After I became a parent in the early 1990s, I soon became concerned about the environment. I read extensively on the topic, made shifts in my lifestyle choices and aspired to one day be like Scott and Helen Nearing, the 1930s pioneers who advocated simple living for the health of people and nature.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is currently engaged in collective bargaining with Canada Post. Unlike in previous rounds, the contracts of both the Urban bargaining unit (covering about 42,000 workers) and the unit of some 8,000 Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMCs) are being negotiated simultaneously.
July 19, 2016 - Tradespeople at Cenovus Energy Inc.’s two major oil sands projects are trying to unionize and its top executives are fighting back, arguing that a collective agreement would not shield workers from layoffs as the economy slumps, according to an internal company memo.
Unifor, which says it is Canada’s largest private-sector union, is in talks with employees at Cenovus’s Christina Lake and Foster Creek projects. The company rolled out a multifaceted response to the campaign in June, urging employees to reject the pitch.
July 14, 2016 - TransCanada Corp. joined hands with construction unions on Thursday to demonstrate support for its Energy East pipeline project, which goes to public hearings next month.
At a ceremony in a union training facility in Ottawa, TransCanada chief executive officer Russ Girling signed an agreement with four unions committing to employ their members in the $15.7-billion project – assuming that it receives federal approval two years from now.
[One webpage editor's note: Three items below - Tzeporah Berman's new position in Alberta, 'astroturfing' by some US unions, and the promoters of a bitumen refinery who include the then-President of the paperworkers union I was a member of for years.]
The surprising composition of Alberta’s new oilsands GHG advisory group
Ken Smith is one frustrated oil sands labour leader. The giant wildfire that forced Fort McMurray's evacuation came as the Unifor Local 707A president was in the middle of contract negotiations, fighting to save bitumen mining jobs despite the tough times for oil companies.
But he found himself fleeing the flames along with thousands of others. Negotiations to protect the 3,450 Suncor workers he represents were put on hold.
Doug McCorquodale is a thirty five year member, activist and official with unions in mining and construction. June 10, 2016 - The Leap Manifesto has caused quite a stir on the Left and the Right. Tens of thousands have signed on as supporters. The right wing press, the one per centers and rightist minions of the “free” market economy often viciously denigrate the Leap Manifesto.
Union workers attacking environmentalists—it has become a trope of our time. But what do union members actually think about the environment?
In a study soon to be published in Labor Studies Journal, we report our findings on workers attitudes and behaviors regarding a variety of environmental issues. In particular, we examine the attitudes and behaviors of unionized workers to see how they may differ from the non-union respondents. The results might surprise those whose images of worker attitudes come only from the mainstream media.
I’m sure you’ve heard liberal environmentalists insist that we are all passengers on Spaceship Earth, sharing a common fate and a common responsibility for the ship’s safety. Former US vice-president Al Gore, for example, tells us: “We all live on the same planet. We all face the same dangers and opportunities, we share the same responsibility for charting our course into the future.”
