The existing contract says employees lose seniority rights after being laid off for a period of 12 months. The hotel (and other lower mainland hotels) have the ability to extend that period voluntarily in the face of the pandemic, but have elected not to do so, probably selectively firing strong union members.
Gene McGuckin
Feb. 13, 2021
Vote was 97% in favour of a strike
A strike is one step close for a group of Burnaby hotel workers.
As we reach the one year anniversary of the brutal raids on Wet'suwet'en territory and the wave of incredible action across Turtle Island, the struggle continues despite the challenges of COVID-19.
This is a further entrenchment of Harper's widely opposed Anti-Terrorism Act (Bill C-51) of 2015. A short time after that law was passed, an RCMP report identified environmentalists as "terrorists." First Nations activism, of course, has also been identified as terrorist. Trudeau, elected a few months after the law was enacted, had promised to amend it to "increase oversight," but he never seems to have gotten around to that (another campaign-trail lie).
Backpack Buddies organization helps fill ‘weekend hunger gap’ throughout Lower Mainland and beyond
Childhood poverty and food insecurity remains an issue in British Columbia and has only been exacerbated by the pandemic, according to a Metro Vancouver non-profit that works to tackle child hunger in the province.
On January 4th, workers at Google and other Alphabet companies announced the creation of the Alphabet Workers Union with support from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) – the first of its kind in the company’s history. It will be the first union open to all employees and contractors at any Alphabet company, with dues-paying members, an elected board of directors, and paid organizing staff.
Earlier this week, with national attention focused on accountability for the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the capitol building in Washington, D.C., Ohio quietly became the 13th state since 2017 to legislate harsher penalties for trespassing on or otherwise interfering with energy and industrial infrastructure — a move that activists and civil liberties groups say is a transparent attempt to criminalize nonviolent protest.
The vast majority of Canadians want a national pharmacare program, but right-wing think tanks and corporate lobbyists are battling to obstruct it. It’s time to stand up to their bullying and implement universal pharmacare so everyone can get the treatment they need.
