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Excellent story about SMS in Canada - by Carlos Da Costa

“Excellent story about SMS in Canada”Recently, I came across a very interesting but lengthy story about Safety Management System (SMS) in Canada titled “Fly At Your Own Risk: Why is Transport Canada moving toward self-regulation for the country’s airlines?” Once in a while you come across a story that just can’t be ignored and captures the issue in its entirety from someone else’s perspective. This story featured in The Walrus

Ambutrans Workers Ratify First Agreement

Toronto, ON – Members of IAMAW Local Lodge 1295 employed with Ambutrans have ratified their first collective agreement. The four-year agreement provides wage adjustments in the first year as well as wage increases of two per cent in each year. Other agreement highlights include : • Paid lunch • Meal allowance for long distance trips • Overtime and holiday provisions • Vacation increases – 3 weeks after 5 years of service

It’s Time to Re-Regulate Aviation (by Louis Erlichman and Carlos DaCosta)

In the wake of the global economic meltdown and its stunning display of the failures of corporate-dominated markets, there has been a lot of talk (but little action) about re-regulation in the financial sector. In the aviation sector, however, the deregulation express seems actually to be accelerating, with moves in Canada and elsewhere to get rid of the last vestiges of airline regulation. Starting in the early days of commercial

A federal election? What are the issues?

With all the talk about the likelihood of the Conservative Government being defeated and bringing on a federal election, some of the pundits are saying that it would be a waste of time – an election without issues. While this may be an accurate reflection of the similarity of Liberal and Conservative policies, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t crucial issues that need to be dealt with – whether or

New UN Agency for Women's Equality and Rights

The United Nations General Assembly voted Monday to create a new, more powerful agency for women, in a move supporters hailed as a breakthrough for women’s equality and rights. An Assembly resolution called for the amalgamation of four existing United Nations offices dealing with women’s affairs into a single body to be headed by an under secretary general. The unanimous vote followed three years of negotiations.

Compulsory votes on certification applications!

Dear Sisters: Dear Brothers: As you may have read in both French and English newspapers from Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke, analysts at the Montreal Economic Institute claim, on democratic grounds, that compulsory votes must be held on certification applications (requests to unionize) to confirm the intention of the concerned workers. Who is in agreement with this claim? Well, the Employers’ Council (whose former president now heads the Montreal Economic

Machinists ratify first agreement at Blok Loc!

Toronto, On – Members of IAMAW Local Lodge 235 have ratified their first collective agreement with Blok Loc Limited. The three-year agreement provides wage increases of four per cent over the life of the contract. “The wages were all over the map and this agreement has brought about a degree of conformity in that vital area,” explained IAMAW District 78 Directing Business Representative Gary Hynes. “The lack of seniority was

LATUC – it’s how we spell “solidarity” in Spanish

This past weekend, the Latin American trade Unionists Coalition (LATUC) was formed at their inaugural conference held at the venerable Steelworkers Hall on Cecil Street in Toronto, Ontario. The Coalition was supported by many unions, especially those with members from the Latin American communities. Among the sponsors of the Conference were the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada, United Steelworkers (USW) the Canadian Union of Public Employeers (CUPE) National,

Machinists endorse Swan

Winnipeg, MB – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have endorsed Andrew Swan for the leadership of the Manitoba New Democrats and as a result Premier of Manitoba. The leadership race became necessary with the resignation of long standing party leader Gary Doer. Andrew has roots within the IAMAW. His father is a retired aircraft mechanic and member of I.A.M. Lodge 714 in Winnipeg. Andrew credits those roots