On Aug. 25, the provincial executives of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) voted on a “pathway to resolve outstanding bargaining issues.” This “pathway” is to allow an arbitrator to decide on any part of the contract that isn’t settled by Oct. 27. The decision of the arbitrator would then be automatically binding, with no opportunity for the members to decide if it is acceptable or not. If this proposed pathway is accepted by the membership, it would prevent any strike or other labour action. This is a recipe for another bad contract.

Library workers in Bradford, Ontario have now been on strike for six weeks, seeking their first union contract to protect them from wage and benefit cuts.

A recent report from the Auditor General of Ontario on Doug Ford’s Greenbelt Project has revealed that Ford and his ministers were making decisions entirely directed by housing developers. While it was already clear to everybody that the plan was a handout to Ford’s developer buddies, this is a level of collusion beyond what anyone suspected. 

Thousands of Metro grocery workers, represented by Unifor Local 414, are on strike in the Greater Toronto Area, after years of wage cuts and hazardous work.

In Hamilton, 1,450 railcar workers, organized with United Steelworkers Local 7135, at National Steel Car are on strike against wage cuts, intimidation, and unsafe work, after multiple workplace deaths.

On June 28, a knife-wielding man burst into a philosophy of gender class at the University of Waterloo, stabbing the professor and two students. This clearly hate-motivated attack comes after months of a delirious media campaign in which right-wing politicians and commentators have sought to foment hatred of trans people.

On June 26, former New Democratic Party MP Olivia Chow was elected mayor of Toronto, promising to reverse past mayors’ cuts and lower the cost of housing. Looking at the details, however, it is highly doubtful that Chow’s moderate candidacy or her self-described “modest” platform will withstand pressure from the city’s bosses and landlords.

On May 24 Barrie council unanimously passed a motion that they claim is meant to “address the homeless crisis in Barrie.” The actual contents of the motion are a cruel move towards making life harder for some of the most vulnerable members of the community. 

Automaking giant Stellantis—the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep, and Fiat—has successfully twisted the arms of both Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau to squeeze out billions of dollars in new subsidies for building an electrical vehicle (EV) battery plant in Windsor, Ontario.

In Toronto, one of the world’s least affordable cities, hundreds of tenants at 33 King Street and the Thorncliffe Park complex have declared rent strikes to fight their landlords’ bid to evade rent controls.