Twenty shelter case workers at the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre didn’t know why they were being asked to gather Monday morning at the shelter on North Park Street. “We got an email from one of the big wigs at the Friendship Centre,” says Brent Cosgrove, who has been a case worker since the shelter first […]
Labour
Posted inNews + Opinion
Journalist Robert Devet remembered as champion of the people
Simon de Vet remembers his dad considering retirement about a decade ago. “He was a little worried that he’d be sitting around the house all day,” says Simon, a first-year physics professor at Dalhousie University. “He was a little hesitant to retire early.” His father, Robert Devet—who styled their Dutch surname slightly differently—had been working […]
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Avalon Sexual Assault centre is underfunded, overwhelmed and stalled on best steps forward
There’s not much the board and staff at Avalon Sexual Assault Centre agree on these days. Tension has built since last fall, and came to a public head this spring, with a union certification vote and closure of the organization’s wait list—a list that had survivors of sexualized violence waiting up to two years for […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
NSCAD faculty strike ends, classes resume
N SCAD’s 95 faculty and librarians ended their strike on Tuesday after just over a week on the picket line. This came as a great relief of the university’s MFA students who staged a sit-in demanding the administration agree to negotiating an to end the strike. The strike meant that faculty supervisors of three MFA […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
NSCAD faculty and librarians on strike
After 18 meetings and five days of sessions with the university’s administration, NSCAD faculty and librarians are on strike. Almost 100 students, faculty and community supporters attended a rally in support of the strike on Friday at the university’s Granville campus. The striking workers are asking for improved job security for the 56 part-time teachers […]
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Unpaid overtime
This year, Halifax is alight with junior hockey excitement. For the second time in the Halifax Mooseheads’ history, the Memorial Cup—Canada’s nationwide junior hockey championship—will be played right here, at the Scotiabank Centre in May. The team is also celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League commemorates its own […]
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Brain injuries and broken bodies
There’s no question that football is a dangerous game— even if the leagues in charge choose not to acknowledge it. Only three weeks into the 2018 season, the Canadian Football League had lost four quarterbacks to the injured list—a surprisingly high number for so early in the year. Two months later, another QB took a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Labour concerns at Freak Lunchbox
It’s another story of workplace unrest in a year of renewed labour focus on the local service industry. Two longtime employees at Freak Lunchbox are no longer with the popular candy store, with one telling The Coast she was fired without cause after organizing staff to voice their concerns. Tegan Macfarlane, 24, was dismissed from […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
I am a small business owner and I support the postal workers
In following the progression of the Canada Post strike, I’ve seen nothing but headlines focused on the small business owners who are suffering, the freelancers who are not receiving their cheques, the families whose “Christmases are being held hostage.” I am an independent contractor, a freelancer and a small business owner, and I rely solely […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police continue arresting labour activists
Labour activists protesting the back-to-work legislation forced onto unionized Canada Post employees keep running afoul of police. A news release from the group Organizing 4 Justice says cops in Ottawa arrested four protesters early Wednesday morning as they were picketing outside a mail processing plant. A video shared on Facebook shows a man identified as […]
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Review committee finds flaws with Nova Scotia’s minimum wage formula
Minimum wage workers in Nova Scotia could see a big bump in pay next year, if the province follows through with new recommendations from its minimum wage review committee. The panel is proposing Nova Scotia increase its minimum wage annually by 55 cents over the next three years, raising it to $12.65 an hour by […]
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Quebec shipyard not happy with “Ships Stay Here” campaign
A spokesperson for Davie Shipbuilding strongly takes issue with comments that the Quebec company is stealing work from Halifax. “It’s being portrayed as if Quebec will steal jobs, contracts from Irving,” says Fred Boisvert, vice-president of public affairs for Davie. “Where if you look properly, closely, there’s nothing like it happening at all.” Federal procurement officials […]