I was back on CBC Daybreak Montreal with Sean Henry this morning to help place the current STM strike in a broader context: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

The govt of Canada has banned Kneecap from entering, citing "the advocating of political violence, terrorism or Anti-Semitism and hate more broadly." The govt should be specific here, or else this is is a continued, worrying crackdown on expression (+ border violence!). www.cbc.ca/news/enterta...

While the Academic Conference Fashion Report has taken on a life of its own as a moment of levity amidst the conference chaos, its origins are a bit darker. 1/ 🧵

The first rule of expert labour commentary: never pass up an opportunity to make a Spinal Tap reference #canlab #spinaltap #labour #strike #bcgeustrike2025 #bcgeu

TFW a student meekly approaches you after class and, with great hesitance, asks if it would possibly be OK to write their research paper on a question related to the Knights of Labor. Yes, yes, you may. [NOTE: This is before I have made any mention of the Knights in class] #ProfessorGoals

Ah, how I miss the archives…

Excited for my union’s first-ever “Welcome Back Week” activities this week as we gear up to win our first-ever contract! The Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts (AMPFA) is organizing! If you’re on campus this week, come and find us! #unionpower #unionstrong

Air Canada flight attendants have rejected their tentative agreement by 99.1%, with 94.6% turnout. What are the broader implications? I shared my thoughts this morning on @cbcnews.ca www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

A few thoughts on the overwhelming tentative agreement rejection at #AirCanada. 🧵 #canlab 1. The union oversold the tentative agreement by declaring the end of unpaid work. That framing seems to have rubbed some members the wrong way.

A predictable result when workers put it all on the line to fight for something, are told they got it, but then the actual deal says something different. 1/

One of my guiding principles in shaping my approach to communicating with broader publics about labour issues is that one should never miss the opportunity to incorporate a Spinal Tap reference into one’s analysis. #CanLab #TheseGoToEleven 🤘 www.nsnews.com/the-mix/you-...

For Labour Day, I was invited on @globalnews.ca to talk more broadly about the future of Canada’s labour movement, and particularly how government intervention in strikes factors into that: globalnews.ca/video/113765...

It seems like US federal employees circa right now could be well-served by taking their cue from US federal employees circa 1969. (This is from an internal Nixon administration memo on the state of labour relations in the federal public sector) #makerulersafraidagain #striketowin

Remembering the time my son had to learn some hard life lessons a bit too early (sound on) 😢😩🍕 #kidlife #hardknocklife

The article concludes that the Israeli government remains impervious to sanctions because they mainly target cultural elites. But it just makes the argument for more crippling sanctions. End arms shipments, enforce ICC warrants, and they’ll care more. theconversation.com/netanyahu-re...

Academic Fashion Report, First Day of School Edition: Today was my first day back teaching at @mcgillu @mcgillarts for the 2025-26 academic year. It marks ten years since I started at McGill. 1/

I was on @jacobinmag.bsky.social Radio with Suzi Weissman this week to talk about the Air Canada strike and what it tells us about the moment we’re in for labour: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/j...

Marking the one-year anniversary of my viral cat video moment on CTV Your Morning 🐱📺

How could Air Canada flight attendants' challenge of the labour code change workers' rights in the country? Associate Professor of Sociology at @mcgill.ca, @eidlin.bsky.social joined @keninmontreal.bsky.social:

@eidlin.bsky.social Good to hear you on our CBC Manitoba Information Radio this morning. Thank you for your expert insights Barry! #unpaidhours #flightattendants

This is what happens when employers understand that a strike is real, & gov’t won’t come save them. It creates the pressure necessary to hammer out a deal. Perhaps the Liberals will learn that lesson. Kudos to ⁦CUPE‬⁩ for showing how it’s done. www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

"If governments keep showing such disregard for workers’ fundamental rights, we shouldn’t be surprised if workers start showing more disregard for government orders," writes @eidlin.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Excellent piece by @eidlin.bsky.social

Hot off the pixels at ⁦‪@theglobeandmail.com‬⁩ : my op-ed on the history of the right to strike in Canada, and the current Liberal government’s failure to learn the lessons of that history: #CanLab www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

I was back on CTV National News this evening to discuss the Liberal government's attempt to order @cupescfp.bsky.social flight attendants back to work at @aircanada.bsky.social , and the implications of CUPE's defiance of the back-to-work order: www.ctvnews.ca/video/2025/0...

The existing Canadian system of collective bargaining, for all its flaws, was forcibly extracted from a reluctant Liberal government in the 1940s, after a decade of workers demonstrating that restricting strikes only fuelled further class conflict 1/ 🧵

I was back on ⁦‪CBC News’ national evening broadcast tonight to discuss the Liberal government’s outrageous use of Section 107 yet again to trample on Air Canada flight attendants’ Charter-protected right to strike and order them back to work. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

If workers’ Charter rights are to have any meaning, the Supreme Court must close the Section 107 loophole ASAP. The labour minister should not be able to order workers back to work against their will via email. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Feds again considering whether to override right to strike simply by sending an email to CIRB ordering it to block any strike. If govt’s can do this then there is no right to strike in Canada. Period. That’s why feds’ use of s 107 to ban strikes is unconstitutional. share.google/4kuBWanWiFz7...

A 1-2 punch of @profsavage.bsky.social and me commenting on the problems of repeated government intervention in labour disputes #CanLab : ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/federal...

Another chilling example of how “free markets” are often anything but free for those whose labour makes those markets function. jacobin.com/2025/08/corp...

I was on @globalnews.ca BC early this morning to discuss the impending strike by @cupescfp.bsky.social flight attendants at @aircanada.bsky.social , sans my little research assistant this time @mcgillumedia.bsky.social @mcgillarts.bsky.social globalnews.ca/video/113344...

Come for the analysis of the issues underlying the impending ⁦‪@cupescfp.bsky.social‬⁩ flight attendant strike at Air Canada, stay for my daughter’s impromptu debut on live national ⁦‪@CBCNews.ca‬⁩ TV with ⁦‪@NatashaFatah‬⁩.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Academic Conference Fashion Report, #ASA2025 Edition, Day 4: By the last day everyone is fried, but there was still a lot of reconnecting and mentoring to do, along with serving as a panel discussant and handling more media interviews about the impending Air Canada flight attendant strike. 1/

A textbook example of the pernicious effect of repeated government intervention in labour disputes: instead of using the pressure of a strike deadline to hammer out a deal, Air Canada management walks away from the table and calls for government intervention www.reuters.com/business/wor...

After the ASA Comparative-Historical Section business meeting, outgoing Chair @prof-deleon.bsky.social and I met up to rep the merch we both picked up at BLACKPINK concerts this summer #KPopProfs #blackpinkinyourarea✔️ #asa2025

Great to talk with Antony Robart on @globalnews.ca today about the @aircanada.bsky.social @cupescfp.bsky.social flight attendant negotiations. Remember, your flight attendants only start getting paid when the plane wheels start rolling! globalnews.ca/video/113316...

Academic Conference Fashion Report, #ASA2025 Edition, Day 3: Today was a long day, starting with a 6:00 am TV interview about Air Canada flight attendant contract negotiations, then the 7:00 am ASA business meeting…1/

Prof. Barry Eidlin on possible Air Canada strike: "There’s a lot of issues that accumulate over a 10-year contract that need to be addressed" Read more here: www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/com... @eidlin.bsky.social

I was up early again today for an interview with Anne-Marie Mediwake on CTV Your Morning to discuss the issues surrounding a possible strike by CUPE members who work as flight attendants at Air Canada: youtu.be/PzN5ff2Ve8E?...

Academic Conference Fashion Report, #ASA2025 Edition, Day 2: Today started bright and early with an 8:00 am Thematic Session I co-organized with Eric Blanc on “A Bottom-Up Union Revival?” that still managed to draw a crowd despite the time, 1/

It’s the belated return of the Academic Conference Fashion Report, #ASA2025 Edition, Day 1: with the music of ATEEZ still ringing in my ears from their concert the night before, I boarded a 5:40 am flight from LAX to ORD yesterday. 1/

I was on @cbcnews.ca Let's Go with Sabrina Marandola to discuss the legal challenge that McGill professors' unions are mounting to Quebec's Bill 89, that radically restricts Quebec workers' right to strike: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

J’étais de retour aux ondes de ⁦‪Radio-Canada‬⁩ Vancouver ce matin pour discuter du refus par la Commission des relations de travail de la demande d’Amazon d’invalider la certification du syndicat ⁦‪Unifor‬⁩ à leur entrepôt à Delta ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premie...

On McGill faculty unions' challenge to Bill 89 #canlab : “Our response should be, ‘Let’s make sure that workers who are doing essential work are paid well and treated properly,’ not, ‘How do we write laws to force them to work against their will?’” www.montrealgazette.com/news/provinc...

Glad to be part of this constitutional challenge, along with AMPL, @ampe-mcgill.bsky.social and AMASC to Quebec’s Law 89, an attack on all workers’ fundamental right to strike, and to the foundations of collective bargaining in Quebec #CanLab. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

huge W

No surprise the forced ratification vote failed. They hardly ever succeed. But what now? Well almost 3 months ago I walked thru what is likely to happen once the final offer vote is rejected & assuming no deal is reached. Here: lawofwork.ca/how-will-the... … www.thestar.com/business/can...

The utterly predictable result of the federal government’s ham-fisted attempt to force @cupwsttp.bsky.social members to accept Canada Post management’s supposed “final offer.” 1/

A powerful statement from 31 Israelis, including a former speaker of the Knesset, a former Knesset member, and multiple Israel Prize recipients, calling for “crippling sanctions” on Israel to end the genocide in Gaza. It is well past time for this 🇵🇸 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...