For six weeks, 15 May to 26 June, 1919, more than 30,000 workers shut down the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Robert Boyd (R. B.) Russell and Peter Herenchuk, Machinist Union activists from Local Lodge 122 were strike leaders. The strike produced the worst repressive measures taken to that time against trade unionists. Arrests and killings eventually ended the strike but moved the labour movement into the field of political action.
Steve Luba was elected Business Representative for IAM District 14 in Edmonton in April 2024. Steve became a member of IAM Local 99 when he started working at Finning Cat in 2006. A lifelong Edmonton native, Luba completed the Industrial Heavy Equipment Technology program (IHET) program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and has been a Journeyman Heavy Equipment Technician (HET) for almost 25 years. He has been a
The 200 nursing staff of Mackenzie Health Long Term Care in Richmond Hill voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining the IAM Union. “Only 2 employees voted against getting the Union”, noted District 78 organizer Rootisha Rampat Sukhu. “The workplace leaders worked tirelessly to get their co-workers signed up and held them together”, Rootisha further explained. The good work that IAM Union District 78 is doing on behalf of healthcare workers
May 9, 2024 IAM International President Brian Bryant has appointed Kevin Timms, a 15-year IAM Local 1681 member from Calgary, as a Canadian Special Representative assigned to organising. The appointment is effective on May 20, 2024. Timms, who most recently served as an IAM District 140 General Chair in Alberta, will help lead organizing efforts in Canada. He was recognized as the Canadian Territory’s top organizer of the year in
April 29, 2024 Early December 2023, workers from multiple locations at Arbutus RV on Vancouver Island contacted the IAM seeking representation. IAM District 250 Business Representative John Humphrey met with some of the workers over the following weeks to hear their concerns and how the IAM could represent them. Arbutus RV has more than 90 workers at seven locations on Vancouver Island. When the company heard there was high interest
District 78 once again makes history by appointing Ben Osakue as Business Representative. Osakue becomes the first African-Canadian male to hold any servicing position in the IAM in Canada. This follows on the heels of last year’s election of Vivianne Simon as a Business Representative with DL78, becoming the first African-Canadian (and African-Canadian woman) to hold that position in Canada. Osakue, born in Nigeria, lived in West Germany, then moved
Dear IAM family, Happy 136th birthday to the IAM! It’s a testament to all of you, and all those who came before us, that our great union has risen from a railroad pit in Atlanta in 1888 to the powerful force for working people that we are today. Since having the honor of becoming the IAM’s 15th International President on Jan. 1, myself and your Executive Council have hit the ground
(Mirabel, QC, Wednesday, 1 May, 2024) – Members of Airbus Canada, IAM Local Lodge 712, voted 77.14 per cent in favour of their new contract. Nearly 81 per cent of the 1,300 workers cast ballots in the vote, which ran from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. today. In addition to the changes proposed by the conciliator from the Direction générale des relations de travail, the new contract includes most of
Dan Janssen, General Chairperson with IAM District 140 organised a well-attended rally at Pearson Airport in Toronto on 01 May, 2024. Dan and other IAM members, members of other unions and non-union workers at the airport have been working tirelessly on this issue for many years. Today’s rally was the largest in many years, partially due to COVID-19, but mostly due to the hardships faced by workers at airports and
‘There Should Never Be Any Doubt About the Power of the IAM’: IAM International Staff Conference Kicks Off in Washington, D.C. The 2024 IAM International Staff Conference took place this past week in Washington, D.C., drawing together approximately 600 IAM staff from across North America. This important event marks a strategic gathering designed to chart the future course for growth and transformation within the IAM, ensuring our union remains at
