Student power through their unions | Graham Cox
Any challenge to the stability of student unions — one of the last independent democratic structures left in society — is an attack on democracy.
Graham Cox
Graham Cox is a labour union researcher at Unifor focusing on economic, bargaining, and policy in the energy, road, rail, and marine sectors.
Previous to Unifor, Graham was a researcher at the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). At CUPE his work focused on economic and policy analysis for the anti-privatization, trade, post-secondary education, utilities, employment insurance, special projects, and organizing files.
Before working at CUPE, Graham served the student movement as National Researcher of the Canadian Federation of Students and chairperson of the National Graduate Caucus.
Graham has worked as a union organizer for the PSAC, CUPE, and the CFS with a focus on graduate student teaching assistant, research assistant and contingent academic staff union drives. This included leading drives to organize academic workers at the University of New Brunswick, UPEI, and Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Please also see articles under the author Editors (What’s left).
Conservatives in Ontario start their attack on workers' rights today
Doug Ford and his conservatives attack the rights of workers in Ontario with the repeal of Bill 148 provisions. This brings us back to the regressive position workers were in before Bill 148. For workers seeking union protection, the law removes all of the provisions that brought some balance back to workers. The new legislation will tilt labour law drastically in favour of employers and capitalists.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will begin rotating strikes
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will begin rotating strikes at 12:01 am tomorrow in Victoria (British Columbia), Edmonton (Alberta), Windsor (Ontario), and 1:01 am in Halifax (Nova Scotia). All times listed in local time. The strikes will last for 24 hours with locations striking daily.
Section 2 of the Canadian Charter. Or, what Ford has trampled.
Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – The Charter – lists your fundamental freedoms under the Constitution of Canada. The fundamental freedoms are freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
Toronto Council Seats: What to know | Citizens' Press
In the middle of the municipal election campaign, the new conservative government in Ontario run by Doug Ford (the one-time failed councillor from Toronto) has announced massive changes to the number of councillors in Toronto and the structure of representation in the city.
The case for publicly funded universities | Graham Cox
This article first appeared in the Spring 2018 Issue of the journal Academic Matters. All told, Canadian public universities are massive employers of students, teachers, researchers, librarians, academic and research support technicians, academic support workers (custodians, building services, food services, grounds and building maintenance), apprentices, councillors, utility workers, administrators, clerical workers, bartenders, security guards, and parking staff. Together, all of these workers maintain a space that fosters the advancement and dissemination of knowledge.
Just Transition: a task force and critique
Several things have happened in the previous few weeks that make it important to review what we mean about Just Transition for workers affected by major changes to employment. 1) The Liberal government has announced the Task Force: Just Transition for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities. 2) Trade Unions for Energy Democracy have released 'Trade Unions and Just Transition: The search for a transformative politics'. The new paper examines the inadequacies of the current policy development processes on Just Transition.
Mazzucato again | Citizens' Press
Writing an update of our original critique of Mazzucato's thesis was in process, but Roberts beat us to it – and did a better job. No surprise to us.
Ontario Liberals do not understand what universities are for | Citizens' Press
The Ontario Liberal's 2018 budget had a few large progressive sounding programs to announce. However, none of these were focused on the university system. Almost all of the budget outside the announcement of large subsidies to private childcare providers and pharma continued to be a standard Liberal fare - progressive sounding, regressive in implementation. The true impact of government spending on the university system will be the implementation of funding reforms not written explicitly into government spending. This is the case for much of the government's policies that seem to be ignored during budget time – even though these policies give the budget its true political framework.
Ontario unionists and the new workplaces legislation | What's Left
The Ontario Liberal Government has wasted no time putting forward its legislation based on the Changing Workplaces Review report released on May 30. It comes in the form of a single piece of legislation called Bill 148: Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.