The next time someone says the “recession is over,” ask them exactly what they mean. Because it’s increasingly clear that it means different things to different people. And it’s equally clear it doesn’t usually mean that the unemployment crisis is over.
Employment and labour
In this time of economic turmoil, living-wage policies are one way to stimulate our local economy. A living-wage policy is employed by at least 122 US cities and being considered by more than 70 other US cities. Many large corporations in Europe have adopted a living-wage policy. A living-wage is not the minimum wage which is the statutory minimum for wages. A living-wage allows families to live at a basic and decent level.
Imagine a job that requires you to leave your family for up to eight months at a time. Picture yourself speaking a different language than your boss. Consider living where you work and never being able to leave or receive visitors without your boss’ permission. Imagine knowing that should you raise any concerns you could lose your job and be sent home.
The Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL) is holding its annual convention in Brandon October 2 - 4, 2009. There are many important issues to be dealt with however the one issue that should be on the agenda and should be the focus of discussion is the spectre of eroding memberships in trade union organizations, evident in all jurisdictions in Canada.
Last February, the New Anti-Capitalist Party (Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste, NPA) was founded in Paris with 10,000 members represented by 650 delegates. Almost overnight, the NPA drew 6% of the French electoral vote and its leader, Olivier Besancenot, a 35-year-old postal worker, became the second most popular left-wing politician in France after Ségolène Royal, the former head of the Socialist Party which is the official opposition. About 45% of the French electorate votes for leftist parties, and Besancenot has a 60% approval rating among French voters across the political spectrum.
Imagine having to leave your family for up to eight months at a time to work in another country. You speak a different language than your boss. You live where you work and can never leave or receive visitors without your boss’s permission. If you dare raise any concerns, you could lose your job and be sent home.
HALIFAX, NS - Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Cards have recorded changes in child poverty since 1999. Each annual card has tracked progress on the government of Canada’s 1989 promise to end child poverty. The report released today, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Nova Scotia, is the tenth card, and is being released on the 20th anniversary of Canada’s promise to eliminate poverty by the year 2000.
The canadian economy continues to lead the OECD in many respects. The federal government, after a near-decade of surpluses, expects another surplus even larger than its own predictions. Employment is relatively high in spite of a crisis in manufacturing. Yet ordinary canadians are worried, and with good reason. Their society is becoming more unequal by the day, and the public policies which combat inequality and sustain social security continue to be eroded.
Canada is in the enviable position of having posted a budget surplus for nine consecutive years.
While these resources could be used to remedy the eroding access to basic services like health care, education, and even clean water and housing, the Conservative government has chosen to adopt massive tax cuts that will further increase the gap between rich and poor, while substantially expanding its military capacity without explanation or debate around this significant change in Canada’s international role.