I recently attended the CUPE Ontario Library Workers Conference, which has become a highlight of my year since I first attended (and was elected to the organizing committee) in 2015. It has eclipsed and replaced the OLA Superconference as the most relevant and enjoyable must-attend conference in my schedule. When
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wmtc: required reading for revolutionaries: jane mcalevey and micah white
I’ve wanted to write about these two books for a long time, but adequately summarizing them is a daunting task. I just want to say to every activist and organizer: READ THESE BOOKS. I don’t want to represent the authors’ ideas, I want you to read them yourself. No Shortcuts:
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: pit bull: the battle over an american icon
If you have an opinion about pitbulls, chances are good that it’s based on myth, misinformation, and even disinformation. I know a good deal about dogs, and I thought I knew a lot about pitbulls, yet I was constantly amazed and enlightened by Bronwen Dickey’s Pit Bull: The Battle Over an
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: leaving lucy pear
The year is 1917. A teenage girl from a wealthy family is pregnant, the result of rape — by a man who her mother pushed her to pursue for marriage. Now the girl is being forced to surrender her baby to an orphanage. She has met the person who runs
Continue readingwmtc: postscript: some clarifications and addenda to my recent post on cultural appropriation
Many people have been discussing my recent post about cultural appropriation on Facebook. I’m not surprised that many people disagree (that’s why I wrote it, to put my countering opinion out there), but I have been surprised by how many progressive people do agree. From the negative comments, I can see
Continue readingwmtc: accusations of cultural appropriation are a form of bullying — and don’t reduce racism
I’m increasingly dismayed by accusations of cultural appropriation that are used as weapons, rather than as a tool for raising awareness and educating. Accusations of appropriation have become a form of bullying, a weapon wielded to police and enforce a superficial obeisance to a behavioural code — while doing nothing
Continue readingwmtc: it’s crunch time at the bargaining table
Now here’s an interesting calendar of events.June 27-29: The Negotiating Committee for CUPE Local 1989, Mississauga Library Workers Union, returns to the bargaining table for three days.June 30: The Negotiating Committee presents membership with a sett…
Continue readingwmtc: rtod: we only want the earth
On the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, these Revolutionary Thoughts of the Day are brought to you by the great Irish socialist, James Connolly.The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go. (1910)This speech, from 1897, i…
Continue readingwmtc: precariously yours: notes from the 2016 cupe ontario library workers conference
Last week I attended the CUPE Ontario Library Workers Conference, my second year, and my first since being elected to the organizing committee. This year’s theme was precarious work, and nothing could be more relevant to library work today.All three ke…
Continue readingwmtc: dispatches from ola 2016, part 2: libraries and prisons
I’ve had a longstanding interest in prison libraries, and was happy to meet another librarian-friend who shares this. But I was very pleasantly surprised at the large turnout for the talk Prisons and Libraries: A Relationship Worth Incubating at t…
Continue readingwmtc: things i heard at the library: digital divide edition (#20)
In library school we talked a lot about the digital divide, the ever-increasing gap between those who have access to information and communication technology, and those who do not. Public libraries are one of the very few institutions that exist to bri…
Continue readingwmtc: bernie sanders, the pope, and the politics of amnesia
I see a lot of excitement online, in places like Common Dreams and The Nation, and in my Facebook feed, about Bernie Sanders, supposedly remaking US politics, and Pope Francis, supposedly remaking the Roman Catholic Church. About Sanders, I shake my head and wonder why long-time Democrat voters do not
Continue readingwmtc: wmtc 2015-06-21 17:00:00
I stumbled on this letter to the New York Times Book Review from a few weeks ago. It’s in response to a review of two books about precarious work – one about technology threatening jobs of even the most educated people, and another about the rise of unpaid labour. Barbara
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: salt sugar fat by michael moss
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss is an excellent addition to a bookshelf that includes works by Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Marian Nestle and others who write about the health of our food and the un-health of the industrial food system. Moss lifts the
Continue readingwmtc: mcdonald’s announces phony wage increase: workers rising on april 15
The resurgent workers’ movement scored a huge victory earlier this year, when Walmart announced it was raising wages – a step on the road to a true living wage and the right to unionize without fear of harassment. Other big corporations, such as Target, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls, followed with similar
Continue readingwmtc: walmart increases wages: workers united are winning, and the struggle must continue
Workers in the US have won a significant victory in their struggle for dignity and a living wage. This week Walmart announced that within one year, all current Walmart employees will be paid at least $10/hour, and that newly-hired workers will start at $9.00/hour, with a real opportunity to earn
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: pro: reclaiming abortion rights by katha pollitt
Katha Pollitt’s new book, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, is a powerful gust of fresh, clean air that blows away the toxic stench of the current discourse about abortion. Pro is a thorough, no-holds-barred takedown of the hypocrisy of anti-abortion-rights movement – not only in the most obvious sense that people
Continue readingwmtc: rtod
Revolutionary thought of the day: Hunger isn’t about the amount of food around. It’s about being able to afford and control that food. After all, the U.S. has more food than it knows what to do with, and still 50 million people are food insecure. Raj Patel, author of Stuffed
Continue readingwmtc: rotd: this changes everything
Revolutionary thought of the day: …if there is a reason for social movements to exist, it is not to accept dominant values as fixed and unchangeable but to offer other ways to live – to wage, and win, a battle of cultural worldviews. That means laying out a vision of
Continue readingwmtc: 150 cities + 500 arrests = whatever it takes for $15
Last Thursday, fast-food workers in more than 150 US cities went on strike. Some 500 workers were arrested for civil disobedience, including this man, José Carillo, an 81-year-old McDonald’s worker. In Detroit, there were so many arrests that the police gave up: they ran out of handcuffs. There’s a very
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