Check out archived segments of The Union Hall, previously featured on New Left Radio, a podcast covering politics and social issues.
Week 28: In the final episode, which aired on March 9, 2022, we’re joined by Tiffany Balducci in the CUPE Ontario Union Hall to discuss the latest IPCC report on the climate crisis, what labour’s role is in a just transition, and how we can push forward on what is an overwhelming existential challenge.
Week 27: In this episode, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn joins us to talk about Ford’s plan to scrap license plate tag renewal and forego $1 billion in revenue.
Week 25: In this episode, Fred Hahn and Michael Hurley drop by the CUPE Ontario Union Hall to discuss the ‘Freedom Convoy’ and what we must do now.
Week 24: In this episode, we’re joined in the CUPE Ontario Union Hall by Harry Goslin, President of OCEU CUPE 1750, representing workers at Ontario’s WSIB. We discuss the Ford government’s redistribution of benefits intended for workers to business, the failure of Ontario’s emergency sick days, and what you should do if you think you contracted COVID on the job.
Week 23: In this episode, on the second day of Black History Month, we’re joined in the CUPE Ontario Union Hall by Aubrey Gonsalves. Aubrey serves as President of CUPE 2316, representing members at the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and was recently elected CUPE National’s Diversity Vice-President representing Black and racialized workers.
Week 22: In this episode, we’re joined in the CUPE Ontario Union Hall by Carolyn Ferns of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and Athina Basiliadis, a Frontline Child Care Worker and a Child Care Representative on the CUPE Social Service Workers’ Coordinating Committee to discuss yet another failure of the Ford government to protect frontline workers and our children.
Week 21: In this episode, OSBCU President Laura Walton pops by the CUPE Ontario Union Hall to talk about Ontario’s failure to protect schools and what we can do to fight back.
Week 20: In this episode, CUPE Ontario President, Fred Hahn, pops by the CUPE Ontario Union Hall to discuss Ford’s pandemic failures. He asks “when will Premier Ford’s government stop picking on the frontline workers, in health care systems and in schools and public services, who have a piece of legislation that binds their ability to bargain when we’re all dealing with huge increases in inflation?
Week 18: In this episode, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn drops by the CUPE Ontario Union Hall to discuss the highs and lows of 2021, the struggle we’re all feeling with Omicron, and his hopes for building a better Ontario in 2022.
Week 16: In this episode, Yolanda McClean, CUPE Ontario’s new Secretary-Treasurer, talks about what it means for the labour movement to be the union’s first Black officer.
Week 15: In this episode, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn drops by the Union Hall to discuss Doug Ford’s 27th pass on paid sick days for Ontario workers. TWENTY-SEVENTH. During a pandemic and while feigning an attempt to ‘fight for workers’. Ontario deserves better.
Week 13: In this episode, we’re joined by CUPE Ontario Executive Committee member & Pink Triangle Committee representative Susan Gapka in the CUPE Ontario Union Hall to discuss this weekend’s Trans Day of Remembrance, CUPE Ontario’s role in the fight for Trans workers, and the issues that face Trans Canadians every day.
Week 12: In this episode, we’re joined in the CUPE Ontario Union Hall by Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario to discuss the political theatre by Doug Ford on minimum wage and the economic statement for the province’s future.
Week 11: In this episode, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn joins us in the CUPE Ontario Union Hall for a look at the Ontario Federation of Labour’s detailed plan to beat Doug Ford and create a better province for working people — on Election Day and beyond.
Week 10: In this episode, we’re joined in the Union Hall by CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn to discuss Bill 124, the minimum wage, funding cuts for public services, lack of permanent paid sick days, housing, and more of the horrors in the Ford Republic of Ontario.
Week 9: In this first episode, which aired on Oct. 20, 2022, we’re joined by CUPE Ontario President, Fred Hahn in the Union Hall with CUPE Ontario, our new weekly segment. It appears Doug Ford and the PCs are in full campaign mode, positioning the premier as a big spender who came to the rescue of Ontarians during the pandemic. The reality couldn’t be more different.
