Canadian Report
Under the guidance and supervision of Officers and Staff of the Canadian IAM office, 33 Delegates and 12 Staff Members took part in 2 workshops on Tuesday April 11th 2017.
The first workshop was a strategy session called “Building a Stronger IAM” and the second one hands-on lobbying session called “Political Action Lobbying”.
Our Delegates were split into 2 groups both of which went through each session separately.
Building a Stronger IAM
Both groups agreed that we face a number of issues that present challenges both now and in the near future. Across Canada, internal and external organizing is still a real problem.
Union density is dropping but it doesn’t stop there, continual contract flipping has our members struggling to maintain their seniority, benefits, and wages. We need to lobby for language similar to the Airport Screeners, in section 47.2 of the Labour Code, which protects these and others workers from the impact of switching to a new Company when the new contract is tendered by Airport Authorities.
The majority controlled Liberal Government has announced to the media a plan that might see the major Canadian airports privatized. This was never discussed during their campaign; however it now seems to be moving full steam ahead.
“The IAM strongly opposes Airport Privatization”.
“Airport Privatization” could potentially put our Members jobs and wages earned at risk due to the profit model that would be introduced, not to mention rising costs to the airlines and eventually the public so that the newly privatized airport can generate a profit for the shareholders. The non-profit model currently in place should be maintained with some possible improvements as opposed to a pro-business model being proposed. Even the major carriers (Air Canada, West Jet, Air Transat and some American airlines) along with the majority of Airport authorities in Canada are opposed to this privatization of airports.
Our Canadian delegates came up with a list that we see as the best path to building a stronger IAM.
- Educate and meet frequently with our Stewards.
- Mentoring new Stewards by senior Stewards.
- Stewards should provide regular reports of Membership’s feedback.
- Educating the membership through Local Lodge info sessions.
- Online training videos for further education and cost savings.
- Listen to the Membership. Many solutions lie with them (Organize the organized)
- Better communication and broadcast some of our wins confidentially.
- Review feedback from those meetings and create a plan to implement.
- Social events and or have well-funded Local’s somehow support Local’s that have small membership.
- Work with all levels of IAM in creating and implementing action plans.
- Local Lodges should mobilize a committee to help implement plan.
- Be persistent in implementing the plan
- Hold fundraisers to raise awareness and funds to further implement these plans
- Finally, create achievable goals and continue reaching for more achievable goals.
Though our Delegates deliberated at length on all of these issues, we selected ideas we thought to be the highest priority for the purpose of this report.
We agreed that Shop Steward training at the Local levels was a root problem that could help solve some of our issues. We need to better utilize the tools we already have.
We all agreed that we give our Steward body limited training and virtually no information to pass on to the Members. This must change as we are setting up our Stewards and our entire Organization to fail.
If we want our Members to further support our union and become more involved, pertinent information must be delivered through a well-educated and strong union leadership at the floor level. We always hear that we are not in the workplace enough and yet we have Steward Body in the workplace 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is where we can make a huge impact if we adopt these suggestions made in this report.
The Shop Stewards are an extension of the Locals; the Locals are an extension of the Districts; and the Districts are an extension of the Grand Lodge. We all need to work together. Lets use “OUR ARMY” of stewards which is one of our best tools to communicate with and organize our membership. By training our “Steward Army”, they can be our best source for organizing the already organized.
Once we have that foundation, our Delegates recommended that action plans be created on specific issues so we can get clear messages out to the membership.
Political Action Lobbying
The second workshop our Delegates participated in was “Political Action Lobbying”.
We face many issues on the political front as a result of poor protection by the legislation in this country. Further many Bills introduced by our politicians are designed to negatively impact workers in Canada.
In this workshop we learned strategies and practiced how to lobby politicians with one issue, “Privatization of Canadian Airports”.
We learned that it is best to form teams of 4-5 people, with a spokesperson to speak on behalf of the group. One person from each group should document what happened at the meeting in the event there are any action items to follow up with. Each group should know the politician well in advance by doing some research and set up an appointment by being persistent. Prior to meeting, a strategy should be developed on how to best deliver the message.
Staying on topic and be focused on the issue being presented is very important by explaining our concerns and reasons for it, along with some suggestions on how to improve it. At the conclusion of the meeting, leave any pertinent information he or she might need to know or pass on to other politicians. We were reminded to be polite and thank them for taking the time to meet the group. A group picture that includes the government official is always a good idea to show our members of what we are doing. An exchange of contact information is always a good idea so that we can contact each other in future should more information be required along with sending a follow up email.
The next phase of this workshop was to practice lobbying with our IAM staff. This is where we learned that knowing your subject is very important specially if you are talking to a well-informed politician.
At the end of this workshop we all understood the importance lobbying has. The purpose of lobbying is to influence the decision makers and most importantly educate them on the issues they will be voting on that affects our citizens in Canada.
In Canada we face a resurgence of a very right wing Conservative Government. In May 2017, we will find out who will lead the Federal Conservative party. If recent polls are correct, we will have our own northern version of Donald Trump in a candidate by the name of Kevin O’Leary. A reality television star/corporate millionaire whom has publicly stated that Unions should be illegal and Union Leaders should be thrown in jail. Now more than ever, we need to become politically active.
In February of 2017, the IAM took part in the largest lobbying day organized by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) in Canadian history. 265 Members of various Unions across Canada all met on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to speak on issues such as the Pension Reform Act, and National Medicare to name a few.
Though not the biggest Union in Canada, the IAM had the largest group present to take part in this lobbying exercise. This was something to be proud of, however we will not stop. The IAM is proud to be leading the labour movement and lobbying will play a big role in our success.
Dave Flowers
Canadian Committee Spokesperson
President LL2323
IAMAW, Canada
