Larry Savage
@Prof_Savage
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Labour Studies Professor at @BrockLabour | Co-founder @CAWLS_ACETS | Teach & research collective bargaining, unions & labour politics | #canlab
Niagara ON
Joined November 2013
The digital version of Shifting Gears: Canadian Autoworkers and the Changing Landscape of Labour Politics is now available from @UBCPress. You can also download and read the introductory chapter for free 👇. . #canlab #cdnpoli @stephross_mac
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This Fraser Institute infographic unintentionally promotes the benefits of unionization by comparing an employee in a largely unionized occupation with an employee in a largely non-union occupation. We call this the "union advantage.". #canlab
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Laura Walton argues that the the working conditions of @osbcucscso members are directly correlated to student learning conditions. The union is focused on hammering out a deal that will reverse cuts and deliver services for students. #onted #canlab #onpoli
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Grocery store workers literally put their lives on the line for their employers during the pandemic and now they can't even afford to pay the rent. Workers are fed up. They're demanding more and they're using the right to strike to do that. #canlab.
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CUPE education workers announce they will not cross OSSTF picket lines in a show of solidarity at #OFL2019. #canlab #powerofmany #onpoli
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Leo Panitch’s work inspired me to pursue a PhD. I was fortunate to become one of his students and to be able to work alongside him. He helped me navigate the highs and lows of grad school. He was brilliant and he was kind. Rest in power, #LeoPanitch.
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Ontario’s 55,000 education workers, members CUPE, have sent a clear message to the Ford govt with a 96.5% strike vote. The union is determined to reverse years of cuts and secure a fair wage increase for workers who are paid on avg just $39K/year.🧵. @osbcucscso #canlab #onpoli
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Rather than roll the dice on interest arbitration, education unions should be coming together in a coordinated, strategic & solidaristic manner and using their collective bargaining power to compel the provincial government to reinvest in the province's teachers and students.
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In their defence of class sizes and quality public education, Ontario's teachers' unions are promoting the public good. Caving in to Ford's reckless cuts only invites more cuts in the future. #StayStrong #canlab #onpoli #CutsHurtKids
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In order for education workers to fully win, the province's teachers' unions will need to step up and back up bold statements of solidarity with bold labour/political action. Union solidarity and cooperation is key to combatting Ford's divide and conquer strategy. #canlab.
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This is huge. A bold solidaristic move by one of the province’s largest unions in support of education workers. #canlab #onpoli.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union says its 8,000 education workers will walk off the job Friday in solidarity with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, whose 55,000 education workers are set to strike.
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Support for a #GeneralStrike in Ontario is growing. This is unprecedented in so many ways. #canlab #onpoli.
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Trading in the right to strike for binding interest arbitration sets a dangerous precedent because it normalizes the idea that the right to strike is unnecessary. That kind of thinking demobilizes unions and leaves teachers very vulnerable to future attacks on conditions of work.
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What OSSTF's leaders are proposing undermines the bargaining position of all the other unions in the sector and thus helps fuel the Ford government’s divide and conquer strategy. At a time when unions should be working together, this move only strengthen's the government's hand.
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This from a govt that purports to fight for the middle class. Port employers made over $100B in profits last year, but refuse to offer workers job security or wage increases that make up for high inflation. Imposing a settlement is capitulation to corporate greed. #canlab.
Last night, the membership of the ILWU Canada voted to reject the tentative agreement with the BCMEA. While our BC ports are operating right now, we need long-term stability. My full statement:
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Strikes help to redistribute profits from giant corporations and put more money into the pockets of workers — the real drivers of the economy. #canlab
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I spoke with CBC News about why Metro grocery store workers across the GTA voted down a tentative agreement and opted to strike instead. In the face of record profits, striking @UniforTheUnion members are demanding their fair share. #canlab
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"In my old job, there was a union and they would protect me.” . Meghan Markle. #HarryandMeghanonOprah #1u #canlab.
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Trading in the right to strike for binding interest arbitration is a minefield for the union movement. @stephross_mac and I explain why👇. #canlab #onted #onpoli.
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There may be a tendency in some quarters of the labour movement to view tentative agreement rejections as a failure, but they’re a sign that workers are willing to strike rather than opt for substandard deals. #canlab.
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Interest arbitration may be seductive given recent awards in healthcare, but arbitrators are unlikely to agree to any union demands framed around supports for students. So while the deal keeps kids in school, it doesn't guarantee them quality schools.
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A union’s power is rooted in its membership. Farming out the process of securing a contract to an arbitrator cuts the workers out completely. OSSTF members won't even have an opportunity to vote on a final settlement if imposed by the arbitrator.
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Today’s @OFLabour -led rally outside the Ontario PC convention in Niagara Falls is the largest labour & community mobilization in the city’s history. #canlab #onpoli #ThePeopleVsConservativeCuts
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Hamilton Labour Council to submit emergency resolution to the @OFLabour convention next month requiring the Federation to break ties with the Ontario NDP unless decision to remove MPP Jama from caucus is reversed. #canlab #onpoli.
The delegates of the HDLC have been emailed the following Notice of Motion for our November Council meeting on behalf of the HDLC Executive. Should the motion be adopted, the HDLC will be submitting it as an emergency resolution to the @OFLabour Convention in late November.
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Strike action can be contagious. If the Metro strike is successful, it will definitely have a ripple effect across the rest of the sector, raising expectations along with wages. #canlab #MetroStrike.
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Metro made all-time high profits of over $922 million last year. By rejecting the tentative agreement and opting to strike the workers are signalling they have raised expectations and are demanding more from both their employer and union. #canlab.
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Another high profile rejection of a tentative agreement. This time, by grocery store workers represented by Unifor who had previously voted 100% of favour of a strike mandate. #canlab.
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Ford overplayed his hand with regard to back-to-work legislation and the Notwithstanding clause. Education workers appear to be winning over public support for their political strike. #onpoli #canlab.
Ontario - 'Who do you blame most for schools being closed due to the strike?'. Ford Government: 62%.Education Workers: 38%. Abacus Data / November 5, 2022 / n=545 / Online.
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Human rights tribunal orders Ford government to hike Ontario midwives’ pay due to long-standing gender discrimination #canlab #onpoli #payequity.
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For context, the 8 construction unions that endorsed Ford have a combined membership that represents less than 5% of Ontario's total union membership. The NDP secured support from a broader range of much larger public and private sector unions.
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Check out my interview on @CBCNews about the prospects for labour strife in a post-COVID world. #canlab #cdnpoli.
Massive layoffs. Workplace outbreaks. Hazardous conditions for front-line workers. Covid19 has exposed lots of new challenges for workforces. Brock University's @Prof_Savage says the pandemic may lead to more workers demanding better wages and conditions from employers.
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Interesting development. Recall that LiUNA endorsed the Ford Conservatives in the provincial election. #onpoli #canlab.
An attack on one, is an attack on all. Those who walked before us fought long and hard to earn the right to bargain freely, and LIUNA Local 3000 will join the fight to protect that right.
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Strategic voting has changed the face of contemporary party-union relationships in Canada. While the specific calculus for strategic voting changes with each election, the strategy offers very little to the labour movement over the long term. #TweetThead #canlab #cdnpoli.
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Fighting back makes a difference. Strikes make a difference. They can literally transform workers’ lives for the better. #canlab.
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Unifor is turning up the heat on Metro by introducing round-the-clock secondary pickets at the company’s distribution warehouses. #canlab #MetroStrike.
Striking grocery workers’ fight for fair wages will move to round-the-clock secondary picket lines at Metro distribution warehouses in Toronto. More info to follow.
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The Metro strike is about money. But it's also about respect. Having pandemic pay yanked away sent a very clear message to Metro workers that their labour wasn’t being respected. #canlab #MetroStrike.
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.@Lanampayne is the new president of @UniforTheUnion. Notably, she is the first woman ever to lead the union. She won on the 2nd ballot with 60.8%. #UniforTogether #canlab #1u
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.@OPSEU President @JPHornick clarifies that the union movement is not standing down, but standing by. Unions are committed to seeing a fair deal for all workers in bargaining with the Ford government. #onted #canlab #onpoli
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The recent string of rejected union contracts show Canadian workers are fed up and fighting to catch up. #canlab #cdnpoli @globeandmail.
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Interested in learning more about the union advantage? Here are the latest figures from Stats Canada pulled together in a graph for my latest book with @stephross_mac. In short, the union advantage applies in both public and private sectors.
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"Strikes are one of the few tools workers have to redistribute wealth and rebalance an economy whose rewards have become utterly out of balance. And that is good for the economy as a whole." -- @stephross_mac . #canlab #1u.
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It’s official. @stephross_mac and I have signed a contract with @fernpub to publish a 2nd edition of Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada in 2021. #canlab #cdnpoli
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Yet another tentative agreement voted down by Unifor members. That makes three in just the past few weeks. Contract rejections are not unheard of, but they’re certainly not this common. #canlab.
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What Ford is NOT saying is that he will rescind Bill 28 or that he'll never invoke Sect 33 in the future to end a labour dispute. In other words, he is not addressing the main concerns of the union.
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Expect lots of discussion and debate amongst CUPE education workers this week. This round of bargaining is FAR from over.
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The workers have higher expectations given inflation and the cost of living crisis. Having the best contract in the sector means nothing if you still can’t pay for rent, or bills, or food from the very grocery store where you work. #MetroStrike #canlab .
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The dispute, however, is not over. The govt and union still need to conclude a deal, but CUPE has a lot more leverage now to help make that happen.
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.@osbcucscso president Laura Walton confirms that Ford has committed in writing to repeal Bill 128 in its entirety. #onted #onpoli #canlab
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Just in time for #LabourDay. Workers at Saskatchewan Tim Hortons successfully form union #canlab #TimHortons.
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Excited about this new collaboration and research project!.
Labour studies professors @stephross_mac, @Prof_Savage & Wayne Lewchuk have been awarded a five-year @SSHRC_CRSH Insight Grant to study Union Politics in the 21st Century. #canlab #cdnpoli
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Payne says she was in contact with @CanadianLabour before today about the prospect of having @UniforTheUnion rejoin the House of Labour. Will explore the possibility further in consultation with members. #canlab
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A brutal reminder that the courts are not the friends of workers or their unions #canlab #UniforLockOut #skpoli.
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Why Unionizing Canadian Workplaces is More Important Now Than Ever During The Pandemic. via @pressprogress . #canlab.
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