RadioLabourCanada

A new report by the global union Education International shows that AI can degrade the quality of education, worsen working conditions for teachers and provide inferior schooling for students. EI is the global union for teachers and other educators. In Canada, EI affiliates include the Canadian Teachers' Federation, the Canadian Association of University Teachers and four unions in Quebec. RadioLa...

The International Trade Union Confederation has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. It reiterates its long-standing call for peace in the world with a new social contract that guarantees respect for workers rights. The ITUC's affiliate in Canada is the Canadian Labour Congress. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the wor...

Former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent is the co-author of a recently published book, Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Years Fighting for Equality with Francis Abele, Jonathan Sas and Luke Savage. In this interview with RadioLabour Broadbent discusses the role of trade unions in social democracy. He argues for the right of workers to join a union as soon as they start a job. He also talks about the...

There is a global crisis in nursing with understaffing, a lack of respect for family-life issues and, increasingly, problems caused by the climate crisis. Recently Global Nurses United held a conference in San Francisco to discuss what can be done. One of the nurses who attended the conference was Linda Silas, the president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. The CFNU has about 250,000 me...

RadioLabour is proposing to start English as an Additional Language (ADL) lessons for trade unionists. The service will include an audio newscast, the English scripts translated into many languages and an English lesson. Please visit  www.radiolabour.net  to sign a petition in support of the service.  RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union even...

Platform gig workers in developing countries are being cruelly exploited but many are fighting back. A report by the Solidarity Center about workers in Ecuador protecting themselves by forming a union. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provid...

In Ontario right-wing opponents of children talking about gender orientation at school held rallies across the province. Union offices were vandalized. Supporters of the children held counter-rallies. Interviews with Laura Walton, the president of the CUPE Ontario School Boards Council of Unions and Fred Hahn, the president of CUPE Ontario. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio...

For the first time in history a song produced by a singer with no chart-success history debuted as Billboard's #1. The song was sung by the American folksinger, Oliver Anthony. But the British singer Billie Bragg sang back saying that complaining was not enough and that Anthony should join a union. In other news a new General Secretary for the International Trade Union Confederation will be acclai...

Canadian delegates to the Congress of the International Union of Food Workers (held in Geneva Switzerland June 13-16, 2023) condemned transnational corporations such as Fyffes for not respecting the rights of their workers.  They called on the government of Canada to ratify conventions of the International Labour Organization. The Canadian delegates who spoke at the IUF Congress were Kelly Tosato...

Microaggressions against racialized and marginalized people in the workplace need to be recognized and eliminated. This week, we speak to Marlihan Lopez, the community engagement and outreach coordinator at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University. Lopez is also a co-founder of Harambec, a Black feminist organization in Montreal. RadioLabour  is the international labour movement's...

The UN Declaration of Human Rights declares that labour rights are human rights. It is backed up by a declaration by the International Labour Organization which says that labour is not a commodity. Comments by the Chair of the ILO's Workers' Group, Catelene Passchier. Canadian unions are represented at the ILO by the Canadian Labour Congress.

Developments in machine learning and computer algorithms may be about to radically change many workplaces. Governments and employers need to share control with workers. Comments by the assistant general secretary of Public Services International, Daniel Bertossa. PSI affiliates in Canada include the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU). RadioLabour...

Seventy-seven per cent of members of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (EFTO) say they have personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against another staff member, according to a survey conducted for the Federation. This week on RadioLabour, we share comments from Karen Brown, president of the ETFO. RadioLabour  is the international labour movement's radio service. It repo...

After a multi-year campaign by unions the Australian government has introduced legislation to make corporate operations in all countries more transparent and help stop profit shifting. An interview with the assistant general secretary of Public Services International, Daniel Bertossa. PSI affiliates in Canada include the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the BC General Employees' Union...

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) started a strike of 155,000 workers on April 19, 2023. It's demanding the federal government present a fair wage proposal plus other demands such as the right to work from home when possible. Tune to hear comments by PSAC president Chris Aylward and the leader of the federal NDP Jagmeet Singh. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio ser...

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has announced that its members have voted overwhelmingly to give their negotiating team a strike mandate. The union is calling on the federal government to return to the bargaining table. Comments by PSAC president Chris Aylward and Sharon DeSousa, national executive vice president. RadioLabour  is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports...

The global union Public Services International is helping its affiliates bring privatized public services back to public ownership. The PSI's Canadian affiliates include the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the National Union of Public and General Employees, NUPGE. RadioLabour  is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour u...

In 2020, the Beijing governments forced the Hong Kong government to pass a National Security Law. The legitimate labour confederation was shut down. The wife of the general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, Elizabeth Tang, was arrested March 9, 2023, when she visited her husband in prison. Elizabeth Tang is General Secretary of the International Domestic Workers Federation....

The International Trade Union Confederation has produced a report describing how automation, algorithms and artificial intelligence systems are effecting workplaces. It suggests what unions and government can do to help workers. The Canadian Labour Congress is an affiliate of the ITUC. RadioLabour  is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events  around the...

Many unionists are attending the 67th session of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women being held in New York until March 17, 2023. The focus of the conference is on recruiting women into STEM jobs - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. But there is also the problem of women dropping out of STEM jobs because of sexism. Women leaving STEM jobs in Canada is discussed. RadioLabour  ...

More than 400 children have been killed by the war in Ukraine, hundreds have been wounded and thousands traumatized. Teachers are helping by purchasing generators for the schools and their bomb shelters plus organizing mental health programmes for the children. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on union...

The global unions UNI and IndustriALL created a successful programme to protect garment workers in Bangladesh after the Rana Plaza disaster which killed 1,200 mainly young women and wounded 2,400 others. The programme, called the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Garment and Textile Industry, has now been extended to Pakistan. A RadioLabour interview with the Deputy General Secreta...

The Canadian Labour Congress was instrumental in getting the International Labour Organization to adopt a new global labour law which is aimed at eliminating violence and harassment at work. Canada is the 25th country to ratify Convention 190 of the International Labour Organization. A RadioLabour interview with CLC Executive Vice-President Siobhán Vipond. RadioLabour is the international labour m...

Karen Brown, the president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, has been named one Canada's most accomplished Black women leaders. In an interview with RadioLabour, she talks about the challenges facing young racialized women in the labour movement. Her message: find your passion and get involved in the union. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It repor...

Being a teacher in an underfunded system while being poorly paid and resourced can be heart breaking. Education International, which has affiliates in Canada, has started a global campaign to  Go Public! Fund Education. RadioLabour is the international labour movement's radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners wit...