Briarpatch articles from October 2004

Briarpatch archives from October 2004

Reading for progress.(Intro)(Editorial)
October 1, 2004... Do you remember your first day at work, the first time you drove a car, your first time using a bank machine? Remembering what its like to not understand, is where an awareness of literacy issues starts. Sometimes, in our expeditiousness to...

Labour news blues.(Brief Article)(Column)
October 1, 2004... It's really unfortunate and shortsighted of major newspapers today to cover labour issues only in the context of the business pages. I remember when the Globe and Mail had a full-time Labour Reporter, first Wilf List for years and then Lome...

Who needs unions nowadays?
October 1, 2004... "In a world that is increasingly dominated by a diminishing few at the top, now more than ever, unions are needed to ensure that workers have some rights and a voice." Larry Hubich, president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL),...

Counting on justice.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
October 1, 2004... Counting On Justice Global population 6.1 billion Number who live on less than 1.2 billion (one-fifth of $1 per day global population) Number who live on less than 2.8 billion ...

Union-busting in the parks: our government's shameful ploy to undermine workers' pay and benefits.
October 1, 2004... Good summer jobs can be hard to come by, so when students are offered employment by the federal government, it seems like a win-win situation for all involved. The government gets to say that they're hiring students. Students, in turn, get...

Entrepreneurs and dunderheads.
October 1, 2004... We live in the golden age of the entrepreneur. High schools, technical institutes and universities are rushing to establish programs to teach entrepreneurship. Universities are advised to become more entrepreneurial in their teaching and...

The kids had to be shipped out of town.(A Labour Minute)(1911-12 textile mill strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In the bitterly cold winter of 1911-12, twenty-three thousand workers--mostly women and girls--employed at the textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts were working 56 hour weeks at dust-filled looms for as little as six dollars a week. In...

Hemp: Craik is weaving a hemp welcome mat for an "eco-nomic" addition to Saskatchewan's eco-village.
October 1, 2004... Saskatchewan is set to become home to the first industrial hemp refinery in North America. This is what happens when a progressive prairie town looking for innovative ideas to revitalize their community meets with a socially responsible and...

Working on the future: sustainable development promises a new role and respect for labour.
October 1, 2004... In its short life, "sustainable development" has begun to make its mark on the world. The United Nations Human Development Index, genuine progress indicators, and other measures of quality of life are tracking our progress toward sustainable...

No room for squatters except in the big house: a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees defies unjust laws to draw attention to homelessness in the nation's capital, and finds that the legal system has turned up the heat.
October 1, 2004... Seven antipoverty activists are standing trial in October 2004 for taking over an empty building in Ottawa, in an effort to draw attention to the homeless crisis in Canada. Dubbed the "Seven Year Squat" because the building had been empty for...

Reading for progress.
October 1, 2004... This work-book has a variety of activities geared to help participants enhance their reading and writing skills in order to better participate in society, or their jobs. Our workplaces, and even our homes, are changing and demanding...

Bite back.
October 1, 2004... Biotech companies have invested billions into genetically modified products that nobody needs and nobody wants. Such products take away consumer choice, make farmers dependent on big business, undermine food security in developing countries,...

A gathering on water: water is becoming the new blue gold and for First Nations and Aboriginal peoples this is tantamount to selling one's mother.
October 1, 2004... "We recognize that Water is a sacred gift from the Creator that gives, sustains and nurtures all life on earth. We recognize the need to share our understanding that Water is sacred and essential for the survival of all life on earth." ...

Support union jobs.(resolutions made by the New Brunswick Public Employees Association)
October 1, 2004... Your purchases, when done with mindfulness about the impact, can go a long way towards the protection of decent jobs. Here is a resolution recently passed by the New Brunswick Public Employees Association which outilines their plan to ensure...

Sabo the Wobblies' cat.(A Labour Minute)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was a federation of radical, militant unions formed in Chicago in 1905. The IWW was openly syndicalist, meaning they favoured a form of boss-fighting, revolutionary unionism aimed at the overthrow of...

Remembering Gerry Hudson.(Obituary)
October 1, 2004... Gerry Hudson of Moose Jaw, long time union and community activist, passed away recently following a short and tragic illness. He had a lifetime commitment to social change. Growing up in the working class neighbourhood and culture of Moose...

Artificial Waves.(Brief Article)(Poem)(Illustration)
October 1, 2004... ARTIFICIAL WAVES The pressure still lies harshly on the memories of those whose silence meant others would die. The pressure stills lies harshly on those whose labour went into the tools of death. The pressure ...

Perpetual war, perpetual terror.(Military Industrial Complex)
October 1, 2004... "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist....

Conning the People: Privatization in Canada.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... Conning the People: Privatization in Canada produced by Asad Ismi funded by the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, Ontario Secondary...

Memoirs of a Media Maverick.(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... Memoirs of a Media Maverick by Boyce Richardson Between the Lines Toronto, ON, 2003. www.btlbooks.com In Memoirs of a Media Maverick Boyce Richardson provides a lot of chuckles, some guffaws, and three hearty belly laughs. His memoirs,...

Gouging employer forced to pay up.(My Opinion)
October 1, 2004... Recently, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) took action to defend a couple of Spanish-speaking immigrant workers who had been denied wages by a sleazy contractor. These two workers spent months cleaning downtown restaurants and, when...