Now the works begins to help repair, or at least mitigate the effects of this disastrous and cruel policy. Generational trauma isn’t a simple thing.

And yes, please tax the rich.

What they aren’t telling you is their millions of stock options they’ll earn.

Non-taxable, too.

#Amazon is going beyond the pale in challenging unionization in Quebec: With its challenge to a union certification in Quebec, Amazon is trying to export its American union-busting model to Canada

Barry Eidlin is an associate professor of sociology at McGill University.

On April 19, 2024, around 200 workers at the DXT4 Amazon warehouse in Laval, Que., announced their desire to form a union. On May 10, the Quebec Administrative Labour Tribunal certified the DXT4 workers’ union, which is affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). This made DXT4 the first Amazon warehouse in Canada to unionize, and only the second in North America, after the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York.

In keeping with its reputation as a staunchly anti-union company, Amazon challenged the tribunal’s decision. The court has yet to rule on the matter. Amazon’s move was not surprising. More surprising was the company’s rationale for challenging the decision.

They did not contest the usual technicalities such as who is eligible to join or improper paperwork. Rather, they challenged the constitutionality of the entire Quebec union certification system.

Amazon’s lawyers argued that, because the certification process did not include a secret ballot election, it violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by infringing on workers’ freedom of association.

Quebec, along with four other provinces and the federal jurisdiction, uses what is called a “card-check” method of union certification. Workers who want to join a union sign a membership card, and once a majority have signed, they can file for certification with the tribunal, as happened in Laval.

Amazon is used to the election system of certification that prevails in the U.S. There, workers who want to join a union sign an authorization card. Once they reach a certain threshold, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) organizes a secret ballot election, where workers vote either for or against joining a union. If a majority votes in favour, then the union is certified.

Certification elections might seem fair, but in the U.S. they are anything but. They create opportunities for employers to drag out the certification process, while so-called “employer free speech” rights give them free rein to engage in campaigns of threats and intimidation aimed at convincing workers to vote against unionizing.

As part of these campaigns, union supporters are routinely surveilled, interrogated, singled out for discipline and fired. An entire “union avoidance” industry has cropped up around the U.S. election certification system with high-priced consultants and lawyers advising companies on how best to manipulate the election system to their advantage. This is a major reason why only one in 10 U.S. workers is a union member, even though data suggest that roughly half of U.S. workers would join a union if given the opportunity.

Quebec’s card-check process is based on the notion that workers’ decision to unionize is theirs alone, and that employers have no right to interfere. Workers who want a union shouldn’t have to run into a gauntlet of employer intimidation to get one. This is in keeping with the Canadian Supreme Court’s 2015 decision that the right to join a union is a fundamental part of Canadians’ Charter-protected freedom of association.

In arguing that Quebec’s card-check system of union certification violates workers’ Charter-protected freedom of association, Amazon is basically claiming that they understand Canadian labour law and the Charter better than the Canadian Supreme Court. It would be laughable if Amazon weren’t a $2-trillion global behemoth.

Instead, we are faced with a situation where multinational corporations like Amazon feel entitled to rewrite laws they don’t like. We have moved from the old Silicon Valley adage of “ask for forgiveness, not permission” to something closer to “rewrite the laws to give yourself permission.”

Amazon, along with other companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Walmart, have grown accustomed to this way of operating in the U.S., spending millions on lawyers and lobbyists to rewrite laws to their liking. Other companies faced with union-organizing campaigns including SpaceX, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s are also challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. labour relations framework.

Now, with its challenge to the DXT4 union certification, Amazon is trying to export this business model to Canada. The effort is unlikely to succeed this time around, and is primarily aimed at delaying the unionization process. But the fact that they feel confident enough to try this approach is shocking. It matters, of course, for the future of workers’ rights, but also has troubling implications more broadly. After all, if Amazon can rewrite Canadian labour law to its liking, then what other laws are next?

Courts, legislatures and administrative agencies can push back against this kind of corporate arrogance. But another key check on Amazon’s power will have to involve other Amazon workers following the DXT4 workers’ lead and unionizing. As the recent waves of strikes across Canada and the U.S. have shown, organized workers have a unique ability to put corporate power in its place.

Word count: 778

Copyright The Globe and Mail Oct 18, 2024

Je suis en Ontario, même constat. Quand je vois le genre de scolarité que mes enfants ont comparé à la France, ben je suis bien content d’être ici. En France tout est élitiste, tout est fait pour les “meilleurs” et on laisse tomber les autres, alors qu’ici c’est pas du tout comme ça et même les élèves qui ont des difficultés d’apprentissage arrivent à réussir car on leur accorde de l’aide et des moyens supplémentaires. Au final, les enfants peuvent s’épanouir et ne se sentent pas punis en permanence. Les horaires plus légers aident bien aussi, c’est barge à quel point en France les gamins suivent le même rythme que des adultes qui bossent à l’usine !

I just drove from Ottawa to Toronto this morning and it’s so true! Them and the random québécois doing 70 in the middle lane.

Also SponsoBlock

146 countries recognize Palestine as a sovereign state so I guess Netanyahu will declare WW3 on his own.

Meric Gertler doesn’t like when students protest against big oil or Israel. He’s a brilliant scholar in his domain but he lets his obvious bias show a little too often lately. A few years ago he also blocked the hiring of an internationally-renowned human rights lawyer because she had done done legal work on Israel in a somewhat critical way and that pissed-off a Jewish rich donor to the law school (Spiro). Make what you want of it all but I personally think it sends all sorts of wrong messages and doesn’t reflect positively on UofT.

My uncle was forced to write with his right hand for the same stupid reason. Stupid catholics.

I’ve been using the OpenVINO plugins for a few weeks and it’s genuinely impressive. Noise cancelling is one thing, but the transcription tool is amazing. I can create subtitles from conference recordings in minutes and create transcripts of recorded zoom calls, etc. and it does it for multiple languages.

That’s the kind of shit I like using AI for.

AMD keeps the same sockets for ages. I was able to upgrade a 5 year old Ryzen 5 2600G to a 5600G last month. Can’t do that with Intel in general.

Japan has been living in the year 2000 for 40 years

All the ones I’ve used so far are able to use the GPU but it has to be enabled in the app settings. I mostly use LM Studio and it flies on my nvidia 3060. Doesn’t seem to have options for AMD GPUs though, unless I’m mistaken.

Switzerland is very mountainous and has pretty fast trains too, although not Shinkansen-fast. Swiss trains are expensive and comfortable and the vista is pretty much always great.

Yes, in factories where the tools are programmed to do a job like tightening the bolts for an airplane plug door or your car engine head. The quality assurance gains are enormous (the tool does the job and logs it).

Problems occur when the customer cuts IT security costs or tampers with the tools to increase production rates.

The tools are connected to a central database that logs all operations, it’s super useful. All the difference between Boeing that uses old style pneumatic guns and manual torque wrenches vs. Airbus using fully connected/automated wrenches that not only tighten bolts to the right torque every single time but also keeps track of how many bolts have been tightened. Such tools should be airgapped from the internet but obviously someone messed up on that part. Could be cost-cutting.

My friend who works designing such tools says production stuff should never be connected to the internet for obvious reasons. Someone fucked up.

Mill St brewery was bought by Molson (or other industrial piss maker) a few years back. Total boycott on my part.

50 Gen here I saw them live.

Outages I guess…