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Mitchell Thompson is a writer, researcher, and occasional radio producer in Toronto.
The COVID-19 support programs introduced by Canada’s Liberal government might seem like a break with neoliberal austerity. But while the pandemic still rages, the Liberals are putting profits above public health by trying to drive workers back into low-wage jobs before it’s safe.
The recent NDP convention passed several important left-wing motions, and Canada’s conservative pundits lined up to ridicule the prospect of a left turn by Jagmeet Singh’s party. Beneath the bluster, they’re clearly worried that left ideas have the potential to gain wide support.
Beneath the shiny rhetoric, Uber’s Flexible Work+ program is just another bid by the company to deny its employees their legal rights, like California’s Prop 22. For all its riches, however, Uber is vulnerable to a challenge from workers who know what they’re due.
A US firm, Positive Management Leadership, is teaching some of Canada’s leading businesses how to snuff out union organizing before it gets off the ground. Their investment in union-bashing shows how much those companies fear organized and empowered workers.