RadioLabour
Solidarity News
1 February 2018
______
Millions of truckers jobs may be lost to AI
Civic workers are partners in developing cities
Supreme Court of Canada confirms collective bargaining
______
This is a RadioLabour Report recorded on Thursday, February 1, 2018. I’m Marc Belanger.
One of the sectors predicted to be most affected by artificial intelligence is the transportation industry. Million of jobs are in danger of being made redundant by cars and trucks which operate independently according to computer algorithms – the software formulae that tell computers what to do. Tony Sheldon is the National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union of Australia.
(audio)
Municipal workers are more than just employees. They are partners in creating better living conditions for people. That was the message presented to an international conference of mayors held in January and attned by representative of Public Services International. The PSI represents more than 20 million workers who are members of 700 unions around the world. PSI General-Secretary Rosa Pavanelli was asked about the role of municipal workers.
(audio)
The highest court in Canada has confirmed that public employees in the country have a right to collective bargaining and cannot have their contracts changed just because a provincial government wants to. C. Marie Ainsborough reports.
[audio: The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled against a provincial government which unilaterally cancelled dozens of articles in a collective agreement for teachers and health workers.
The landmark decision protects the collective bargaining rights of education workers and public service employees.
The case goes back to 2002 when the government of the province of British Columbia replaced clauses in collective agreements with a series of ineffectual public hearings. The Supreme Court ruled against the government in 2007.
But the government responded by going even further and prohibiting collective bargaining in parts of the education and health sectors. Six unions, including the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, fought the provincial government’s actions in court.
This most recent ruling by the Supreme Court strengthens the collective bargaining rights of public sector employees all over Canada.
This is C. Marie Ainsborough reporting for RadioLabour.]
END
And that’s it. International labour news you can use. RadioLabour’s newscasts are available on its website, iTunes, mobile phones, union websites and community radio stations. Follow us on Twitter @radiolabour.org. I’m Marc Belanger. Thank you for listening. And remember: it’s all about global solidarity.