Avi Lewis kicks off #NDP leadership campaign with a call for the party to embrace class-based politics. #canlab #cdnpoli
Labour Studies Professor at Brock University | Teach & research collective bargaining, unions & labour politics | brocku.ca/lsavage
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Avi Lewis kicks off #NDP leadership campaign with a call for the party to embrace class-based politics. #canlab #cdnpoli
Canada Post to present new contract offer to postal workers www.thestar.com/business/can... #canlab #cdnpoli
#AirCanada flight attendants overwhelmingly reject tentative deal with the airline www.thestar.com/business/air... #canlab #cdnpoli
4. By voting it down, flight attendants are betting that an arbitrator will improve the offer. With most other contract provisions locked in, the cost of voting “no” felt low, which made rejection an easy choice.
3. In relative terms, many flight attendants were looking for more than the deal they got. The structure of the tentative agreement gave members little reason to ratify it, since there was virtually no downside to a rejection.
2. Once workers’ expectations are elevated—and especially when they’ve taken risks to secure a deal—they’re looking for big gains. While it contains improvements, it did not secure the same kinds of wage increases we saw for attendants at Air Transat or pilots at Air Canada.
A few thoughts on the overwhelming tentative agreement rejection at #AirCanada. 🧵 #canlab 1. The union oversold the tentative agreement by declaring the end of unpaid work. That framing seems to have rubbed some members the wrong way.
Air Canada flight attends vote to reject tentative agreement by over 99%. Now that's a statement. #canlab
As contract vote closes, Air Canada attendants consider rejecting a deal that maintains pay inequality ricochet.media/labour/as-co... via @ricochetmedia.bsky.social #canlab #cdnpoli
Congrats to Rob Kristofferson and @stephross.bsky.social on the launch of their new edited collection: The Art of Solidarity: Labour Arts & Heritage in Canada btlbooks.com/book/the-art... #canlab
Jump-start your future career with Labour Studies collaborative programs. www.youtube.com/watch?v=keM1... #BrockU #cdnpse
Ottawa may need to change its intervention strategy in the wake of the #AirCanada strike. @eidlin.bsky.social and I weigh in on what may come next. www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/politics/aft... #cdnpoli #canlab
🚨 New publication 🚨 With @pgraefe.bsky.social & @sjkiss.bsky.social in @csa-scs.bsky.social Does the public sector vote differently and hold differing political attitudes than the general public? Available #OpenAccess #polisky doi.org/10.1111/cars...
New publication by #BrockU professors @alisonbraley.bsky.social & @profsavage.bsky.social "Academic Staff Associations and Vaccination Mandates in the Canadian University Sector" www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ri... #canlab #cdnpse
"...observers of the Canadian labour movement do not expect this momentum to last. In fact, they say the macroeconomic climate of lower inflation and rising economic uncertainty has chilled union militancy in Canada and cast a cloud of fear over workers." www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
I’m back in the Star today with a new piece on how striking Air Canada flight attendants successfully called Ottawa's bluff — and set a potentially significant precedent in industrial relations that may soon have important political implications as well: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
It's been quite a media week. After 40+ interviews about Air Canada flight attendants, I wanted to weigh in on an issue that was less addressed: Air Canada’s weak management www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
Canada Post union makes counter-offer as negotiations with Crown corporation continue www.thestar.com/business/can... #canlab #cdnpoli
When governments stack the deck in favour of employers, unions are going to resist. Workers are going to use their leverage to insist on negotiated settlements, even if that means ignoring the law. globalnews.ca/video/113417... #canlab #cdnpoli #AirCanada
How an act of defiance by #AirCanada flight attendants was a win for labour rights. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #canlab #cdnpoli
What do we learn from the Air Canada strike? See my CTV interview. review.bellmedia.ca/view/1665101...
LABR 1P94: Workplace Rights and Equity #LabourStudies #BrockU
Workers defying back-to-work orders shows growing mistrust of a system stacked against them. Govt bias fuels militancy and pushes unions beyond legal labour action. My comments in @thestar.com #canlab #aircanadastrike #aircanadaflightattendants @cupescfp.bsky.social www.thestar.com/business/air...
CUPE flight attendants defied a Section 107 back-to-work order, forced #AirCanada back to the bargaining table, and successfully bargained a tentative agreement. A new page of Canadian labour history has been written today. cbc.ca/player/play/... #cndpoli #canlab
CUPE's strategy appears to be working, as Air Canada has returned to the bargaining table. ctvnews.ca/canada/artic... #canlab #aircanadaflightattendants
Air Canada strike: Union defies back-to-work order. “This is the natural result of the repeated use of Section 107,” said @stephross.bsky.social. “As soon as workers have some power to actually move their employers, the government steps in.” www.thestar.com/business/air... #canlab
CUPE’s National President Mark Hancock – YYZ – August 16th 2025
When politicians allow the system to be rigged in favour of employers, workers have no choice but to resist. Unions can’t be expected to bow to unjust laws — and the way the Liberals have abused section 107 is clearly unjust. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #canlab #cdnpoli
This powerful image of resistance is set to become an iconic symbol of the ongoing struggle for workers' rights in Canada. #canlab
A 1-2 punch of @profsavage.bsky.social and me commenting on the problems of repeated government intervention in labour disputes #CanLab : ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/federal...
Management at Air Canada is using the lockout threat as a pressure point on the Prime Minister. But when the government swoops in only at the behest of employers, it undermines our entire system of labour relations. www.barrietoday.com/business/som... #cdnpoli #canlab
LABR 3P06: Class and Culture Check out this course and many others offered by the Department of Labour Studies at #BrockU. brocku.ca/social-scien...
My two cents on current labour negotiations at Canada Post and Air Canada www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Wise words from Sam Gindin on what it means in practice to think in class terms. www.youtube.com/shorts/2-uYq... #canlab
Amazon’s bid to overturn B.C. labour ruling on workers’ unionization rejected www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar... #canlab
Know someone who is applying to university this year? Make sure they check out what the Department of Labour Studies at @brocku.ca has on offer. brocku.ca/social-scien... #Brocku #cdnpse #canlab
After unionized Canada Post workers reject ‘final offers,’ what happens next? www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic... #canlab #cdnpoli
Yes, Canada Post's strategy backfired. But the fact that over 30% of postal workers backed the employer's "final" offer should make the union nervous. Makes for very complicated strategic choices going forward. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #canlab #cdnpoli
The forced final offer vote turned out to be major distraction. It didn’t bring the parties any closer to concluding an agreement. And arguably, it only drew them further apart. The route to a negotiated settlement is a muddy as ever. www.thestar.com/business/can... #canlab
Join BTL, WAHC and editors Rob Kristofferson and @stephross.bsky.social for the launch of The Art of Solidarity: Labour Arts & Heritage in Canada! 📅 Sunday August 31 ⏰3 pm - 5 pm 📍51 Stuart St, Hamilton RSVP: www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-art-of...
Check out LABR 3P90: Collective Bargaining, our simulation-based course open to all #BrockU students.
In internal documents provided to The Tyee, Employment and Social Development Canada proposed changing how migrant workers in the agriculture and fishing sectors are paid, housed and brought into the country. @isaacphannay.bsky.social reports. #canlab
#BrockU Professor of @brocklabour.bsky.social @profsavage.bsky.social spoke to The Globe and Mail about Canada Post’s most recent contract offer to its workers. #CanLab www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Registration is open for the Fall/Winter terms. Consider LABR 4P41: Labour Law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. brocku.ca/labourstudies
New research finds that the Conservatives have made significant inroads among construction union members and those with college education, challenging traditional assumptions about Canadian labour politics. cup.org/44CeoGl #canlab #cdnpoli
#OpenAccess from @cjps-rcsp.bsky.social - The Labour Vote Revisited: Impacts of Union Type and Demographics on Electoral Behaviour in Canadian Federal Politics - cup.org/44CeoGl - Daniel Westlake, @profsavage.bsky.social & Jonah Butovsky #FirstView
The 2026 CAWLS annual conference will be held June 3-5, 2026 in Winnipeg, hosted by the Labour Studies Program at the University of Manitoba. Details and CfP to follow.
Uber Drivers Have Unionized For The First Time In Canada www.readthemaple.com/uber-drivers... #canlab #Uber
BC labour board grants Amazon workers remedial union certification. Now the real challenge - bargaining a first contract. www.unifor.org/news/all-new... #canlab
Remember a few months back when Doug Ford said he'd do everything in his power to protect Ontario workers? Well here's at least 10,000 broken promises... www.thestar.com/news/ontario... #onpoli #canlab
BC Uber drivers unionize. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #canlab
Shifting Gears is now available in paperback. www.ubcpress.ca/shifting-gears #canlab #cdnpoli
ICYMI: @graceblakeley.substack.com in conversation with @lukewsavage.bsky.social on the failures of neoliberal capitalism and what the left must do if it is to win the working-class. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pjj... #canlab
LABR 1P96: Labour Behind the Label #BrockU #LabourStudies
"Corporate profits and executive bonuses are at obscene levels," @davidmaccdn.bsky.social #canlab #inequality #cdnecon #cdnpoli @policyalternatives.ca www.thegrindmag.ca/no-really-wh...
CEO pay rose nearly 20% last year — now over $10M on average. Workers? Still fighting to afford rent and groceries. This isn’t sustainable; it’s exploitation. www.taxfairness.ca/en #nspoli #cdnpoli #CEOgreed #canlab #WorkersDeserveBetter
Looking forward to teaching this course next month.
“Requiring a non-disclosure agreement is certainly atypical and should be viewed as an attempt to restrict open dialogue and public scrutiny of government policy,” said @profsavage.bsky.social www.policorner.ca/p/scoop-no-n... #onpoli
Registration for incoming 1st year students is now open. Check out LABR 1P94 Workplace Rights and Equity, available a both an elective and social science context credit. #brocku #LabourStudies
Finally picked up a copy of Fight Like Hell by @kimkelly.bsky.social. It’s at the top of my summer reading list.
Congratulations to @stephross.bsky.social and @profsavage.bsky.social! "Shifting Gears" won the 2025 Leo Panitch Book Prize, celebrating the best book in Canadian work and labour studies. Thank you to the Canadian Association of Work and Labour Studies for honouring this book! 🎉
The precise timing of the vote isn’t clear, but the outcome almost certainly is, said @profsavage.bsky.social, a labour studies prof at @brocku.ca. “The reality is that forced final offer votes rarely turn out the way employers expect them to.” www.thestar.com/business/uni... #CUPW #canlab
2025/26 Fall/Winter course registration opens soon. Check out some of the most popular course options available to Brock students. Learn more: brocku.ca/social-scien... #canlab #brocku #LabourStudies
Canada Post take note. Forced final offer votes rarely run out the way employers expect them to... #canlab
#BrockU Professor of Labour Studies @profsavage.bsky.social and Associate Professor @stephross.bsky.social of McMaster University recently received the Leo Panitch Book Prize at the Canadian Association for Work and Labour Studies award ceremony. brocku.ca/brock-news/2... #CanLab #CdnPoli
#BrockU Professor of Labour Studies @profsavage.bsky.social recently spoke to The Canadian Press about the Federal government’s intervention in the Canada Post strike. www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/national/ott... #CanLab #CdnPoli
On a new episode of 📚VICTOR'S CHILDREN📚 @stufts.bsky.social joins the show to discuss why right-wing politics are gaining support in the working class and unions in so-called Canada and how the left can fight it more effectively. soundcloud.com/user-7372679... 🔶
Receiving the Leo Panitch Book Prize is a great honour. It’s especially close to our hearts because Leo was our mentor. We're delighted to carry on his legacy of critical analysis through our work on the changing landscape of Canadian labour politics. brocku.ca/brock-news/2... #canlab #cdnpoli
Hargrove was a union titan. A skilled negotiator & polarizing figure within the movement, he helped chart a new course for Canadian autoworkers on both economic and political fronts. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #canlab
Congrats to Christabell Creighton, a Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock medal recipient and Labour Studies co-major. brocku.ca/brock-news/2... #BrockU #LabourStudies
"Shifting Gears" tells the story of how Canada’s largest private-sector union shifted its political strategy from an emphasis on transformative activism to transactional partnerships. bit.ly/43YFIx2
Canada Post’s decision to ask the minister to approve a forced vote will likely result in a backlash that helps unify a divided CUPW membership in opposition to the employer www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/national/ott... #canlab #cdnpoli
Is binding arbitration on the horizon in the Canada Post/CUPW dispute? www.thestar.com/business/can... #canlab #cdnpoli
Missed our 2024 conference on university governance? We’ve captured the most compelling discussions, insights, & stories in our latest report. We synthesized the wisdom of our speakers into useful lessons & actionable advice for a stronger, inclusive university governance cufa.bc.ca/announcing-p...
Hot days are making Ontario’s workplaces more dangerous – and sometimes deadly. Here’s why the problem will only get worse. www.thestar.com/interactives... #canlab #onpoli
An incredible honour for @profsavage.bsky.social & me to receive the Canadian Assn for Work & Labour Studies' Leo Panitch Book Prize for best book in Canadian #LabourStudies in 2025, named for our mentor. So grateful to our peers for this recognition #canlab #cdnpoli ubcpress.ca/shifting-gears
Professor Simon Black presenting research on child care worker unions at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Work and Labour Studies. #canlab #LabourStudies
Remember when we interviewed the award-winning authors? Listen to it here: www.buzzsprout.com/2313632/epis...
Thank you!
Thanks!
Thrilled to have Shifting Gears recognized with the Leo Panitch Book Prize for 2025, honouring the best book in Canadian work and labour studies. A heartfelt thank you to CAWLS and to my co-author and longtime collaborator @stephross.bsky.social. www.ubcpress.ca/shifting-gears #canlab
“It’s important to emphasize that this particular round of bargaining is really just a battle in a much larger war about the future of Canada Post and its mandate,” said @profsavage.bsky.social Savage, a professor at @brocku.ca. www.chch.com/chch-news/ca... #canlab #cdnpoli
Great article on the labour dispute between CUPW & Canada Post, with analysis by @brocklabour.bsky.social’s @alisonbraley.bsky.social. #canlab
Kaplan's report has bolstered Canada Post’s bargaining position, but make no mistake—the union is gearing up for a fight. Canada Post’s latest offer looks like a calculated move to avoid a strike by sweetening the pot. The real question is: will it be enough? www.thestar.com/business/can...
Unifor is urging the federal government to use the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act to penalize companies that shift production out of Canada to avoid tariffs imposed by Trump. www.thestar.com/business/fed... #canlab #cdnpoli
The latest issue of Labour/Le Travail contains an article on union endorsements and the voting intentions of union members that I co-authored with Daniel Westlake. We summarized our findings in a short piece for the Conversation here: theconversation.com/do-union-end... #canlab #cdnpoli
“If we measure things like this according to the metrics of the private market, we’re eventually not going to have these public services,” @stephross.bsky.social said. www.thestar.com/business/can... #canlab #cdnpoli
Some thoughts on Severance, which I've thoroughly enjoyed — and what it has to say about the world of soul crushing email jobs and platform capitalism: www.lukewsavage.com/p/why-severa...
I’m glad these reporters took the time to consult with an actual labour expert about this employer think tank report on strikes “taking the province hostage,” instead of the all-too-common practice of repeating the report’s talking points. www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
Was grateful for the opportunity to participate on this panel at the 2025 Mayworks Festival and for the engaged Q&A that followed. springmag.ca/mayworks-fes... #canlab
After a disastrous election, can the NDP reclaim labour support? thetyee.ca/Analysis/202... #canlab #NDP #cdnpoli
How Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives seduced working-class voters, via @breachmedia.ca. breachmedia.ca/how-pierre-p... #canlab #cdnpoli
As Canadians cast their votes in the federal election, let's remember the role of politics in shaping labour rights on this National Day of Mourning. Fight for the living. Mourn for the dead. #canlab
"Trump has turned the campaign upside down.” @profsavage.bsky.social discusses the shifting landscape of labour politics in Canada with @thestar.com. www.thestar.com/politics/fed... #canlab #cdnpoli
When measured against expectations, Poilievre has failed to replicate Doug Ford's success at racking up union endorsements. In fact, some of the unions that backed Ford just a couple months ago are now backing Carney. www.thestar.com/politics/fed... #canlab #cdnpoli
Great episode. An interesting peek behind the curtain.
How a trade war upended Poilievre’s push to attract union workers via @theglobeandmail.com. Featuring commentary and analysis by @profsavage.bsky.social. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #canlab #cdnpoli
For more context- Local 1005: www.thespec.com/politics/fed... Local 2251: www.sootoday.com/2025-federal...
Local 1005: www.thespec.com/politics/fed... Local 2251: www.sootoday.com/2025-federal...
Do union endorsements make a difference in election campaigns? theconversation.com/do-union-end...