**Above – an excerpt from She Never Was Afraid: The Biography of Annie Buller, by Louise Watson. Photo: Wikipedia. “Annie Buller, married name Guralnick, political activist, union organizer (b in Ukraine 9 Dec 1895; d at Toronto 19 Jan 1973). Her Jewish parents immigrated to Montréal when she was a child. During WWI she became active in the Socialist Youth…
Now a favourite anthem of the labour movement around the world, James Oppenheim was inspired to write the poem by a slogan “Bread for all, and Roses, too”. When his poem was published again in 1912, the slogan was attributed to women trade unionists – and the association stuck. Oppenheim’s poem was also associated with the 1912 Lawrence textile strike,…
Within ten days, about 2,500 workers in six hospitals and nine nursing homes were on wildcat strikes and hundreds of other health care workers joined work-to-rule and other worker solidarity efforts. Premier Ralph Klein could only watch in horror as his budget cuts backfired. Alberta’s Conservative government eliminated tens of thousands of public sector jobs between 1993 and 1994 while…
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Founded by the charismatic William Coaker, the FPU worked to provide fishers and their families with a greater share of the wealth that their labour produced. Democratic, and cooperative, the FPU was the first attempt to organize fishers as a political movement along class lines. With a rallying cry of “to each his own”, the FPU sought to win reforms…
Fair pay means that the work women and men do is equally respected and valued. Unfortunately, this is not the reality for many workers in Canada, where there is still a big gap between what women and men earn. Thanks to the labour movement, this pay gap is already much less for women with unions, but income equality for all…
We all have to work together to ensure workplaces promote mental health
October 9, 2017
October 10 is World Mental Health day, and this year unions are highlighting the work we do to promote mental health in the workplace. This spring the Canadian Labour Congress introduced an online resource centre with tools and information for workers dealing with mental health issues at work. “One in five people in Canada experience a mental health problem or…
October 7, 2017 will mark the 10th anniversary of the World Day for Decent Work, a day when unions around the world unite in action for decent work. What is “decent work”? Access for all workers to quality jobs, dignity, equality, and safe working conditions. Putting workers at the centre of development and giving them a voice in what they do.…