 2014
Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff intervened to shut down the militant strike British Columbia teachers were mounting in defence of public education.
Canada’s government engaged in mass surveillance of protest groups
By Roger Jordan, 8 October 2014
A federal government “emergency response” centre has been systematically collecting information on demonstrations and other protest events.
No to the Quebec Liberals’ Bill 3!
For a working class counteroffensive to defend pensions and public services!
By the Socialist Equality Party (Canada), 24 September 2014
The fight to defend the pensions of Quebec’s municipal workers must become the starting point of a broad working class counteroffensive against the whole ruling class austerity program.
Quebec: Mass protest against gutting of municipal workers’ pensions
By a WSWS reporting team, 23 September 2014
More than 50,000 municipal workers and their supporters marched in Montreal on Saturday.
BC teachers union endorses austerity contract
By Keith Jones, 18 September 2014
The British Columbia Teachers Federation is seeking to scuttle the militant strike the province’s teachers have mounted since mid-June.
British Columbia teachers’ union seeks to scuttle strike
By Keith Jones, 12 September 2014
The BC Teachers’ Federation wants to scuttle the thirteen week-old strike by British Columbia’s 41,000 public school teachers without any of the teachers’ demands having been met.
Canada: BC government escalates attack on striking teachers
By Keith Jones, 9 September 2014
The teachers are fighting to defend public education, which has been ravaged by budget cuts, even as the government increases funding for private schools and cuts corporate taxes.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
2 September 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature
British Columbia teachers’ strike in danger
By Keith Jones, 30 August 2014
The political and business elite have stepped up their campaign to impose a “settlement” that ensures BC schools remain chronically under-funded and short-staffed.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
26 August 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature
Quebec’s Bill 3 targets municipal worker pensions
By Louis Girard and Laurent Lafrance, 25 August 2014
Under the pretext of fighting pension plan deficits, the Couillard government is introducing various means to drastically cut the pay and pension checks of municipal workers.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
29 July 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Ontario’s union-backed government to accelerate austerity drive
By Carl Bronski, 3 July 2014
Re-elected with union support, Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne has vowed to impose years of concessionary contracts on public sector workers.
Canada: Truckers and rail workers face antistrike laws
By Carl Bronski, 25 March 2014
British Columbia’s Liberal government has introduced legislation to criminalize a strike by truckers at the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port facility.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
11 March 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature
Ontario Conservatives renew push for labor “reform”
By Carl Bronski, 20 February 2014
The unions have responded to the threat of US-style “right-to-work” laws by appealing to big business to recognize the pivotal role they play in policing the working class.
Workers Struggles: the Americas
11 February 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature
Workers Struggles: The Americas
28 January 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
21 January 2014
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature
Canada Post to end home mail delivery, slash pensions
By Carl Bronski, 30 December 2013
With the full support of the federal Conservative government, Canada Post is slashing mail delivery and mounting a frontal assault on postal workers’ terms of employment.
Canada’s elite eulogizes union boss Jack Munro
By Carl Bronski, 22 November 2013
Munro is best remembered for his role in scuttling a mass mobilization of hundreds of thousands of workers in British Columbia in 1983 that threatened to bring down the right-wing government of Premier Bill Bennett.
Ontario: The EllisDon affair, worker rights, and the political charades at Queen’s Park
By Carl Bronski, 14 September 2013
A leaked email from a leading Conservative legislator reveals that the party fronted an anti-worker law in exchange for donations from the construction firm that stands to benefit.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
6 August 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Canada: US Steel forces locked-out workers to vote on concessions contract
By Carl Bronski, 29 July 2013
Nearly 1,000 workers have been locked out for three months at US Steel's Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario.
Canada: New police state measure targets foreign workers
By Dylan Lubao, 1 July 2013
Canada’s Conservative government has enacted draconian policing measures against temporary foreign workers in a political climate of anti-immigrant chauvinism.
Quebec to criminalize two week-old construction strike
By Keith Jones, 1 July 2013
Quebec’s Parti Quebecois government called the provincial legislature into special session Sunday morning to adopt emergency legislation illegalizing a two-week-old strike by 77,000 construction workers.
Quebec: Construction worker strike in grave danger
By Laurent Lafrance, 29 June 2013
Quebec’s construction unions have forced the majority members back to work, without allowing them a vote on the contracts negotiated in their name.
Striking Quebec construction workers speak out
By a WSWS reporting team, 22 June 2013
The World Socialist Web Site spoke with some of the 175,000 striking Quebec construction workers about the issues in their struggle, including big business’ plans to have their hirelings in the Quebec legislature illegalize the strike.
Quebec government threatens to criminalize province-wide construction strike
By Keith Jones, 21 June 2013
Bowing to Parti Québecois government threats, leaders of the Construction Union Alliance announced yesterday that they will resume contract negotiations with Quebec’s building contractors and work with them to quickly end a five day-old province-wide construction strike.
Quebec: 175,000 construction workers mount province-wide strike
By Laurent Lafrance, 19 June 2013
Workers in all sectors of Quebec's construction industry launched an unlimited strike Monday, paralyzing billions of dollars’ worth of building projects across the province.
Elevator companies invoke anti-worker law in bid to break Ontario strike
By Carl Bronski, 14 June 2013
The bargaining representative of Canada’s major elevator companies has invoked an anti-democratic provision in provincial labour law to force many of Ontario’s striking elevator technicians back to work.
Canada: U.S. Steel lockout in seventh week
By a WSWS reporting team, 11 June 2013
Nearly 1,000 workers at U.S. Steel’s Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario have been locked out since April 28.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
11 June 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
4 June 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
28 May 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
21 May 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Ontario elevator technicians continue strike action
By Carl Bronski and Lee Parsons, 20 May 2013
Elevator technicians across Ontario are entering their fourth week on strike against transnational elevator companies Otis, KONE, Schindler and ThyssenKrupp
Workers Struggles: The Americas
7 May 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
US Steel locks out 1,000 workers in Nanticoke, Ontario
By Carl Bronski, 4 May 2013
Nearly 1,000 steelworkers were locked out at US Steel’s Lake Erie plant after they rejected the company’s final contract offer.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
30 April 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
23 April 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
16 April 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
9 April 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
2 April 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles, the Americas
26 March 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
19 March 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
12 March 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
5 March 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
26 February 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Ontario NDP and unions support Liberal austerity policies
By Carl Bronski, 23 February 2013
With the unions’ full support, the NDP will vote for Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne’s maiden Throne Speech, which pledged to extend and deepen the big business austerity measures of her predecessor.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
19 February 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Canadian Auto Workers union reopens CAMI-GM contract
By Carl Bronski, 13 February 2013
The Canadian Auto Workers union has pressured workers at the CAMI-GM assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, to reopen their contract so as to impose further concessions.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
12 February 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
5 February 2013
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
Follow the WSWS