halifaxlabour.ca

ONE Nova Scotia Recommendations

Kyle Buott — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:12:38 +0000

This morning, I will be participating in a consultation with the NDP’s ONE Nova Scotia commission on economic development.

There are five key recommendations I will be making on behalf of the Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council.

1. Expropriate Nova Scotia Power – Emera holds our economy hostage through private, for-profit ownership of electricity. The NDP should reverse the errors made by the Conservatives when they privatized Nova Scotia Power, and the Liberals error when they allowed the creation of Emera. We should return Nova Scotia Power to democratic, public ownership. Power to the People!

Learn more at www.solidarityhalifax.ca/power

2. Eliminate Nova Scotia Business Inc. – NSBI is a major avenue for corporate handouts in Nova Scotia. As recommended by the CCPA Alternative Budget, we should scrap NSBI and re-invest those resources in building co-operatives and democratic economy planning.Let’s invest in our local economy, not come-from-away mega-corporations.

Learn more in the CCPA-NS Alternative Budget: http://www.policyalternatives.ca/nsapb2013

3. Eliminate Poverty – The cost of poverty in Nova Scotia is huge, both in terms of the human cost and the economic cost. Its estimated that poverty costs or economy about $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion each year. Poverty is not normal, it is created by government policy.

Learn more: http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/%E2%80%89cost%E2%80%89%E2%80%89poverty%E2%80%89-nova%E2%80%89scotia

4. Invest in social programs like Early Childhood Education – The evidence is clear, investing in child care is a better form of stimulating the economy than almost anything else governments can do. The evidence is also clear on the major benefits to children who receive quality early learning opportunities. Good for kids, good for the economy, all that’s need is the political will.

Check out the CCPA Alt budget for more details: http://www.policyalternatives.ca/nsapb2013

5. Improve Labour Standards and make it easier for workers to join unions – There is a War on Workers in Nova Scotia. Wages have stagnated, work is increasingly casual and part-time, and pension funds are being raided by right-wing employers. Nova Scotia has some of the lowest Labour Standards in the country. Building a strong economy means strengthening workers rights, including the right to form a union.

Learn [...Continue reading ONE Nova Scotia Recommendations]

Kill a Worker – Go to Jail

Carrie Campbell — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:27:36 +0000

The Workers Compensation Board of Nova Scotia has just released their 2012 Annual Report and the statistics are staggering.

Last year, 32 Nova Scotians did not make it home from work.

Of the 32 fatalities in 2012, ten Nova Scotians died on the job due to an acute traumatic event in the workplace. This represents an increase of four acute fatalities from 2011.

2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the Westray Mining Disaster where 26 miners were killed in an underground methane explosion. The mining company was charged with 52 violations under the Health and Safety Act but after several months the charges were stayed. In April of 1993, two of the managers were charged with manslaughter. Those charges were quickly dropped by the judge. In July, new charges were laid and after a long trial, these charges were also stayed. A court appeal ruled that a new trial should be held. To this day, nobody has ever been held legally accountable for the deaths of 26 miners after prosecutors determined there was not enough evidence to secure convictions.

Despite the lessons of Westray, workers continue to be killed and injured on the job at alarming rates. Despite hundreds of workers being killed in the past 20 years, we really aren’t any safer at work than we were then. Negligent employers need to be held accountable for not providing a safe work environment for their workers. It is simple: Kill a worker, go to jail.

The Halifax-Dartmouth and District Labour Council will remember these fallen workers at the Day of Mourning Ceremony on April 28th at 11:00am at the Nova Scotia Legislature.

Stephen Harper is hiking your water bill by 30%

Kyle Buott — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:55:21 +0000

Water rates could be going up by 30%. 1 Halifax Water, the publicly owned utility providing water, sewer and wastewater services to most of HRM, has applied to the Utility and Review Board for a major water rate hike. There is a hearing on April 15th. The rate hike will probably go through since the UARB rubberstamps most rate hike applications. (Remember Nova Scotia Power?)

After electricity rate hikes, bus fee hikes, government user fee increases and more, workers and their families are now expected to swallow a major hike in water rates too. The cost of utilities and basic services is out of control.

So what’s going on? Who is responsible for this rate hike? What can we do about it?

Halifax Water says the rate hike is necessary because we need to do $2.6 billion in repairs and improvements to our water, sewer and wastewater systems over the next 30 years. A large part of the cost of these repairs comes from new federal water quality standards that must be met, as well as the cost of replacing outdated infrastructure, like lead pipes. In general, these standards and upgrades are a good thing that should increase water quality and public confidence in our water systems.

The rate hike is happening though because the federal government decided to force municipalities to pay the cost of adopting these new standards by themselves. The federal government sets the standards but is investing very little in public infrastructure. What little investment does occur often requires privatization or P3s – public-private partnerships. As we’ve learned in Nova Scotia where we’ve had P3 schools, roads and nursing homes, P3s mean private profits and public pain. 2

Putting ourselves at risk by privatizing our water should never be on the table. Water is a human right and necessary for all life. Water is not a commodity and should not be bought and sold on stock exchanges. That’s why we have public utilities, accountable to the people, to guarantee access to [...Continue reading Stephen Harper is hiking your water bill by 30%]

Good Jobs For All

Kyle Buott — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:46:24 +0000

Good Jobs for All By Kyle Buott, President, Halifax-Dartmouth & District Labour Council

Politicians always talk about how they want to create good jobs in our economy. Unfortunately they think corporate tax cuts and handouts create good jobs. Here are five ideas that don’t cost the government anything and that all political parties should support this Spring to create Good Jobs For All in Nova Scotia.

1. Equal protection for all workers – Work is changing. It’s increasingly part-time, casual, or temporary in nature. Minimum standards and a basic employment contract should apply to all workers. We need to better regulate temporary agencies and create equal protections and benefits for part-timers, interns, temps, foreign temporary workers, and casual workers.

2. Proactive enforcement of labour standards – Right now labour standards are complaint driven. Employers can essentially do whatever they want as long as workers don’t complain. This isn’t fair. Employers have power over people’s economic situation and the fear of being fired often keeps workers from reporting labour code violations. Also, many workers do not know their rights. By investing in proactive enforcement we can make sure unscrupulous employers can’t exploit workers’ economic insecurity.

3. More holidays and better vacations – Nova Scotia has the fewest statuary holidays in the country, tied with PEI. We only get six holidays a year. Many other provinces get nine. Saskatchewan, Yukon and Nunavut get ten. If that isn’t enough, Nova Scotian workers only get a base two weeks vacation each year, compared to three in some provinces and four in most of Europe. We need more time off.

4. Make it easier for workers to join unions and bargain collectively – Labour unions bring up employment standards for all workers by creating a race-to-the-top, instead of the conservative race-to-the-bottom. When people come together and form a union they build democracy in the workplace and ensure a piece of the pie is shared with the workers who produced the wealth in the first place. This supports local communities and good jobs by increasing the amount of money spent in the [...Continue reading Good Jobs For All]

STOP HARPER Bracelets!

Margaret Anne McHugh — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:37:34 +0000

March 13, 2013

“STOP HARPER” It does not need to be any clearer than this – Stephen Harper and his Conservative Government need to be stopped.

The Halifax Dartmouth & District Labour Council is committed to doing just that and our newest campaign is our STOP HARPER Bracelets, which people are proudly wearing from British Columbia to Newfoundland.

Stephen Harper and his Conservative government continue to show time and time again that they are not for the people of this country, but are a definite friend to big business. We have seen this with the cuts he has made to social programs, abolishing the gun registry, his blatant attacks on unions in Bill C-377, his disregard to First Nations and Aboriginal Peoples, the devastating changes to Employment Insurance in Bill C-45 and the desire to privatize health care instead of investing in the 2014 Health Accord that benefits all of us. These are only some of the attacks he is making and we know there will be much more to come.

Harper needs to be stopped now and we need to ensure that there is not another Conservative Harper Majority in 2015. Help us in this fight; Get bracelets for yourself, your family, friends, and Sisters and Brothers and show your commitment to stopping Harper. They are free but we would appreciate a donation of a Toonie as we will be able to do that much more. Please contact me at vicepresident@halifaxlabour.ca and we can arrange for pick up or delivery. We have created a Tumblr account (www.stopharper.tumblr.com) where you can post your pictures of where you are proudly wearing your STOP HARPER Bracelets and you can send us your pictures to post on our website (www.HalifaxLabour.ca), Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/HalifaxLabour) and Twitter account (@HalifaxLabour) and we will be able to spread this message even further.

“The People United Will Never Be Defeated” – It is time for us to unite across this country, take Canada back and STOP HARPER.

In Solidarity,

Kelly Murphy, Executive Vice President Halifax-Dartmouth [...Continue reading STOP HARPER Bracelets!]

Municipal Elections

Kyle Buott — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:36:17 +0000

As many of our members know municipal elections are taking place across Nova Scotia. Here in the Halifax Regional Municipality the Labour Council is working to help elect progressive, pro-worker candidates to HRM Council.

The Labour Council has endorsed the candidates below. We encourage workers and their families to consider these candidates and look carefully at all candidates platforms. Make an informed decision that puts your families and communities first.

District 2 – Preston – Porter’s Lake – Eastern Shore – Gail McQuarrie

District 3 – Dartmouth South – Eastern Passage – Woodside – Jackie Barkhouse

District 5 – Dartmouth Centre – Bill Zebedee

District 6 – Harbourview – Burnside – Dartmouth East – Jerry Pye

District 7 – Peninsula South – Downtown – Waye Mason

District 8 – Peninsula North – Jennifer Watts

District 9 – Peninsula West – Armdale – John Wimberly

District 10 – Birch Cove – Rockingham – Fairview – John Thibeau

District 15 – Lower Sackville – Ian Wilson

School Board District 2 – Nancy Jakeman