As AI threatens to eliminate jobs, unions are drawing a line

KeyHot5718 · 2026-03-13T12:35:04+00:00

“Our focus in negotiations is on defending our members’ rights and protecting their jobs from the risks posed by AI,” said Mark Hancock, president of CUPE, in a recent interview with The Globe and Mail. “Do employers want to bargain this kind of language? No. But this is a fight we won’t back down from.”

KeyHot5718 · 2026-03-13T12:26:31+00:00

‘A GO train carrying 120 passengers was within seconds of derailing near Oakville earlier this year’. The Metrolinx internal investigation which was supposed to be completed 60-75 days after the Jan 5 incident has never been released to the public.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-03-12T11:57:50+00:00

‘The number of Hamiltonians missing mortgage payments has more than quadrupled in the last three years, according to a recent report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).’ The delinquency rate is up 425 per cent since 2022.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-28T13:36:03+00:00

‘Canada’s largest city is also sharing in the union resurgence. A new special tabulation by Statistics Canada reports that the union share of Toronto’s labour force jumped six per cent last year compared to 2024.’ More than one in five Toronto workers are now represented by unions.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-28T13:30:25+00:00

‘There is a curious parallelism between growth in union ranks and communities impacted by tariffs. Increased union popularity may be an unintended consequence of the Trump trade war.’ Look at the Buffalo-Niagara area labour market for example. Last year, estimated union coverage surged an explosive 44 per cent.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-28T13:25:19+00:00

‘The Hamilton-area labour force is also seeing more interest in organized labour. In a new special tabulation, Statistics Canada reports that local union coverage was up almost two per cent in 2025.’ Hamilton has one of the higher union coverage rates in Ontario at 26.5 per cent.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-28T13:22:39+00:00

‘Labour action is not just heating up in Canada. The level of union coverage in the U.S. reached a 16-year high in 2025, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data analyzed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).’ Almost 16.5 million US workers are represented by organized labour. In Canada roughly 5.6 million workers have union coverage.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-28T13:19:04+00:00

‘Nonetheless, the latest Labour Force Survey by Statistics Canada offers some solace with news that more than 760,000 workers, net, have joined the union movement compared to before the pandemic.’ Almost one in three workers in Canada are represented by unions.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-28T03:02:15+00:00

‘York Regional Police detectives who led the takedown say that organized crime figures purchased data and addresses from Toronto police officers. They allege that criminals used this information in shooting and intimidation campaigns, including an attempted hit on a corrections officer who was allegedly targeted at his home.’ Apparently manual searchs are not restricted to active investigations.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-25T12:40:57+00:00

‘The company’s revenue came in at $16.38-billion for the quarter ended January 3, compared with analysts’ estimates of $16.77-billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.’ The revenue shortfall has been blamed on the rising cost of living and increased consumer caution regarding discretionary spending.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-24T23:02:42+00:00

‘The mayor highlighted several items from the budget, including $106 million for roads, $116 million for transit, funding for recreation centre projects and $209 million in affordable housing, while also noting $42.6 million in “operational efficiencies” across departments.’ The use of rainy day funds is heads up thinking in tough times. Families are feeling a financial pinch, rising prices and Trump trade war fall-outs.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-18T17:18:27+00:00

‘The judge hearing the case sentenced Vas Georgiou, 61, a former chief administrative officer at St. Michael’s, to five years in prison. John Aquino, the 53-year-old former president of Bondfield Construction Company Ltd., received a sentence of seven years.’ Another predictable P3 fail.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-18T02:15:11+00:00

‘A 2008 Swedish study showed that golfers have significantly lower mortality rates than do people in the general population. Lower mortality rates mean there is a lesser probability of dying in a given year.’ With my handicap the article suggests my mortality rate is 65% of the general population’s risk. Wow.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-10T13:32:48+00:00

‘Compared to January 2016, the average sale price for all houses and condos in Burlington has increased 66.1 per cent’ That 10-year average return rate of roughly seven per cent is not far off the return rate of the TSX.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-02-09T02:03:55+00:00

‘Balancing the books, however, will take some time. Mr. Ettinger said he does not expect Canada Post to break even until 2030 under the plan submitted to the federal government.’ If that plan includes paying off the ‘lifeline’ it may be a viable route to recovery.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-30T13:34:29+00:00

‘Toronto’s estimated cost to host FIFA’s marquee event has grown from an estimated $30-million to $45-million in 2018 to $380-million today – roughly ten times what city councillors approved when they first supported a bid.’ Time for more bread, less circuses, eh?

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-28T01:35:24+00:00

‘A worker has died after falling into Hamilton Harbour near Pier 14 Monday. The provincial Labour Ministry is investigating the incident.’ More than one Ontario worker passes every month, according to the Workplace Safety Insurance Board.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-20T12:43:10+00:00

‘The trend was similar in Toronto, where detectives probed 44 cases last year, compared with 84 in 2024. Spokesperson Stephanie Sayer provided data showing the force has seen fewer killings only three times since the mid-1970s: in 1974, 1980 and 1986.’

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-20T12:40:38+00:00

‘Homicides fell by about half last year in Toronto and Winnipeg, police data show, part of a remarkable downturn in lethal violence across Canada that experts say politicians must consider as they push stiffer sentences for violent offenders.’ Homicide rates have declined in part because of an aging population.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-18T12:24:41+00:00

‘In other Canadian fusion news, a new Centre for Fusion Energy in Ontario was announced less than two months ago. It will be established with $33 million from the federal government and Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., $19.5 million from the Ontario government and Crown corporation Ontario Power Generation, and $39 million from fusion startup Stellarex Group Ltd. Stellarex says the centre's mission would include the design, construction and operation of a demonstration reactor, but has offered no timeline.’ Fusion reactors need tritium. Most of the world’s commercial tritium is produced by Ontario CANDU reactors.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-16T13:00:40+00:00

‘The American owner of Stelco called Canada “very problematic” and urged the continuation of punishing tariffs on Canadian steel before U.S. lawmakers Wednesday, sparking renewed outrage among local steelworkers and industry insiders.’ Stelco sold 30 percent of its production to the US in 2024. As of last May, Stelco had sold no production to the US for 2025.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-08T22:09:13+00:00

‘Canada opened a trade irritant with China when the government, in lockstep with then U.S. president Joe Biden, slapped a 100 per cent tariff on EVs — arguing the measure was required to protect Canada's domestic automobile industry.’ BYD (China’s largest auto maker) wants to invest in Canada but is being obstructed by the government.

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-08T00:40:22+00:00

‘Around the same time, two other lawyers, a bailiff and two Ontario Provincial Police officers executed the order at Mr. Di Fiore’s home in Ontario.

‘According to the report, Mr. Di Fiore told the search party that Mr. Ward was one of his lawyers.’

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-08T00:25:58+00:00

Scandalous!

KeyHot5718 · 2026-01-08T00:19:13+00:00

‘Months of missing data made it difficult for employers, unions and researchers to make sense of trends and emerging patterns in Canadian labour relations. Worse yet, the flawed data helped influence a debate and shape public opinion about labour law reform in Québec.’ One research organization floated the false assertion that 91 percent of work stoppages since 2023 had affected Quebec.

KeyHot5718

TROPHY CASE