Redwood City, Calif. | Reuters — A California farm worker accused of shooting seven people to death near San Francisco, some of them his co-workers, made his first court appearance on Wednesday after he was charged with murder in the state’s second deadly gun rampage in recent days. Chunli Zhao, 66, the lone suspect in […] Read more
Tag Archives labour — page 7
Suspect in California farm worker shootings appears in court
Early evidence suggests workplace grievance, authorities say
Biden administration makes case for quick Senate vote to avoid rail shutdown
Bill imposing deal on workers clears House
Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration on Thursday urged the U.S. Senate to quickly pass a bill to block a railroad strike, warning that serious economic disruptions could be felt within days. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve a bill to impose a tentative contract deal reached in September on […] Read more
Arbitration leads to deal for CN signals staff
IBEW held 17-day strike in summer
Canadian National Railway (CN) has labour peace with its signals and communications workers through to the end of 2024 coming out of binding arbitration. The 750-odd workers, represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council 11, had agreed to take their dispute with CN to arbitration in early July, ending a 17-day strike. […] Read more
Calhoun’s expansion translates into more jobs for rural community
Calhoun Super Structure celebrates 30 years with expansion of Goderich facility
Calhoun Super Structure celebrated 30 years in business with the opening of a $1 million energy-efficient building expansion at its Goderich production plant. The new build provides an additional 10,000 square feet of interior workspace featuring LED lighting, sustainable welding machines for a more streamlined operation and increased eco-friendly business practices in line with consumer […] Read more
Motivating and managing employees for farm markets
Pandemic pressures taught farm market businesses lessons on employee engagement and retention
Labour attraction and retention are challenging in agriculture, especially for seasonal vegetable and fruit operations. Whether front-line or field workers, maintaining and managing seasonal employees through pandemic burnout, consumer aggression and high expectations led growers to try new tactics to keep staff. Why it matters: Effective orientation of new employees and fostering emotional investment in […] Read more
Changes to TFW program to expand worker availability
Workplace LMIAs now valid for 18 months
The federal government is boosting the availability of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to ag and other understaffed sectors under a list of policy changes announced Monday. Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in […] Read more
Agri-food labour pilot programs receive funding
Efforts to build a competitive and robust agri-food workforce are getting a $4 million boost from the federal and provincial governments. Funded through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), the Ontario Agri-Careers Support Initiative (OACS) supports pilot projects to attract, support and retain workers into the sector, such as transportation initiatives, childcare options and language proficiency […] Read more
Pork industry looks ahead from turbulent 2021
Pork prices expected to stay elevated in 2022
MarketsFarm — Labour shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, high feed costs and lower prices posed constant threats to Canada’s hog industry in 2021. Nevertheless, pork appears to be in a good spot entering 2022, according to two analysts. “2021 was not the best, but not the worst,” said Tyler Fulton, director of risk management […] Read more
Vaccine mandate to lead to inflation, empty shelves, trucking executives say
Parallel mandate for U.S. entry starts Saturday
Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian consumers should soon see higher prices and some empty shelves in supermarkets and other retail outlets because of disruptions stemming from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, top trucking executives warned this week. The mandate, imposed by Ottawa to help curb the spread of the virus, has cost six […] Read more
Ontario to extend labour-related crop loss coverage
Losses due to COVID-19-related labour disruptions covered
A temporary crop insurance expansion that covers Ontario farms against crop losses due to “on-farm labour disruptions” caused by COVID-19 will be held over for yet another year. Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, announced in late December the feature first introduced in 2020 will be included again in 2022, at the same coverage […] Read more
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