Sunday, July 04, 2021

 

Trudeau taps a former labour leader and a mayor to fill Senate vacancies

Hassan Yussuff only left the Canadian Labour Congress last week


John Paul Tasker · CBC News · 
Canadian Labour Congress president Hassan Yussuff looks on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the Labour 7 Consultation in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 4, 2018. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced three new Senate appointments today — a former national union leader, the current mayor of Cornwall, Ont. and the CEO of Port Saint John — as he chips away at the 15 vacancies that have piled up in the Red Chamber over the past two years.

With these new picks, Trudeau has now installed 55 senators in the upper house — an unusually large number of appointments for a single prime minister.

More than half of all sitting senators were appointed by Trudeau. Former prime minister Stephen Harper let vacancies in the place pile up as the 2013-15 expenses scandal raged on, leaving Trudeau with more opportunities to appoint senators friendly to his push for an independent Senate.

Hassan Yussuff — who, until just last week, was the president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) — will represent Ontario in the Senate.

The Guyana-born labour leader was accused by some within the union movement of being too cozy with the governing Liberals.

At its convention last week, the CLC affirmed its longstanding support for the New Democratic Party over the objections of Yussuff and others who said they favoured a more "pragmatic" approach to political alliances.

While at the CLC, the country's largest labour organization, Yussuff was tapped by the Liberal government to serve on a number of advisory bodies, including the NAFTA Council, the Task Force on Just Transition for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities and the Net-Zero Advisory Body.

Before taking the reins of the CLC, Yussuff worked at the now-defunct Canadian Auto Workers union. Yussuff was the first person of colour to hold an executive position at the CLC. He has received numerous leadership awards and honorary doctorates from two universities.

Asked by CBC News last week if he was open to a Senate appointment, Yussuff was non-committal. "I am going to be open to anything that I think I can contribute to," he said. "If I feel I can make a contribution, I will seriously think about it."

While Yussuff's appointment comes very soon after he ended his service at the CLC, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the three picks announced Tuesday were all "recommended by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments" and chosen using the "merit-based" application process that is open to all Canadians.

Joining Yussuff in the Senate is another leader with past Liberal ties. The current mayor of Cornwall, Ont., Bernadette Clement, will also represent Ontario.

Clement ran under the Liberal banner in the 2011 and 2015 federal elections in the riding of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry and lost. Clement was born to a Franco-Manitoban mother and a father from Trinidad. Clement is the first Black woman to serve as a mayor in Ontario.

Clement, a lawyer by trade, also serves as the executive director of the Roy McMurtry Legal Clinic, a non-profit that offers legal advice, services and representation to low-income people in Cornwall and the surrounding area.

Cornwall, Ont., Mayor Bernadette Clement in November 2020. (Jonathan Dupaul/Radio-Canada)

James Quinn, the current president and CEO of Port Saint John, will soon represent New Brunswick in the upper house.

Before his work in the private sector, Quinn spent decades in government. According to the biography supplied by the PMO, Quinn worked for 32 years in senior roles with the Canadian Coast Guard, both at sea and on shore, as well as with several other federal government departments. He served as the chief financial officer at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Quinn is also an honorary lieutenant-colonel with the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (The Loyal Company), 5th Canadian Division of the Canadian Army.

"Ms. Clement, Mr. Yussuff, and Mr. Quinn are exemplary public servants and community leaders who have dedicated their careers to making a difference in the lives of others. I look forward to working with them, and all senators, as we continue to fight the global COVID-19 pandemic, take steps toward our recovery and build back a more resilient and inclusive Canada for everyone," Trudeau said in a media statement.

Under the Constitution, the governor general formally appoints senators to the upper house from a list of names supplied by the prime minister.

That vice-regal post has been vacant for six months since former governor general Julie Payette resigned amid scandal in January. Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner has been serving as the country's "administrator" since that resignation.

Like the 52 other senators Trudeau appointed before today, the three new picks are expected to sit as independent senators.

There are now five different caucuses and groups in the Senate — and the Liberal/Conservative duopoly that once defined the chamber has been dismantled.

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Quebec labour minister encourages employers to bring staff back to workplace only part time

Union says government's back-to-work plan 'lacks flexibility'

CBC News · 
Labour Minister Jean Boulet says the government is recommending that private sector employers develop similar plans to return to offices this fall. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

Quebec's public sector workers will begin gradually returning to their offices in September as the government transitions into a hybrid model of employees working from home most of the week.

The government is recommending that private sector employers develop similar plans to return to offices this fall, Labour Minister Jean Boulet said on Wednesday.

Boulet said while employers have the right to require their employees return to offices, he hopes they discuss the issue with their workers to ensure a "harmonious back to work for all the people in Quebec, in compliance with the hybrid formula that we strongly recommend.''

Even though the province is at the lowest pandemic-alert level, Boulet said working remotely remains strongly recommended.

Boulet suggested private employers should assume their employees who have been working from home want to continue working remotely some of the time.

Depending on the epidemiological situation, the gradual return of all public service employees could begin as early as Sept. 7, the province says on its website.

Eventually, the aim is to have 100 per cent of employees working at the office at least two days per week by the end of the year.

This rollout will happen in three phases, with the first being managers and support teams going into work one day per week as needed to prepare the workspace, the website says.

Then, starting Sept. 20, a maximum of 50 per cent of employees will be returning to the office one to two days per week. 

Finally, from Oct. 19 to Dec. 31, an increasing number of employees will be expected to attend the office one day per week until it becomes mandatory that all staff are on site twice per week.

"Even if the situation is better than it was and we are very optimistic for the future, we still have to deal with the fact that the virus is still present in our communities," Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel told reporters on Wednesday.

That's why the government is launching a hybrid model that gradually progresses over a period of several months, she said.

The pandemic has proven that the hybrid model has advantages for both the employees and the government, LeBel said.

A union representing 29,100 government workers welcomed the announcement but said the plan lacks flexibility and employees, not the government, should determine when and how often workers return to the office.

"It's a step in the right direction,'' Line Lamarre, president of Syndicat de professionnelles et professionnels du gouvernement du Québec, said in a news release.

"However, we believe our members are sufficiently professional to determine for themselves when their presence at the office is required.''

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CARGILL IN TURKEY
They’ve Fought for Over 1,000 Days To Get Their Jobs Back. They’re Not Backing Down

The incredible story of 14 blue-collar workers taking on one of America's biggest companies.



Never in his wildest dreams – or nightmares – did Faik Kutlu see himself taking on one of the world's largest and most powerful corporations in an epic three-year battle. Yet today is the 1,172nd day of a seemingly never-ending struggle that has pitted him and a dozen other blue-collar Turkish workers against Cargill, the biggest privately-held corporation in the US by revenue.

Kutlu and his fellow workers were fired for attempting to form a union, and their protest has taken them from the streets of Istanbul to the courts, and back again, in a relentless David vs Goliath struggle to get their old jobs back.

It’s one of the longest-running labour struggles in Turkey’s recent history, but for the workers involved this battle is far larger than themselves. It’s about holding to account a company quick to highlight its respect for international labour rights agreements and yet which, they say, continues to exploit loopholes in violation of those very agreements. And, it’s about uniting the Turkish working class in opposition against ever-deteriorating conditions in a country with the highest income inequality in Europe.

“This is not only a fight to get our jobs back, but a fight for union rights, a fight for the rights of the working class in Turkey,” Kutlu said. “The working conditions are getting worse day by day. We have to show other workers that if we fight we can win.”

It all began in March 2018 when workers at the Bursa-Orhangazi starch factory and a series of other plants in Turkey and their union filed for collective bargaining status. A month later, 14 of those workers, all union members, were fired from the plant.

The plants are owned by Cargill, an American multinational corporation producing the basic ingredients used by much of the commercial food sector, such as corn starch, sugar, and palm oil. Cargill is the second largest private company in the United States by revenue and its clients include Coca Cola, Nestlé, and McDonald’s. In Turkey, Cargill plants produce starch, sweeteners, and oleochemicals, among other things, for the Turkish and international market.

In the three years since their dismissals, the workers have marched hundreds and hundreds of miles across the country, demonstrating from Ankara to Bursa, picketing in front of the local headquarters of Cargill, as well as some of its biggest customers, including Coca Cola, Nestle, and PepsiCo. In Istanbul, they slept on the street in front of Cargill’s headquarters for over two months and ate their meals on the cold pavement. On the 11th of January – their thousandth day of protest – the workers gathered in Istanbul to make a speech at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, but were detained by police.

For Kutlu, the struggle has completely changed his view on working class consciousness and solidarity.

“At times it can feel overwhelming, and I have had many sleepless nights,” Kutlu told VICE World News over Zoom through a translator. “But I have also experienced in the best way possible the support I have had in Turkey from my fellow workers, the solidarity of the working class. It fills my heart.”

Still, being unemployed has been difficult. He recently had a baby and has struggled psychologically as well as financially, although his family, friends, and fellow workers have continued to support him.

It has also been difficult for Fatih Gürhan, another one of the dismissed workers, who recently turned 44. Factories rarely hire men his age – one of the reasons he is fighting for his old job – and he has a family to help support.

“When I was dismissed, I couldn’t talk about it for a week,” Gürhan said. “I couldn’t say it to my children, my friends, my parents. Only my wife. Every day, I would leave the house at eight, just like I used to, and come back in the evening with some sweets for my kids. Life is not cheap in Turkey, especially when you have three kids in school.”

“Eventually I told them,” he said. “It was not an easy decision to start this struggle.”



DISMISSED CARGILL WORKERS AT A PICKET ON THEIR 1,105TH DAY OF PROTEST. PHOTO: CARGILL İŞÇI KOMITESI TWITTER ACCOUNT

The workers, along with others in the factory, are members of Tekgıda-İş, a Turkish labour union.

Organisation efforts began in 2012, by workers frustrated with declining wages and deteriorating conditions. But it was only in March 2018, after years of union membership drives, that Tekgıda-İş felt confident that it had enough support that it filed for collective bargaining status.

After the union filed for bargaining status, Cargill management immediately began resisting the effort, workers say, including by making threats that conditions at the factory would worsen if workers unionised.

Shortly after they filed for recognition, the union activists were met with bad news. On the 9th of March 2018, the Turkish Ministry of Labour informed Tekgıda-İş that it had not met the 40 percent threshold required to achieve collective bargaining status under Turkish labour law.

But union officials and workers claim that Cargill added workers from its head offices in Istanbul to the collective bargaining unit to dilute the number of union members. Tekgıda-İş’ application for collective bargaining status, seen by VICE World News, filed on four sites. The rejection letter from the Turkish Ministry of Labour lists two extra sites, including Cargill’s head office.

"Cargill essentially moved workers from its administrative office into the collective bargaining unit, therefore reducing the proportion of union members and leaving the union just shy of the 40 percent it needed," Suat Karlıkaya, a Tekgıda-İş representative, said.

Just over a month after their unionisation effort fell flat, on the 18th of April 2018, Cargill fired Gürhan, Kutlu, and 12 other blue-collar production workers. All were active leaders in the organising effort, workers told VICE World News.

Gürhan worked in Cargill’s Bursa-Orhangazi factory for 17 years before he was fired. He was open about his union membership and active in multiple union drives. He believes that Cargill managers punished him and other pro-union employees.

Despite being one of the most senior employees at the factory, Gürhan says he was passed over for promotions, which were offered to junior colleagues instead.

Before he was fired, Gürhan was assigned to work as a chemical operator unloading and stocking chemicals entering the plant. Usually, he says, there are three chemical operators rotating every three months to avoid prolonged exposure to noxious gases and chemicals. But he was forced to work there alone for four years.

“No matter how many safety measures you take, you are exposed to toxic gases,” Gürhan told VICE World News through an interpreter. “You constantly interact with dry and liquid chemicals. You always work alone, away from everyone.”

VICE World News asked Cargill about Gürhan’s claims, but did not receive a response.

“Workers were scared of joining the union,” he said. “There was an atmosphere of fear. I often encountered workers who would like to join a union but didn’t because they were afraid that something would happen to them. That they would be fired or passed up on a promotion or better position.”

Shortly after they were fired, Gürhan and 11 other workers decided to contest their dismissals in court with the help of Tekgıda-İş – two other workers decided not to contest their dismissals. In February 2020, the Orhangazi Civil Labour court decided that eight workers had been unfairly dismissed by Cargill because of their union activities, while four had been unfairly dismissed without economic justification.

The court also noted that there were “numerous resignatiations” of union membership on the exact same dates that the 14 workers were fired and that workers were scared of possible repercussions for their union membership.

All 12 workers contesting their dismissal were ordered by the court to be reinstated. But 40 months later and they still haven’t been rehired – in fact, Cargill has advertised open positions in the ensuing months.

Instead, Cargill made use of a loophole in Turkish law that allows companies to pay workers compensation, rather than let workers fired for union activities return to their positions. Kutlu and Gürhan respectively received eight months wages in compensation, as well as severance and pay for their notice period, amounting to roughly ₺44,000 Turkish Lira (£3,650) and ₺70,000 Turkish Lira (£5,800) respectively.

“Firing workers for unionising is a violation of their fundamental human rights and they need to be allowed to return to their positions,” said Burcu Ayan, an international officer at the International Union Federation, one of the labour organisations campaigning for the reinstatement of the fired workers. “Cargill does not want to allow these workers to return to their positions because they know that if they do, workers will no longer be scared of organising.”

In January, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association launched an investigation into whether human rights violations had occurred when the workers were fired.

Cargill did not respond to an emailed set of questions from VICE World News. VICE World News asked, among other things, for comment on the verdicts from the Turkish courts, why the workers were not rehired even after open positions were advertised, and if the company had any comment regarding the workers’ three-year protests. Allegations that Gürhan was forced to work with toxic chemicals and that the company had added employees from its head office into the collective bargaining unit were also put to Cargill.


The company did respond, however, to a series of questions from the United Nations as part of its investigation. In its response, Cargill defended its actions, rehashing many of the same arguments previously rejected by the Turkish courts.

One of the company’s principal arguments is that its hand was forced following a reduction of the national sugar quota in Turkey, which it claims significantly reduced demand. However, this quota only came into effect in July, months after the workers were fired, via a presidential decree.

In the case of the workers dismissed in 2018, the court found that the “employer’s sales and assets increased after the termination date [of the workers]” and that “the company continued to make profit, there was no decrease in the order and production.”

Cargill also argues that the 14 workers were dismissed based on their low performance. None of the workers said they had ever received low performance marks when asked by VICE World News. In a dismissal notice sent to one of the workers seen by VICE World News, there is no mention of low performance, and there is no mention of low performance in the court’s summary of arguments made by Cargill’s lawyers. VICE World News also asked Cargill if it could provide any evidence that workers had received or been notified that they were underperforming and received no response.

The dismissals of the 14 workers in the spring of 2018 did not happen in isolation. Between 2012 and 2015, Cargill fired seven workers active in unionisation efforts. They later took Cargill all the way to the Turkish Court of Cassation (roughly equivalent to the Supreme Court), which decided in 2015 and 2018 that all seven had been fired because of their union activities.

“After the employer learned about the trade union activities, the department managers put pressure on workers and tried to convince them to resign from the trade union,” the Court of Cassation ruling from 2015 reads. “Some workers, including the complainant, who were the leading unionists, were then fired from the job on the grounds of low performance with the aim to send a message of intimidation to all workers.”

In spite of all that’s happened over the last 1,172 days, the workers say they do not harbor ill feelings towards Cargilll. They just want their old jobs back and their rights as workers to be respected.

“We are all very different people with different views and political beliefs who have come together for this purpose,” Kutlu said. “Cargill claims that they value their workers. If that is true, why can they not correct this mistake? Just remedy what you have done wrong. We are willing to forgive. Respect workers’ right to unionise.”

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Shaw says B.C. employees can't have paid leave for COVID-19 shots

Telecom giant says employees can leave work to get vaccinated 'as their role allows'


Ethan Sawyer · CBC News · Posted: Jun 28, 2021
This Shaw employee, who CBC has agreed not to name for fear of reprisal from his employer, says customers are often shocked to learn some workers aren't covered by legislation giving workers three hours of paid leave to get their COVID-19 vaccine. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

A Shaw Communications employee and his union are speaking out against the telecommunications giant, after it refused to give some of its B.C. workers paid leave to get their COVID-19 vaccinations, citing federal regulations.

"I was surprised and dismayed," said the employee, who has been with the company for more than 10 years, and whose identity CBC News has agreed to keep confidential for fear of retaliation.

"It kind of felt as if we didn't matter."

In April, B.C. amended its Employment Standards Act to provide workers with up to three hours of paid leave from work in order to get their COVID-19 vaccines.

Shaw and other telecommunications companies, however, are federally regulated — highlighting a discrepancy in how provincial and federal bodies have supported workers amid the national vaccination campaign.

The employee and his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 213, claim Shaw told workers the provincial changes "did not apply" to employees and that they would have to use personal leave if they wanted to get vaccinated during working hours.

Robin Nedila of IBEW 213 says his union is concerned members aren't getting vaccinated because they have little spare time and are reluctant to use personal days to do so. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"We reached out to Shaw a number of times and were told the same thing — that members could use their own personal leave for vaccination," said Robin Nedila, IBEW 213 assistant business manager. "It really is shameful."

Shaw confirms that employees looking to get vaccinated during working hours have been told to use personal days, depending on what their schedule allows.

"Shaw offers all employees the ability to take time from their workday to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, as their role allows," wrote Shaw spokesperson Chethan Lakshman.

"If an employee is in a role that does not offer the flexibility to receive a COVID-19 vaccine during their regular working hours, employees are able to use personal days, which are separate from vacation time and designed to support time off required for medical and/or personal obligations."

By comparison, a staff representative for United Steelworkers, Local 1944, which represents both Shaw and Telus workers in B.C., confirms Telus is giving workers three hours' paid leave, as long as they can provide proof of vaccination.

The unnamed employee, who has received his first dose, and who visits six or more locations every shift — including homes, medical offices, and retail spaces — says the policy has served as a barrier for Shaw's staff, delaying some from getting their vaccine, and discouraging others entirely.

"We've been offered to use our own personal days or sick time to [get vaccinated] but we have those days and that time for other reasons," he said.

Labour Minister Filomena Tassi says she is concerned that Shaw is not giving workers paid leave, despite amendments to the B.C. Employment Standards Act. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)


Calls for change

But while the gap in policy remains in place, at least one local MP thinks there's a quick fix, should Ottawa be interested.

"The federal government could easily amend the Canada Labour Code or come up with an order in council," said federal health critic Don Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver-Kingsway.

Davies says he wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government on May 19 outlining his concerns but hasn't heard back.

Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, meanwhile, tells CBC News she is "concerned" by the reports and that her ministry has been "working closely with organizations representing federally regulated employers" — encouraging "employers to accommodate employees."

Nedila and IBEW 213 say they want to see more from Tassi's office.

"We're hoping that all federally regulated workers and, more specifically, all Shaw employees everywhere, should be given three hours to go get vaccinated," said Nedila.
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Outsourcing Irving Shipbuilding warehouse work 'shameful' says union

NEWS PROVIDED BY Unifor

HALIFAX, NS, June 25, 2021 /CNW/ - Irving Shipbuilding's decision to outsource 15 unionized warehousing jobs to its own subsidiary, Bayside Industries, is a shameful attack on unionized workers, says Unifor.

"Unifor is saying enough is enough and has filed charges against the company at the labour board and we are asking the labour board to uphold the labour relations principle of common employer," said Jerry Dias, Unifor's National President.

Exterior of the Halifax Shipyard building behind ships in the water. (CNW Group/Unifor)

Provincial labour board hearings begin June 28.

"This would prevent the company from outsourcing the work to itself and the shady practice of getting rid of unionized workers to hire someone else for less. We've seen it time and time again during the pandemic, how corporate greed has decimated communities and undermined workers. Shame on Irving," said Dias.

The federal government's National Shipbuilding Strategy project was intended to create good paying jobs, stimulate the economy and bring workers home from Western Canada.

"It was never intended to allow corporations to bid the work and then subcontract it back to themselves at lower wages in order to pocket more profits," said Adam Hersey, Unifor Local MWF 1 business agent and metal fabricator of 11 years at the Halifax Shipyard.

Outsourcing will push workers out of their hard-earned fields and force them to retrain into different departments – just so the company can save $10 to $15 an hour per person.

"It's a slap in the face, considering how hard we worked to help this employer secure that contract. We bid on a contract with the current wage and we won it, and now Irving is outsourcing our work to another company it already owns. This clearly doesn't pass the smell test," said Hersey.

Unifor Local MWF 1 – which represents 1,000 shipbuilders – and Irving reached a collective agreement in 2018, which acknowledges that warehousing work has been done by the local since 1949.

Outsourcing is not new at Irving. In 2020, 35 workers were laid off after their jobs were moved to South Korea.

The union is asking Irving Shipbuilding to reconsider its decision and keep its loyal warehousing employees who have worked hard for many years.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

SOURCE Unifor
http://www.unifor.org
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Analysis: Clark rode big-time union donations to second term as Saskatoon mayor

For the most part, last year's municipal election showed the influence of money, but there were some exceptions.

Author of the article: Phil Tank • Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Publishing date:  Jul 03, 2021
Mayor Charlie Clark speaks with media after being declared the winner of the municipal election in Saskatoon, SK on Friday, November 13, 2020. PHOTO BY MATT SMITH /Saskatoon SarPhoenix

With less than a week before the 2020 Saskatoon civic election, three mayoral candidates held a most unusual joint news conference.

Zubair Sheikh, Cary Tarasoff and Mark Zielke united to decry the electoral system, and specifically the mayoral campaign spending limit of $229,497, based on Saskatoon’s population.

Their argument was based on the premise that the campaign spending limit effectively excluded lesser known candidates from competing in a contest that was really about who could raise the most money.

The trio suggested $76,000 as a more appropriate spending limit, noting the $68,776 mayoral spending limit in Regina for the 2020 vote.

Based on the eventual results in Saskatoon — infamously delayed by a severe snowstorm — it’s hard to disagree that money played a significant role in the final results.

Incumbent Mayor Charlie Clark topped the campaign contribution contest with $203,335.41, slightly more than he raised in his initial successful mayoral campaign in 2016.

Former mayor Don Atchison holds the record for campaign contributions with $209,668.77 in 2016, although he only spent $186,764.59.

Clark set a new record for campaign spending in 2020 by becoming the first mayoral candidate to crack the $200,000 mark with $203,335.41. He beat his previous spending record in 2016 by about $5,000.

Clark also topped the polls in the November election that was severely hindered by the snowstorm and attracted the lowest share of voters, 27 per cent, in an election that did not feature three acclamations since 1982.

Clark won the delayed election with about 47 per cent of the vote, followed by former provincial cabinet minister Rob Norris with 26 per cent and Atchison with 20 per cent.

Those results also mirror the campaign spending order; Norris was closest to Clark with $192,045.75 and Atchison was well back at $114,436.

That’s very similar to the spending and results from 2016, when Clark and Atchison each raised and spent more than twice as much as political newcomer Kelley Moore, who collected about 22 per cent of the votes.

Moore warned after the election that she could well be the last unknown to challenge credibly for the mayor’s chair, given the growing influence of money.

Sheikh, Tarsoff and Zielke finished with less than seven per cent of the combined vote. Sheikh’s $32,550 campaign, most of which appears to have been paid for from his own pocket, garnered just 1.23 per cent of the vote.

So where did Clark’s money come from and how did he, Norris and Atchison raise so much during the economic challenges of the pandemic?

Most of the top three campaigns got their donations from individuals, not unions or corporations, but the latter also played a role.

UNION DOLLARS

What’s most striking about Clark’s contributions is the degree to which unions contributed to his campaign.

Clark’s campaign war chest was boosted by $35,500 in union donations, more than 10 times the amount he received from unions in 2016.

The amount of union money in Clark’s campaign was nearly twice the eye-popping $18,000 the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615 gave to Moore in 2016, which was believed then to be the largest single contribution in Saskatoon civic election history.

Clark’s record-setting campaign was bolstered by three $10,000 donations from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1400, the United Steelworkers and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

What’s puzzling about this is not only the huge increase from 2020, but that Clark tried unsuccessfully during his first term as mayor to move toward a ban on donations from unions and corporations.

One likely reason for his union support is that his chief opponent was perceived to be Norris, who, as labour minister in Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government, introduced legislation that was reviled by organized labour.

Part of the law was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The wounds from that battle appear to have not quite healed, even though Norris would have had no direct influence on labour laws as Saskatoon mayor.

The Norris campaign appears to have failed to attract any union money, although donors who contribute less than $100 can remain anonymous.

Atchison got a lone $1,000 donation from CUPE Local 59, a huge drop from 2016, when he attracted $12,500 in union donations, including $10,000 from Saskatoon Firefighters Local 80.

Unions tend to donate to the candidate they think will win, which is almost always incumbents, regardless of political leanings. That could explain why a centre-right candidate like Atchison got more than three times as much from unions as left-leaning Clark in 2016.

BUSINESS BUCKS

Norris eclipsed the ATU Local 615 record cash donation in the last election with $20,000 from Kamp Shield Solutions, an Indigenous-owned Saskatoon company.

Norris also got $5,000 from Enviroway Detergent Manufacturing Inc., the same amount the Saskatoon business donated to Clark in 2016.

Atchison received seven $5,000 donations from corporations, including one from Sixth Avenue Arbutus. That’s the company that was spurned by city council, including Clark, in its attempt to establish a solar-powered community on the edge of Saskatoon.

This seems odd, since Norris was the one who repeatedly raised this issue, even well before the election.

One of Atchison’s $5,000 donations came from a numbered company. That’s the largest such donation in the 2020 campaign. Atchison got $7,000 from a numbered corporation in 2016.

All three of the top mayoral candidates received contributions from numbered companies, two apiece from six different entities.

Zielke raised nearly $3,000 in corporate donations, despite his much-touted business connections, so it’s easy to see the disparity between the big boys and the lesser knowns.

NOTABLE DONORS

Norris also set a record for the largest listed in-kind donation — goods or services rather than cash — with $32,064.88 attributed to Bob Baheri, the president and CEO of Enviroway.

Norris also claimed an in-kind donation of $19,629.94 from Dale Richardson, who helped manage his campaign.

Norris got the largest cash donation from an individual in the 2020 campaign, $8,500 from Jillian Loeppky. He also got $5,000 from William Norris.

Clark got $7,000 from the most well-known contributor to any campaign, best-selling author Yann Martel. That’s down from $10,000 for Clark in 2016, when Martel also played a very visible role in Clark’s campaign.

Clark’s famous in-law, Hollywood star Zach Galifianakis, again posted a video in support of Clark’s campaign on social media, as he did in 2016. But again, he was not listed among Clark’s donors.

Ryan Meili, who contributed to Clark’s 2016 campaign before he was elected NDP leader, did not donate last year, although NDP MLA Vicki Mowat gave Clark $250.

People with the last name Buhler, including Clark’s wife, Sarah, gave nearly $10,000 toward his campaign. He also got nearly $5,000 from people with the last name Clark and more than $10,000 from 11 donors with the last name Wiebe.

Atchison received a $9,500 in-kind donation from Brad Fenty and $5,000 from Jack Brodsky and his wife, Shirley. Brodsky ran Atchison’s 2016 campaign.

COUNCIL CASH

In general, council candidates raised far more money than their challengers and crushed them in spending. All nine incumbent councillors who ran in the 2020 election were re-elected, all but one by comfortable margins.

That’s probably why there’s a video circulating on social media with 2020 challengers lobbying for lower spending limits.

But money fails to tell the entire story.

Two council incumbents were outspent by challengers and still won.

Jonathan Naylor outspent Cynthia Block in Ward 6 ($19,764.06 to $18,976.79) and Jim Rhode spent more than Mairin Loewen in Ward 7 ($22,896.43 to $19,117.79).

Both challengers placed a distant second.

Several records were set in the Ward 7 race, with total spending by four candidates topping $63,000. That beats the more than $51,000 spent in 2016 between seven candidates in Ward 6. And it’s nearly as high as the spending in the 2009 mayoral campaign.

Rhode’s campaign ranks as the most expensive ever for a council seat, and he raised almost all of the money through donations. But it was only good enough to garner less than a quarter of the votes.

Naylor appears to have paid for his campaign entirely, but got less than 19 per cent of the vote.

Incumbent Darren Hill spent nearly twice as much as his closest challenger, Kevin Boychuk ($14,977.49 to $7,880.90), yet Hill only barely squeaked by with a 56-vote margin and just under 34 per cent of the vote. Hill’s donations included $4,592.49 from himself.

In vacant Ward 3, Nick Sackville outspent winner David Kirton $12,705.91 to $6,802.80, but Kirton topped the polls with 28 per cent to Sackville’s 22 per cent in an eight-candidate field. Kirton’s higher profile as a radio show host likely helped him win.

Incumbent Zach Jeffries raised the most of any council candidate with $32,711.47 and spent $22,483.79 — which still bested his two challengers combined by more than two to one.

Bev Dubois ($15,259.71) outspent her one Ward 9 challenger by nearly four to one, and Sarina Gersher (Ward 8) outspent her two challengers combined by more than three to one with $16,106.13.

Hilary Gough ($16,124.81) in Ward 2 outspent her challenger by nearly six times and Ward 5’s Randy Donauer ($16,209.24) outspent his challenger more than sevenfold.

Even Troy Davies, who was acclaimed in Ward 4, raised $7,543 and claimed $6,460.59 in expenses — more than most challengers spent on campaigns.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK
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Hydro-Quebec engineers score win on teleworking grievance with Crown corporation

The Canadian PressStaff
Published Friday, July 2, 2021

A Hydro Quebec logo is seen on their head office building Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL -- Quebec's Administrative Labour Court has come down in favour of the union representing Hydro-Quebec's engineers in a dispute over teleworking.

The court issued an order telling Hydro-Quebec to cease obstructing or interfering in Syndicat professional des ingenieurs d'Hydro-Quebec activities. The Crown corporation was also ordered not to negotiate working conditions related to teleworking with employees who are union members.

The order doesn't prevent Hydro-Quebec from implementing a teleworking program even after employees are able to return to offices, but rather from negotiating the conditions of teleworking directly with union members.

The dispute between the two parties dates back to before the COVID-19 pandemic when, in 2019, Hydro-Quebec adopted a “management rule” concerning teleworking.

During the pandemic, when a return to offices was anticipated, Hydro-Quebec had weighed establishing “teleworking team charters” which focused on the organization of teleworking days and in-office days.

The union contested the charters, alleging that Hydro-Quebec could not implement the program by a simple directive issued by management.

The union represents 2,200 salaried engineers working for the Crown corporation.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 2, 2021.
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ARGENTINA
Government intervenes to avert strike in
 health-worker pay dispute

Labour Ministry bans healthcare workers from staging two days of walkouts, ordering 15 days of talks between unions and companies from sector to resolve pay dispute.


HEALTH-WORKERS UNIONS HAD CALLED FOUR-HOUR STOPPAGES OVER TWO DAYS AMID A PAY DISPUTE. | NA

Faced with the threat of patients being left without urgent medical care in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic due to a pay dispute, the government moved to head off planned strike action from health-workers this week

On Wednesday, the Labour Ministry ordered 15 days of mandatory conciliation talks between health unions, led by Carlos West Ocampo and Héctor Daer, and companies from the sector to resolve the dispute.

The portfolio, headed by Claudio Moroni, told union leaders to "nullify any direct action measure that they were implementing and/or have planned to implement” and summoned representatives from both sides to the Ministry’s headquarters for a hearing next Wednesday.

Health-workers unions had earlier announced four-hour stoppages for Thursday and Friday, saying they would only treat urgent priorities during those hours amid an ongoing pay dispute. The news followed assemblies in hospitals, clinics and health institutions across the country. Workers at private institutions were also set to join the walkout.

Grouped under the banner of the Federación de Asociaciones de los Trabajadores de la Sanidad (FATSA), representing some 250,000 employees, workers at hospitals and clinics are seeking a salary increase of between 43 and 45 percent, in line with recent increases secured by unions representing truckers and bankers. Annual inflation totals 48.8 percent over the last 12 months, according to government data.

The strike threat comes at a challenging moment for Argentina’s health system, which is split into three sectors of public hospitals, union-run obras sociales healthcare schemes and private prepaid medicine. Firms say they can't meet the pay demands if they are not allowed to increase their fees for services, a move the government will not allow. They argue that the health system has suffered "dramatic underfunding" for years.

After more than a year of battling the coronavirus pandemic, many hospitals say resources are stretched and that staff are close to exhaustion. Covid-19 cases and fatalities remain stubbornly high, with more than 21,000 confirmed cases and almost 500 fatalities recorded on Thursday alone. The previous day’s death toll was 638.

However, occupancy of intensive care units nationwide has slowly lowered over the past week to 66.3 percent, dropping to 64.2 percent in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), as of Thursday.

– TIMES/NA
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2,500 County Workers in and Around Chicago Are Currently on Strike

JACOBIN
AN INTERVIEW WITH ERICKA WHITE 07.04.2021

Cook County workers never stopped working during the pandemic. At the bargaining table, they say that Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle refuses to recognize their sacrifices — which is why 2,500 county workers are currently in their second week of a strike. We spoke to one of the strikers.
Cook County workers represented by SEIU Local 73 are on strike. (Courtesy SEIU Local 73)

INTERVIEW BY Sarah Hurd

The custodians, technicians, and clerks of Cook County, Illinois, never stopped working during the pandemic, even as many of their coworkers died of the virus. This week, they aren’t working. The 2,500 members of SEIU Local 73 are now in their second week of a strike.

Local 73 has been negotiating a contract for more than eight months, and the key point of debate is health benefits. The county has threatened to increase premiums by up to 80 percent over the length of the next contract. Seeing the success of fellow SEIU members at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Chicago Public Schools, Cook County workers want something similar. So far, the county, under the leadership of Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle, appears to want to make an example of Local 73. Despite the local’s support of Preckwinkle during her failed 2019 mayoral run, her negotiation team has made deals to settle contracts with other unions in the city with wage increases these striking workers are denied.

Sarah Hurd talked about the strike to Ericka White, who works in the procurement office of Cook County and is a union steward and negotiating team member for Local 73.
SH


What is the most important piece of these contract negotiations, for you?
EW


For me, it’s about basic dignity and respect for workers who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and before. Cook County government never closed down during the pandemic. The people using the services of Cook County are the least of us — we couldn’t shut down the hospitals, we couldn’t shut down the jails, we couldn’t shut down the corporate offices. We didn’t have that luxury.

We’ve always worked hard, and we should not be pushed aside like we’re insignificant. We provide a service for Cook County government, and we’re determined to not let that be forgotten. The main thing we’re fighting for is our health care coverage. The county is proposing increasing our health care premiums over the life of our four-year contract by almost 80 percent.

SH


Has the pandemic made you and your coworkers think more about adequate health care coverage?
EW


A great many of our coworkers, especially those in the clinics and jails, have contracted the virus. Some not once but twice. We have employees who have passed away due to COVID while doing their jobs. We are a county health system, so we don’t turn anybody away. We had whole floors at the hospital that were COVID floors, and our members were the ones working them. For parts of it, they didn’t even have PPE.

Our workers are passionate about the work they do. They went to work every day. Others opened our homes up as home offices when the county buildings closed down because the work of the county never stopped.
SH


Toni Preckwinkle is not only the president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, she is also your boss. How do you feel about how she’s handled the union’s demands?
EW


It doesn’t feel like she’s been willing to listen. We have not seen her at any of the negotiations. She has a management team in the labor relations department that conducts these negotiations. From what they’ve put across the table, it doesn’t seem like they are interested in negotiating a fair and equitable contract for our members.

We’ve been negotiating now for almost nine months. We are in the economics phase of it right now. This week, the SEIU negotiating team has been negotiating well into the morning. We got out of negotiation sessions at about 2:15 AM — the night before we got out about 2:47 AM. And this is after we’ve been on the picket line all day long. Since Saturday we have been trying to negotiate nonstop, to no avail.
SH


I know Local 73 supported President Preckwinkle in the past. Do you think this dispute will affect that support for her in the future?
EW


Absolutely.
SH


A wide range of workers are on strike right now: office workers, health care workers, many others. Has it been challenging to bring everybody together?
EW


We are very much together, and it wasn’t a struggle to bring us together. We are all experiencing the same issues throughout the county. No matter what department you work for, we are all experiencing the very same thing.
SH


It feels like we’re in a time right now when many different kinds of workers are seizing their power and realizing that the world doesn’t really function without them doing these jobs. Have workers in other fields who are fighting for themselves had an impact on Local 73 members?
EW


Yes. We are in Chicago and have come off of two great [recent] strikes that SEIU were a part of, with the University of Illinois Chicago workers as well as the Chicago public-school workers in conjunction with the Chicago Teachers Union. So we had the privilege of watching before us the victories [those strikes produced] and how it brought those organizations closer together and made them willing to fight. Now that we are on the front lines, those very organizations are coming out in support of us, because they know why we’re fighting and they’ve been there.

So they are encouraging us to stay in this fight. They are encouraging us by coming out to the strike lines with us, giving us pep talks, and letting us know what’s to come.
SH


What are you expecting to happen in the negotiations in the next few days?

EW


The SEIU 73 negotiating team never left the table. We are just waiting on Cook County to say, “Let’s get back to the table and finish this. Let’s work out a settlement for a fair and equitable contract for the very workers that have kept the county going and never let it shut down.”

I am a woman of faith and I’ve prayed on this. I asked God to let it end in such a way that it’s equitable for the members. I’m hopeful we’re on the right path. Will it happen overnight? I won’t say that, but when we put in the work, things happen. SEIU is ready to put in the work; we’re just waiting on the county.

We are losing pay every day. We are not rich, so when we lose a day’s pay, we have to make decisions about what we can pay and what can wait. It hurts. But we’re in it for the long haul because we know we’re worth it.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ericka White works in the procurement office of Cook County. She is a union steward and negotiating team member for SEIU Local 73.

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Sarah Hurd is a producer for the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America’s Midwest Socialist podcast.
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Report: Vale strike drives up price for battery-grade nickel

Darren MacDonald
CTV News Northern Ontario Digital Content Producer
@Darrenmacd Contact
Published Friday, July 2, 2021


Adrian Gardner, principal analyst for nickel markets at research firm Wood Mackenzie, told Bloomberg News the strike at Vale in Sudbury could last for several months. (File)


SUDBURY -- A nickel market analyst expects the strike at Vale operations in Sudbury to drag on, as prices for the high-grade nickel produced in the area increases, in part because of the local labour disruption.

According to a story from Bloomberg, the strike is putting pressure on the supply of nickel needed to make batteries for electric vehicles.

"Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries," the story said. "Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative."

That shift is increasing competition for briquette, the main form of nickel stored at LME warehouses. Supply has fallen by nine per cent since a peak in April and are now at the lowest in more than a year, Bloomberg said.

"Battery-grade nickel is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, helping pack more energy into cells and allowing producers to reduce use of cobalt, a more costly metal that typically has a less transparent supply chain," the story said.

"The market for such nickel is expected to be in a tight balance in the next two to three years and could slip into a deficit as early as 2024, according to energy data and analysis firm BloombergNEF."

Members of Steelworkers Local 6500 have been on strike since last month. Issues include benefits for new workers.

Adrian Gardner, principal analyst for nickel markets at research firm Wood Mackenzie, told Bloomberg the strike could last for several months. Vale faced a yearlong strike in Canada back in 2009 and 2010.

Striking workers represented by United Steelworkers Local 6500 have twice rejected a wage offer presented by the Brazilian mining giant this year.

Read the full story here.


VALE Strike impacting battery market
Analyst senses labour dispute could extend for months

Author of the article: Sudbury Star Staff
Publishing date: Jul 02, 2021 • 

Family and friends of striking USW 6500 members, along with supporters from the local labour community, take part in a rally Wednesday afternoon at the Four Corners. Many of the signs read: "We stand by you, as you fight for them," in reference to the union's concern for the next generation of Vale workers. PHOTO BY JIM MOODIE/SUDBURY STAR

A strike at Vale’s Sudbury operations is taxing a nickel market that’s key to powering electric vehicles.

The job action by USW Local 6500 is now entering its second month, with no new contract talks planned.

Bloomberg News notes that Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries.

Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative.

That shift is increasing competition for briquette, pushing up North American premiums, or extra charges consumers pay on top of nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange, as stockpiles of the metal dwindle, Bloomberg said.

Inventories of briquette, the main form of nickel stored at LME warehouses, have fallen nine per cent since a peak in April and are now at the lowest in more than a year.

“Given the challenges at a number of Class 1 nickel operations over 2021 to date, availability of material for end customer purchases is more limited that might have been thought,” Colin Hamilton, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, told Bloomberg.

Battery-grade nickel is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, helping pack more energy into cells and allowing producers to reduce use of cobalt, a more costly metal that typically has a less transparent supply chain.

The market for such nickel is expected to be in a tight balance in the next two to three years and could slip into a deficit as early as 2024, according to energy data and analysis firm BloombergNEF.

Bloomberg said that since the Vale strike began, the premium on briquette has risen 24 per cent and U.S. prices on June 22 hit their highest level since November 2019, according to Fastmarkets data.

Nickel for three-month delivery posted an eight per cent weekly gain last week on the London Metal Exchange, the biggest since August 2019.

On Thursday, nickel was selling for US $2.115.

“The strike is not the main driver of nickel price increase, but it will be the main driver on the North American nickel premium increase,” Adrian Gardner, principal analyst for nickel markets at research firm Wood Mackenzie, told Bloomberg.

Gardner said he isn’t optimistic about a solution to the Vale strike and anticipates the labor dispute could extend for many months. Vale faced a year-long strike in Canada back in 2009 and 2010.

Striking workers represented by Local 6500 have twice rejected a contract offer presented by the Brazilian mining giant this year.

Local 6500’s bargaining committee recommended acceptance of a tentative agreement with Vale on May 31, but the membership rejected it.

Vale made a second offer two weeks later, but this time the bargaining team was not in favour and members also voted it down.

The Steelworkers say Vale’s contract offers contained concessions that union members find unacceptable and believe are not needed.

Vale said contract changes are needed to justify new investments that are needed to its Sudbury operations.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian miner this week said it will invest C $150 million ($121.15 million U.S.) to extend current mining activities in Thompson, Man. by 10 years.

“This is the largest single investment we have made in our Thompson operations in the past two decades,” Vale’s executive vice-president for base metals, Mark Travers, said in a statement.

The company said the Thompson Mine Expansion is a two-phase project and the investment announcement represents phase 1. It added phase 1 includes infrastructure such as new ventilation raises and fans, increased backfill capacity and additional power distribution.

Vale expects changes to improve current production by 30 per cent.

The Thompson orebody was first discovered in 1956 by Vale and mining began in 1961.

Vale said it will continue exploration drilling of known orebodies that hold the promise of mining well past 2040.

— with files from Reuters








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