By James Napier The membership of Unifor Local 222 has issued a stunning rebuke to Unifor National President Jerry Dias. At the Local 222 general membership meeting on February 1, two motions were passed that opposed the sudden, destructive action taken by Dias on January 16, to pull Unifor out of the house of labour. Continue readingUnifor local 222 opposes Unifor’s split from the CLC
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By Jonathan Rosenblum Dear Canadian union sisters and brothers, There’s a lot to admire about your labor movement. With community organizing, creative street heat, and militant strikes, you’ve just scored the biggest win yet in the Fight for $15, forcing a pro-corporate Ontario government to raise wages for 1.7 million workers and grant new card-check Continue readingDear Canadian unions: Don’t let a union split tear the labour movement apart
By David Bush When Unifor left the CLC on January 16 it cited the inability of the CLC and its affiliates to properly handle the process by which workers can change unions. This process is outlined in Article 4 of the CLC constitution. The disagreement over Article 4 is the only reason that has been Continue readingArticle 4, a smokescreen for labour’s civil war
“We hadn’t set up a new organization in order to be cannibals in the Canadian labour movement.” — Bob White, first president of the Canadian Auto Workers (now Unifor). By Doug Nesbitt, Gerard Di Trolio, Evan Johnston and David Bush Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, has left the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Unifor’s website Continue readingUnifor-CLC split demands unity from below
By Chris Parsons With the holidays coming to an end, negotiations between the Irving family’s Halifax Shipyard Inc. and its unionized workers are set to resume this month with the help of a mediator. In December, the workers, members of UNIFOR Marine Workers Local One voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike mandate after the Continue readingClass warfare and the Irving Shipyard
By Herman Rosenfeld A four-week strike at the CAMI assembly plant, that began on September 17th, ended on October 16th. Members of Unifor Local 88 voted 86% in favour of the tentative agreement bargained with the stand-alone GM plant. Located in Ingersoll, Ontario, close to London, it is a former joint venture between Suzuki and GM. Continue readingCAMI strike 2017: After another setback can Unifor move on?
By Gerard DiTrolio and Doug Nesbitt As negotiators from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico carry out secretive talks aimed at fixing NAFTA, a strike at an Ontario auto plant shows how difficult it can be to challenge the power amassed by corporations thanks to the trade deal. The 2,800 members of Unifor Local 88 walked Continue readingCAMI workers strike, but can’t get guarantee on jobs
by Cory Weir GM Oshawa autoworker, Unifor Local 222 As we rolled into the town of Ingersoll on Friday night a familiar sight was noticeable from the highway: an otherwise quiet night sky filled with industrial light from a burgeoning automotive facility much like the one we had just finished our shifts at in Oshawa. Continue readingCAMI strike: An Oshawa autoworker’s view
By Gerard Di Trolio and Doug Nesbitt The strike at the CAMI Automotive plant in Ingersoll, Ontario is of major importance to the labour movement. The 2,800 members of Unifor Local 88 have walked off the job in a battle for wages but crucially for job security. It’s the first GM strike in Canada since Continue readingCAMI strike can renew fight against NAFTA
by Chris White Retiree representative, Unifor Local 222 executive board For 8 months Unifor President Jerry Dias has refused to act to stop the unnecessary exploitation of GM retirees’ health care trust by retired Unifor staffers. In December of 2016 the Retired Workers Chapter and the GM Unit of Unifor Local 222 Oshawa moved a Continue readingJerry Dias ignores and disrespects GM retirees
By Daniel Tseghay Throughout the summer, Unifor members at hotels in downtown Vancouver and Victoria will be in bargaining. Members at Hotel Vancouver, the Coast Coal Harbour, the Residence Inn, and Victoria’s Hotel Grand Pacific are looking to benefit from some of the incredible profits these high-end hotels are making every year. Three of the Continue readingUnifor gearing up for bargaining at BC hotels
By David Bush and Gerard Di Trolio On March 27, CLC Investigator Barry Thorsteinson submitted an 11 page report to CLC President Hassan Yussuff on the ATU Local 113 crisis. His report notes that with the March 17 withdrawal of Bob Kinnear’s request for the CLC’s justification proceedings, the case ends with the filing of Continue readingContentious CLC report on ATU crisis falls short