Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
A bid to unionize Amazon workers at a distribution facility in New York City neared an important milestone, as organizers prepared to deliver hundreds of signatures to the National Labor Relations Board as soon as Monday for authorization to hold a vote.
Organizers say they have collected signatures from more than 2,000 employees at four Amazon facilities in Staten Island.
The bid to establish the Amazon Labor Union in New York City is the second attempt in the past year to form a union at Amazon, the nation's largest online retailer. In April, workers at an Alabama facility overwhelmingly rejected forming a union in an effort led by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
The union drive in New York City is working without the help of a national sponsor and is led by a former Amazon employee, Christian Smalls, who said he was fired just hours after he organized a walkout to protest working conditions.
Organizers need to collect signatures from at least 30% of the workers -- about 7,000 in four Staten Island warehouses -- who would be covered by the resulting collective bargaining agreement.
"We'll have it by Monday. I'm going out there today, going out there tomorrow, the next day -- until we get it," said Smalls, who was elected Sunday as the nascent union's president.
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said the company's employees have a choice of whether or not to join a union but "we don't think unions are the best answer for our employees."
"We've made great progress in recent years and months in important areas like pay and safety," Nantel said. "There are plenty of things that we can keep doing better, and that's our focus -- to keep getting better every day."
If the NLRB approves the signatures in Staten Island, it would mark the second unionization vote at an Amazon warehouse in less than a year.
The first election, in Bessemer, Alabama, garnered nationwide attention and put a spotlight on how Amazon treats its workers. It was the biggest union push in Amazon's 26-year history and only the second time that an organizing effort from within the company had come to a vote. However, there could be a do-over vote in Alabama.
A hearing officer for the NLRB found in August that Amazon potentially interfered with the election. And the RWDSU is now waiting for a decision from an NLRB regional director to see whether the hearing officer's guidance will be sanctioned. But even with a second election, labor experts say a union victory is a long shot.
The unionization efforts at Amazon reflect a moment of reckoning and a call for change among hourly workers across Corporate America as the pandemic has given employees more leverage to fight for better working conditions and pay. Workers have staged strikes at Kellogg's U.S. cereal plants as well as at Deere & Co., Frito-Lay and Nabisco facilities nationwide.
"Worker discontent goes far beyond Amazon," said Kent Wong, the director of the UCLA Labor Center. "Workers are feeling the pinch. They are feeling tremendous economic insecurity and they know that corporate leaders at Amazon are making record profits. There is a lot of discontent that may fuel support for this campaign."
Workers at other Amazon facilities are closely watching developments in New York City. Smalls said he's been in discussions with other potential union organizers in about a dozen Amazon locations.
Amazon employees have complained about long work hours, insufficient breaks and safety, with Smalls and others likening working conditions to modern-day sweatshops. The employee turnover rate has also been a cause of concern.
"That's been our focus -- creating a better working environment for Amazon employees," said Derrick Palmer, another union organizer who has worked with Amazon for the past six years. "They're working 10 to 12 hours a day and on their feet for 10 hours."
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Calgary police have arrested a man and a charge is pending in connection with the death of a toddler in 2022.
New archeological investigations in Guatemala reveal that the ancient Maya people had a ritual of burning royal human remains as a public display of political regime change.
It took years for Vinnie Deluca to collect more than 400 cards worth of free McDonald's McCafe coffee, a collection that now has "zero value" after the company discontinued the program.
Prince William will return to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.