Employment and labour
(Vancouver) Outsourced BC Hydro and Medical Services Plan workers believe an erosion of customer service is occurring, as they are pressured to increase call volumes, often at the expense of quality service, a new study finds.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s proposed legislation to end the right to strike in health care and community services will not likely reduce strike activity in these sectors. Moreover, the move may have unintended consequences, according to a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
On June 8, 2007, Canada’s Supreme Court constitutionalized collective bargaining in Canada. In doing so, it expanded considerably on its 2001 Dunmore decision which declared that all Canadian workers have the right to organize in their interests, select leaders of their own choosing, develop programs to forward their interests, and make demands on their employers.
Broken promises are something we normally associate with politicians at election time. But what about the broken promise of economic growth?
For years we’ve been urged to work smarter and harder, repeatedly reminded that a strong and growing economy is the fastest route to prosperity for all.
But the most recent Statistics Canada report on incomes puts the lie to that promise.
Fundamental labour rights, pursued historically and recognized under international conventions, must be respected in Canada, according to the highest court in the land. In a judgment rendered June 8, the Supreme Court of Canada reversed itself and recognized that freedom of association includes the right to collective bargaining.
Collective bargaining complements and promotes the values expressed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, according to this major judgment affirming that the role of trade unions cannot be repressed “in a free and democratic society.”
While
the BC government mulls over the Supreme Court's recent landmark
decision that Bill 29 is unconstitutional (because it infringes on
health care workers' right to collective bargaining), it should also
consider the constitutionality of another piece of labour legislation
passed in 2002.
According to a recent report, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., a Canadian company owned by Robert Friedland, is "raping the environment" and using forced labour in Burma.
Ivanhoe operates the US$90 million Monywa copper mine, Burma's largest mining investment, in a 50-50 partnership with the Burmese military dictatorship (known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The mine is the centrepiece of Friedland's corporate holdings, which include properties in the U.S., Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, China, Australia, Fiji, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Angola, Sierra Leone and Namibia.