News Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 29 SEPTEMBER 2008 FLIN FLON, MB – Unions representing workers at the Hudson Bay Minerals mining and smelting complex in Flin Flon are meeting Monday in anticipation of the resumption and final hearings of the Inquiry into the 2000 death of Steve Ewing on Tuesday Sept. 30 at the Flin Flon courthouse. The United Steelworkers (USW), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the International

Tuesday September 23, 2008 For Immediate Release Toronto, ON – Employees of Blok-Lok Metal Fabrication are the newest members of IAMAW Local Lodge 235. “It was a short two-week organizing campaign in which the workers made it very clear they wanted better treatment and better wages,” explained IAMAW District 78 Organizer Scott Jackson. “The company tried to talk the employees out of joining our union but the workers were determined

Tuesday September 16, 2008 For Immediate Release Hamilton, ON – A lack of employer respect and continual staff shortages at Hamilton International Airport were the key factors for Swissport employees joining the IAMAW. The 35 new members include lead hands and station attendants employed by Swissport to provide aircraft handling services for West Jet, Sky Service and Globe Span aircraft. “We have been talking to these workers for almost a

Monday August 25, 2008 For Immediate Release Toronto, ON – Members of IAMAW Local Lodge 2913 have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year collective agreement with Smarte Carte Canada Incorporated. The new agreement provides each member with a signing bonus of $500.00 and a wage increase of $ .50/hour upon ratification and wage increases of $ .50/hour on March 15, 2009 and March 15, 2010 respectively. “These negotiations began in February

IAM Successful – Air Canada Must Talk! Tuesday July 29, 2008 For Immediate Release Toronto, On – Under pressure from the IAM and other unions, Labour Minister Jean Pierre Blackburn has denied Air Canada’s request for a waiver under the Canada Labour Code. That waiver would have allowed Air Canada to lay off more than two thousand of its employees November 1, 2008 without implementing a joint union-company committee prior

Thursday July 25, 2008 For Immediate Release Montréal, QC – For the second time in less than two months the IAMAW has expanded its representation in the aerospace industry with a new application for certification for workers of CPS Industries, near Dorval Airport. On March 1, 2008, IAMAW District 11 signed a service contract with an independent union – Employees Association of CPS Industries. The Stewards and Officers of the

Friday July 25, 2008 For Immediate Release Cambridge, On – Members of IAMAW Local Lodge 2330 have ratified a new three-year collective agreement with Dana Corporation, Thermal Products Division. Dana Corporation has just emerged from Chapter 11 in the United States and has been imposing many concessions during bargaining throughout the corporation. It came to the table looking for much of the same from the workers at the Cambridge facility.

Wednesday July 16, 2008 For Immediate Release Montréal, QC – Members of IAMAW Local Lodge 2309 employed by Swissport have ratified their first collective agreement. The three-year agreement provides a lump-sum wage increase of 2.4 per cent in the first year retroactive to July 2007 and a 20 per cent wage increase in the second and third years. Other agreement highlights include : Lead hand premium increases of between 10 and

Monday July 14, 2008 For Immediate Release Toronto, ON – Workers at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Pearson International Airport, members of IAMAW Local Lodge 1295, are all smiles over their first collective agreement. The five-year agreement provides wage increases of 6 per cent including benefits in the first year, and 3 per cent in each of the remaining four years. “This contract removes any doubt in the minds of

For immediate release Friday, July 11, 2008 OTTAWA – “Higher unemployment. Massive loss of full-time jobs. Lower participation rate. Public sector and private sector, there is serious deterioration in the job market,” says Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress about today’s Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. (See below detailed analysis by the Canadian Labour Congress’ Senior Economist Sylvain Schetagne.) The Canadian Labour Congress blames the worsening jobs situation