Turn on your speakers to hear "Solidarity Forever".
It was orginally created in support of Cargill strikers, in 1997. Their story and an analysis of Cargill and Agribusiness are archived here.
Solidarity messages are very important to those that walk the line and you can email yours from this page.
This page includes information on strikes and other labour news about Alberta and from across Canada.
This page is the creation of Eugene W. Plawiuk, and the opinions expressed are mine and those of the individual authors whose work appears here.
Web page Campaign to have Anti-Scab Legislation introduced into the Alberta Labour Relations Code. Currently Alberta has no Anti-Scab Legislation. Let your wishes be known, Vote in our Anti-Scab Law Poll.
The government has recently increased the Alberta Minimum Wage but it is still a poverty wage, camaign page for a Living Wage.
ALBERTA LABOUR NEWS
UPDATED DAILY
CANADA LABOUR NEWS
UPDATED DAILY
(R)EDMONTON: The Radical Edmonton Web Page
Announcements, Discussion Forum, Cyber-Campaigns are now all posted here.
ALBERTA STRIKE NEWS
E-Mail Solidarity Messages To Striking Workers
Messages of solidarity are always welcome by those walking the line.
Since many unions still do not have email we are providing an email address for messages.
We will be glad to fax-forward your message to fellow workers on strike if you email it to:
Please indicate to which local or group of workers it is going to.
REPORT FROM VANCOUVER RALLY IN CUPPORT OF CLAGARY HERALD WORKERS, DEC. 2/99
London Protection International
Established in 1987, specializes in assisting clients facing Labour strikes and lockouts.
Here is info on the scab security company that has been hired by the Calgary Herald, plus their web page URL and contact info to send them a message about their scab services.
Eugene Plawiuk
Labournet Canada
LABOUR NET CANADA EXCLUSIVE
COVERAGE OF MASS PICKET AT THE HERALD ON THURSDAY NOV. 11, 1999
Five Hundred workers from across Alberta joined their sisters and brothers on the picket line on Thursday night to halt the publishing of the Friday Herald and distribution of the National Post.
Video produced by Don Bouzek, Ground Zero Productions, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (780) 425-0405
492K takes approximately 1 minute to download
Video music by the The Notre Dame des Bananes Choir
from their 1997 CD "Ripe For Revolution"
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Real Player Tips and Tricks from WorkingTV
SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH STRIKING HERALD WORKERS DON'T BUY THE NATIONAL POST
The leaders of some of Alberta’s largest unions are calling on Albertans to cancel their subscriptions to the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal and the National Post as a demonstration of support for striking workers at the Calgary Herald. The three papers have been targeted because they all belong to the Southam chain of newspapers, which is owned by notorious media mogul, Conrad Black. Unions in both the public and private sectors say they will encourage their members to stop buying all Southam newspapers until a settlement is reached at the Calgary Herald.
CEP LOCAL 2000 (Vancouver Media Workers) President Mike Bocking's BOYCOTT THE POST speech
CALGARY HERALD WORKERS WEB PAGE WITH DAILY STRIKE NEWS
HERALD STRIKE NEWS
Calgary Herald meets publishing schedule despite strike
Herald film critic fired for picketing
Fight for rights takes real courage
Catherine Ford says "delicate mental gymnastics" helped her decide to scab for the Herald from the comfort of home. I'm not sure what kind of gymnastics she's talking about for, despite having portrayed herself in her first post-strike column as the only brave journalist left in the free world, it takes no courage at all to cross a picket line via computer from the coziness of Mount Royal. Ford is entitled to her opinions but her refusal to back up her convictions, face the pickets and physically cross that line shows that she is thinking not for herself, but only of herself. By accusing other journalists of being little more than ciphers for the unions they belong to, Ford casts vile aspersions on her Southam colleagues working at other unionized papers in the chain - and on journalists at unionized papers everywhere. Do you want to see real conviction, Catherine? Linda Goyette gave up her Edmonton Journal column rather than have it published in Calgary's scab-run newspaper. That's courage.
Calgary Herald strikes for first union contract
More than 200 workers at the Calgary Herald commenced a legal strike against the Conrad Black-owned newspaper at 3 p.m. Monday. "An effort to achieve a fair and decent first collective agreement for a democratically elected union has turned out to be a battle against Conrad Black's Southam-Hollinger forces, intent on destroying the union," said Andy Marshall, president of Local 115A of the Communications, Energy and paperworkers Union of Canada. "There is growing evidence that this dispute is being engineered by people outside this community who don't understand the once-proud tradition of the Calgary Herald," he said. The 150 editorial workers at the Herald represented by CEP and about 70 distribution centre, loading dock, maintenance and machine shop workers represented by the Graphic Communications International Union, have been trying to reach a first collective agreement with the Herald since November 1998. Meanwhile, in a shocking ruling early Monday morning, the Alberta Labour Relations Board has denied workers basic rights that would likely be taken for granted in any other province in Canada, said Gail Lem, the CEP vice-president representing media.
Calgary is bracing for its first newspaper strike in more than 50 years as more than 200 key employees of the Calgary Herald prepare to hit the picket line. The 160 editorial staff of the 116-year-old paper told management yesterday they intend to walk off the job as early as Monday afternoon. Along with these employees, the union representing 70 distribution workers, such as loading dock staff, are also threatening to strike on Monday. Andy Marshall, president of Local 115A of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, said he expects the strike will be bitter.
NDs' Pam Barrett backs Herald workers
Herald labour dispute escalates
Calgary Herald Production workers vote to strike
Production workers at the Calgary Herald have voted 70 per cent in favour of job action, edging the threat of a strike at the daily newspaper one step closer.
GRAIN SERVICES UNION ON STRIKE
Grain handlers strike worries West WebPosted Tue Nov 9 04:52:26 1999 WINNIPEG - A labour dispute at one of Western Canada's largest grain-handling companies has farmers concerned. The Grain Services Union has targeted Manitoba's 114 grain elevators and 36 supply centres. The strike affects about 350 Manitoba workers. Workers meetings Monday in Stonewall, Man., and in Morris and Winnipeg Tuesday morning were to determine where to picket
Please see the attached letter and take any steps that you can to assist us in this dispute.
If you e-mail a message to Charlie Swanson, please blind carbon copy us at:
Please support unionized grain workers in Alberta and Manitoba!
Threatened grain strike worries farmers
AUPE HOUSING STAFF VOTE TO STRIKE
Calgary Housing Staff Vote for a Strike
DYNAMIC FURNITURE STRIKE CONTINUES IN CALGARY
1/22/99 - Construction and General Workers' Union Local No.
1111 and Dynamic Furniture Corp.
Letter Decision
ALBERTA GOVERNMENT TO CUT MORE JOBS AND PRIVATIZE SERVICES -- AUPE FIGHTS BACK
The President of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees is challenging
the Alberta Government to open the books on the thousands of contracts
that it has let out in the last four years, before proceeding with the
contracting-out scheme it announced last week.
In an open letter to Dr. Steve West, the Minister heading up the proposed
privatization, Dan MacLennan said that any further contracting-out would
be completely irresponsible, unless the Government first conducts a full
review of the private operators who took over work that used to be done
by Provincial employees.
ALTA STEEL STRIKE IN EDMONTON OVER
Stelco Inc.'s AltaSteel ratifies 5-year labour settlement
The ALTASTEEL Plant is located at 9401-34 St. Picket Lines are up 24 hours per day.
CALGARY CATHOLIC TEACHERS LOCKED OUT SEPTEMBER 27, 1999
Maple Leaf Pork recruiting for Brandon plant
FLETCHERS STRIKE Red Deer 1998 with updates
SAFEWAY STRIKE 1997
Announcements For Activists
BOYCOTT BIG ROCK: A TORY SUPPORTING NON-UNION BREWERY
Over 700 Grain Services Union members who operate Agricore grain elevators and agricultural-supply centres in Alberta and Manitoba are now in a legal strike position. There are two easy ways for you to support GSU members in their bargaining dispute with Agricore:
1. Please e-mail Agricore CEO Charlie Swanson at
GSU members who work for Agricore just want fair treatment and a fair contract. But after nine months of talks, the grain company is still trying to turn the clock back 25 years on workers' rights. Agricore wants no mention of seniority rights in the collective agreement. Agricore wants to red-circle 40% of employees as a way to drive down wage rates in many classifications. Agricore wants to make severance available at management's discretion, not as a right for workers whose jobs may be eliminated as smaller grain elevators close. Agricore wants the right to unilaterally alter employees' pension benefits, including ending Union input into the pension plan. Agricore wants to pay employees in Alberta less money for the same work than employees in Manitoba. Agricore wants to take reference to maternity, parental, and family leave out of the collective agreeement. And the list goes on and on.
Please e-mail CEO Charlie Swanson at
"Mr. Swanson, As we move forward into a new millennium, stop trying to turn back the clock on workers' rights. Respect and value your employees by agreeing to fair contract language on such key issues as seniority, severance, lay-off, maternity and family leave, salaries, increments, and bonuses. Bargain a fair collective agreement with the Grain Services Union!"
2. Forward this entire message to other people you know and ask them to help out.
Thank you for your support.
Adriane Paavo
Staff Representative
Grain Services Union (ILWU Canada)
2334 McIntyre Street, Regina, Sask., S4P 2S2
(306) 522-6686 (tel.) 565-3430 (fax)
A labour dispute that threatens to shut down 400 grain elevators in Alberta and
Manitoba comes at the worst possible time for beleaguered prairie farmers.
About 850 unionized Agricore Co-operative workers in the two provinces were in a
legal strike-lockout position, effective Thursday. On Sept. 28, Grain Services
Union workers voted 78 per cent in favour of a strike. GSU represents about 375
grain elevator operators in Alberta who have been without a contract since last
year as well as 450 full- and part-time elevator and agro-centre workers in
Manitoba.
Negotiations between Agricore -- the corporate entity formed last year through the
merger of the Manitoba Pool Elevators and the Alberta Wheat Pool -- and the
GSU are set to resume Nov. 1 but the two sides "are miles apart," GSU general
secretary Hugh Wagner said Thursday.
Staff who administer provincial low-cost housing in Calgary voted last
night to go on strike to support their wage demands at the bargaining
table.
A substantial majority of the members of Local 061/003, who turned up
at the Calgary Office of The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees,
voted to give their bargaining team the support it needs to convince the
Calgary Housing Authority that they intended to back up the position they
have taken in bargaining.
Labour Minister Must Show Leadership in Calgary Strike
Pannu Says Employer is Refusing to Bargain in Good Faith
The Alberta New Democrats today charged that the Minister of Labour appears to be washing his hands of a volatile and
explosive strike at the Dynamic Furniture plant in Calgary.
"I visited the picket line at the plant last Friday and was shocked at the potential that exists for serious violence," said Raj Pannu,
MLA for Edmonton Strathcona.
Striking Steelworkers reject AltaSteel's final offer---September 14, 1999
STRIKE AT ALTASTEEL
HAMILTON, ON, Sept. 8 /CNW/ - At 7:00 p.m. today, Local 5220 of the
United Steelworkers of America went on strike at AltaSteel Ltd. AltaSteel is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Stelco Inc., located in Strathcona County, near
Edmonton, Alberta. Negotiations had been proceeding since May 10 with the goal
of achieving renewal of the collective agreement that expired on July 31.
Workers steel for long strike
Recycling plant hit by third union walkout in last 20 years
The 266 unionized workers at
AltaSteel's recycling plant just
east of Edmonton walked off
the job Wednesday in what
organizers say could be a
lengthy strike.
It's the third strike since 1981
for the plant which melts down
shredded car bodies and other
steel scrap in an electric arc
furnace, each year making
275,000 tonnes of bars for the
oil patch, mining and
construction industries.
The hourly work force has
declined from about 650 during
the 1981 strike and 440 when
workers went on strike for 13
weeks in 1990. But the plant
output is higher than it was in
1981, said union president Paul
Perreault.
There are also about 80 non-union staff who remain on the job.
Higher pay, better pensions and the length of contract are issues, but job
security is main one, said Perreault, president of Local 5220 of the United
Steelworkers of America.
STRIKE SUPPORT STORIES ARCHIVE
MAPLE LEAF STRIKE 1998Click Here for the latest updates on Maple Leaf Foods and the Edmonton Strike of 1997-1998
Maple Leaf Foods Posts Record First Quarter - First
Quarter Operating Earnings Up 165 percent - EPS of $0.10
up from $0.02 Last Year
After driving down their workers wages last year!!!!
Company begins recruiting campaign to attract 1,000 production workers
The Making and Settling of a 75-day, Multi-million Dollar
Strike
Online Internet History of the Strike by University of Alberta Business Administration Professor
EDMONTON COMPANY EXPLOITS CHILD LABOUR!
Working for "free" violates employment law--Boycott Buffet World
Big Rock Brewery Ltd. names Bob King its new President
In 1984, Ed McNally launched Big Rock Brewery
Ltd. (TSE-BR, NASDAQ-BEERF) with a dream of brewing traditional, all-natural
beers. Today, McNally named a new leader to continue to guide the company
into the future.
McNally announced today that Bob King has joined Big Rock as the
company's new president.
``Bob King has been a leader and innovator in Alberta's liquor industry
and the public sector for many years,'' he said. ``I'm delighted that a
person of his caliber shares my enthusiasm for the future of Big Rock.''
King's background with Alberta's liquor industry includes several key
provincial government positions: Chairman and CEO of the Alberta Liquor
Control Board; Deputy Solicitor General; Deputy Minister of Economic
Development and Tourism; and most recently Chairman and CEO of the Alberta
Gaming and Liquor Commission. In 1993, King directed Alberta's privatization
of liquor stores - the first such privatization in Canada - and was the 1989
recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Award of Excellence.
Big Rock products are currently available in 5 provinces, 2 territories and
23 U.S.
states. The Canada-wide support network of DU should assist Big Rock's
development of a national and international distribution system for this
distinguished product. We continue to have strong growth in our Alberta home
market. Alberta has the broadest based, dynamic economy of any area in
Canada. Since year-end, Big Rock continues to steadily increase market
share in
this province, our main market.
Big Rock distributes Guinness brands in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the
Northwest Territories. During the year we finalized an agreement with
Guinness
Import Company (Canada) Limited to distribute Big Rock products in
Ontario and
Eastern Canada. Guinness has complete warehouse and distribution
facilities in
Ontario and a large, well-trained sales force covering the entire
Province. This
relationship has resulted in steady growth for both companies in their
respective
markets.
CANADA
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Canadian Association of Labour Media (CALM)
CSN Quebec Public Sector Union In French
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Nurses Unions Across Canada:
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