Who might be in, who’s threatening to stay out

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 2, 2011 at 8:21 PM - 2 Comments

Romeo Saganash is leaving open the possibility of a run for the NDP leadership and Karl Belanger, Jack Layton’s press secretary, is being urged to consider entering the race, but Thomas Mulcair says he’ll stay out if a vote is set for January.

“If what some people seemed to be angling for, which was January, if that ever came to pass, you know, I’d just continue working very hard to do the best we could, but I would never be part of something where there wouldn’t be a level playing field,” he said Friday…

“I have some very strong support for an eventual shot at it from my Quebec colleagues, and I’m honoured and thrilled at that but I’ve also got to build in the rest of Canada,” Mulcair said in an interview Friday. “We’ve got to have time to meet with people, to connect with them, to say who we are, what we do, and that can only be done with a campaign that would be similar to the ’02-03 campaign, which was a 7 1/2-month campaign.”

Mr. Mulcair, along with Pat Martin and Peter Stoffer, also quibbles with setting aside votes for labour unions.

The first nail in La Presse's coffin: no more BlackBerrys

By Philippe Gohier - Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 3:37 PM - 4 Comments

In case anyone thought Gesca was bluffing when it threatened to shut down La Presse and Cyberpresse on December 1 unless they strike a cost-cutting deal with the union, managers at the paper are stepping up the pressure this week. According to TVA, there’s already a plan in place to cease operations and—this is truly the first sign of a looming journalistic apocalypse—reporters will apparently be asked to turn in their BlackBerrys some time next week. Workers are scheduled to meet with the union on Saturday to clear the air—and, presumably, begin panicking.

Deja Strike

By Jaime Weinman - Monday, November 24, 2008 at 6:57 PM - 0 Comments

I haven’t said much about the news that the Screen Actors’ Guild will ask for a strike authorization vote because, well, I don’t have much to say about it. Like many people, I’m skeptical that there will be a strike in the current climate, but on the other hand, that’s what the producers are counting on, and believe it or not, they’re occasionally wrong. (The AMPTP feels free to drive a hard bargain, in part, because they figure that the actors would never go on strike at a time like this and therefore they have to be bluffing. But the SAG people also know that the producers are terrified of another work stoppage, so they must be bluffing. And scary things happen when both sides assume the other is bluffing.)

Mark Evanier is very good at explaining these things, though, and in this post he explains the situation in terms so simple that even I can understand them. And in a later post, he also has a good explanation of the difference between a strike vote and a strike authorization vote (which is as much a bargaining tool as anything else).

You gotta fight for your right to clean up!

By Philippe Gohier - Friday, July 18, 2008 at 5:27 PM - 0 Comments

Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay has had his share of epic battles with the city’s many unions over the years, like his ongoing spat with the perpetually disgruntled firefighters who’ve taken to wearing City of Toronto gear because Montreal is just so ashamed it’s not Toronto. (That said, it’s a refreshing change from past tactics, like perforating firehoses.) Tremblay can now add another unusual fight to his list.

The blue-collar workers’ union recently managed to get the city’s new cleanliness by-law yanked from the books. Under a bill passed last summer, property owners were expected to keep the sidewalk and street in front of their property clean or else face fines. But the union complained that getting “volunteers” to do their job violated the collective bargaining agreement.

“For us, this is work that’s done by blue-collar workers and should continue to be done by blue-collar workers. We’re fighting to save those jobs,” says union president Michel Parent.

The City of Montreal plans to appeal the ruling. In the meantime, the union would like you to keep tossing your cigarette butts and your wrappers on the street—the unemployment rate isn’t going to lower itself, you know.