Media Transparency explains the Money Behind the US Media

Media Transparency explains how good ideas can become corrupted/co-opted by others.

Originally, I was working on a piece for a personal blog and I came across a link from Google for "Random Acts of Kindness" leading me to the Giving Game. While reading about whom they represented, and more so as to how the funding was set-up, I became intrigued as to the NHF - as a Canadian it is not as well known to us up here. It really is unfortunate that the whole concept of GivingGame.com which purports to be a benevolent organization that strikes at the heart of many in the labour movement would be so tied up in the extremely conservative US political framework backrooms through the National Heritage Foundation.

Media Transparency explains the connection to the ANTI-Labour stance that the NHF has taken throughout the years. From the promotion of "Beware of the Union Label" to the destructive work on the US OSHA, and on, and on.

Click on the following link for an appropriate site on Random Acts of Kindness.

Labour Website of the Year - Votings Begins

Labour Website of the Year 2004

Voting begins today for the annual Labour Website of the Year competition.
Click here to cast your vote

LabourStart has been running this event since 1997. Back then, only a handful of trade union websites existed. But by last year, 468 union sites entered the competition and over 5,500 votes were cast. You, the readers, decide each time which site will win the annual award.

Today there's a list of around 20 nominated websites, all of which have been suggested by LabourStart's volunteer correspondents. If you think your union website deserves to win the award, you can nominate it on our website. A website does not have to be officially nominated to receive votes (or even win). There's a place on the ballot for "write-in" votes. Just make sure you enter the correct website address.

To make sure that visitors to your union's website can easily vote for the site, we've designed a simple bit of code that you can copy and paste to the union website, and people visiting the site can click on it, automatically voting for your union.

The competition has started a bit early this year. This is to allow our brothers and sisters in the southern hemisphere to vote -- as many of them are away from their desks, taking their summer breaks, during the early January period when we usually conduct the voting.

Voting will go on until January 15th and we will announce the results the following day.

This year we're going to be making special use of Radio LabourStart to accompany the competition. Radio LabourStart already has a two-minute broadcast every hour about the Labour Website of the Year, starting today. In addition we'll be announcing how the vote is going, interviewing webmasters of some of the sites which are competing, talking to the winners of previous competitions, and so on. And we'll announce the winner on Radio LabourStart first -- before we announce to this list, or to the website.

So if you haven't done so, do tune in to Radio LabourStart today. There is a new set of easy instructions for how to listen as well.

[Thanks to Eric Lee of LabourStart]

Fallujah 2004 Multimedia Project

An Original piece on Anti-War Fallujah

This is an anti-war presentation about Fallujah, turn on your speakers. This piece is about 6 minutes in length.

includes the song: All Souls' Day

Lyrics and Music by Teresa Healy.
Teresa Healy is well respected member of CUPE.
Many other were involved - watch for the credits at the end

Ontario Postsecondary Review by Bob Rae

Rae Review

Information on this review process.

Picket injuries haunt CAW member

Picket injuries haunt CAW member

Newspaper article, from the Windsor Star, on the legal battle regarding the injuries suffered by a picketer in June 2002. The injured picketer was there in support of the legal strike, in Chatham, when a van ran into the picket line .

Thanks to Ed Gould of the CAW for this item

Postsecondary Education Coalition Report

Postsecondary Education Coalition Report broadens debate on funding and tuition

[mainly as originated from the CUPE Ontario site of the same name]
CUPE University Workers know only too well what economist Hugh Mackenzie means when he writes: "...with the exception of the capacity increases required to prepare for the double cohort in the late 1990s, our post-secondary education system has been running on fumes." Read Mackenzie's report, Funding Postsecondary Education in Ontario: Beyond the Path of Least Resistance, prepared for the Ontario Coalition for Postsecondary Education. It was sponsored by CUPE, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the United Steelworkers of America.

Women's Habitat in Toronto

Congratulations to CUPE Ontario for their donation to the Women's Habitat in Toronto which is represented by CUPE Local 3877.

The CUPE Ontario Division made a donation as part of their
Season's Greetings notice dated December 6th 2004 which will help those in need.

CUPE Ontario Spring School 2005

Spring School

You do not need to print this form out, as the Local Recording Secretary will be needed to sign it prior to it being sent. Do let the Local office know of your interest to allow this matter to be approved at the executive and membership meetings.

A Fellow CUPE Local at York University

CUPE Local 3903 our sisters and brothers at York University representing York University Contract Faculty, Teaching Assistants, and Graduate Assistants.

This group works with the university through another portion of our Human Resources Department - the Academic Section!

This group's members often get refered to our office as some do not realize that there are more than one CUPE Local at York University [there are at least three (3), although not all of these locals work directly for the university, some represent groups that work for or with the university.]

Workers First - Reform Canada's Bankruptcy Laws

Fax your MP

The United Steelworkers has developed concrete proposals, and a recent private member’s bill (C-281 by Pat Martin, NDP Winnipeg Centre) would provide working men and women with greater protection against loss and the real opportunity to recover what they are owed. Workers should be first on the list to recover their lost wages and pensions from the assets of a bankrupt employer, rather than last.

First Reading 15 November 2004
Second Reading began 3 December 2004

For More Information

CUPE Toronto District Council

The image is a link to the District Council page.

Mailing list Join their email list serve.

There is a greater amount of information that circulates by email than is offered on the website.

CUPE National Constitution

CUPE National Constitution

The National Constitution governs all of the various components of the union. The portions contain the functions of the various parts of the union from the National President down to the Local's officers, from the functioning of the National Convention to the functioning of the locals. It also deals with merging and creation of locals, the intermediate levels of district councils, and service divisions. It is where members, Local Executives, and the National Officers turn to for answers to a broad range of questions with regard to the union itself. It even has direction for Retiree Groups that wish to retain connection to the union.

Canada Law Book Publishers

Canada Law Book

Publishers of books of law. They publish the collections of a variety of laws - relevant to individual industries.

A useful book is the annual publication of Labour Legislation.
Another standard 'book' is the Brown and Beatty authored "Canadian Labour Arbitration" which has become a subscription, as the book is updated regularly by the addition and removal of screw-bound pages. This is an often refered to book in arbitrations
Other 'books' include the Health & Safety Act [along with the regulations], the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act [including added information], among others.

They are an interesting source of information not just for labour, but also for other parties involved in the process.

Even some fun with electronic greeting cards. Enjoy.

Lancaster House Labour Law

Lancaster House

Labour Law On-Line. This is a mainly labour oriented view of labour law. They offer conferences, e-mail updates, alerts, and much more. Some portions are by subcription only.