National Director's Update
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December 2012
National Director's Update - December 2012
In this issue: An exciting time to defend jobs and workers' rights • Green Energy Act's local sourcing worth defending • Obama's re-election a thrill for Canadians too • Steelworkers advocate 'Made in Quebec' plan • Steelworkers gearing up for B.C. election •
USW National Women's Conference an inspiring success, more
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September 2012
National Director's Update - September 2012
In this issue: Global Solidarity: Our Strength for the Future • Queen’s University Staff Ratify First Collective Agreement • Caisse Pop Workers Win Settlement in Sept-Îles • Working Women, Working Union: 2012 Conference Call • Steelworkers Honour Frank Wall’s Legacy • Victory in Alma • Off The Podium Campaign a Global Success • New Global Union IndustriALL a Triumph for Solidarity • Mexican Landowners And Workers Confront Canada’s Mining Company Excellon • Steelworkers Renew Emphasis on Mining
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March 2012
National Director's Update - March 2012
In this issue: Taking on Injustice, Moblizing Solidarity • Rio Tinto Alcan: Global Support Grows • Good Agreement Across Canada at CN Rail • Making Foreign Investment Work for Canada • Burns lake Explosion: Helping B.C. Families Rebuild from Tragedy • Singing for Strikers Song asks BMO to Help End the Strike • Labour Board Ruling Vindicates USW, Consider Criminal Charges in Vale Mine Deaths: USW • Harper Attacks Old Age Security
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December 2011
National Director's Update - November 2011
In this issue: Honouring Jack’s Request • Landmark Deal at Highland Valley Copper • Orange Wave Continues for NDP in Provincial Elections • Steelworkers Humanity Fund: A Year of Vital Assistance Across the Globe • Confronting the Conservative Assault on Organized Labour • Political Action Campaign Gets Results for Security Guards • Locked-Out Resort Workers Win Gains in New Contract • “Spirit of ’46 Alive and Well” at USW Local 1005 • Airport Screeners En Route to a More Secure Future
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October 2011
National Director's Update - October 2011
In this issue: Steelworkers pledge to STAND UP, FIGHT BACK at International Convention • Forging alliances with taxi workers • Securing good deals in tough times • Rubber workers fighting back • Lyle Hewer: A travesty of justice compels us to act • Steelworkers locked out at Quebec resort • USW celebrates role in creating workplace health science university • Delegate profiles from the international convention
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June 2011
National Director's Update - June 2011
In this issue: Building for the Future by Engaging our Youth. NDP Makes History. Website winners. Conservative Cuts Compromise Airport Security, Voisey’s Bay Commission Report: a Victory for USW, Humanity Fund. USW Members, Rally to Help Flooded Communities. USW Wood Council - Good Contracts In Tough Times. Tough Bargaining Brings Great Deal for Workers at ArcelorMittal in Quebec
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February 2011
National Director's Update - February 2011
Our Fight is Canadians’ Fight, Raw Log Exports Are Killing Canadian Jobs, Quebec Provides Energy - Communities Expect Good Jobs, 10,000 Rally for Jobs and Retirement Security, Gearing Up for an Election, Bob Mackenzie, 1928-2011, Anti-Scab Army Fans Out Across Provinces, Solidarity Against Vale
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December 2010
2011 Calendar of Religious and Special Days
Use this calendar to recognize special holidays of many faiths and plan local union meetings and events so that all members may attend.
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October 2010
Steelworkers Building Strength - October 2010
Steelworkers win important ruling in U.S. Steel case, Steelworkers respond to Pakistan's Humanitarian crisis, Wood Council locals negotiate new deals in B.C., Ontario launches review of the Occupational Health and Safety system and more.
- October 2010 Steelworkers Win Important Ruling in U.S. Steel Case Law defending workers and communities is a valid public purpose.
- October 2010 USW Calls for National Debate on Foreign Takeovers Fate of Potash Corporation Raises Fundamental Questions
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June 2010
National Director's Update - June 2010
Building For Tomorrow’s Jobs - USW Forcing Historic Prosecution in Worker’s Death - The Fight to Stop Harper’s Colombia Trade Deal Continues - You can help defeat Bill C-2 - Activist Materials - Order FREE Copies for Your Local
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February 2010
National Director's Update - January 2010
Inspiring Day for Vale Inco Strikers - 2,500 in the Streets of Sudbury - U.S. Steel in Court - Victory in Yellowknife - Fighting Health Privatization in Quebec - Steelworker Elected to B.C. NDP
Helping Out Haiti - Nationall Policy Conference is Coming - Proroguing: What Lives & What Dies - Leo Praises Quebec's Programs
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December 2009
National Director's Update - December 2009
Taking Our Fight to the Decision-Makers - Hydro can export electricity, but not our jobs - USW Local Takes on DriveTest -
Raising Funds for Jailed Leader - Blue Green Canada to Stand Up for Green Jobs in Copenhagen - Anti-Scab Battle Can and Will Be Won - Steelworkers Fight Back, while Vale Discredited
- December 2009 Anti-Scab Battle Can and Will Be Won The USW continues to help lead the way in the battle to establish fair, free and balanced collective bargaining systems across Canada.
- May 2009 Steelworkers push Harper to stand behind the Canadian steel industry Last month I pressed the Canadian government to tell us what steps they have taken to require U.S. Steel to fulfil the commitments it made when it took over the former Stelco operations in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ontario.
- April 2009 Exiled Mexican union leader wins injunction against arrest warrants A panel of judges in Mexico City’s Federal District Court granted legal protection to exiled mining union leader Napoleón Gómez Urrutia in a March 23, 2009 decision that invalidates both the arrest warrants issued for him and Mexico’s extradition request to Canada, where he and his family now live in exile.
- April 2009 Forest Workers Safety Network (FWSN) launched in BC The newly-launched Forest Workers Safety Network (FWSN) is an initiative of the United Steelworkers (USW) union, which represents over 20,000 forest workers in the province of British Columbia.
- April 2009 Steelworkers tell Canadian Senators to fix the EI program In a presentation to the Senate committee looking at changes to the EI program, the USW said the current EI benefits program is clearly inadequate for the tens of thousands of Canadians who are losing their jobs every month.
- April 2009 USW supports legislation to reduce toxic substances in Ontario The USW is part of the Take Charge on Toxics campaign, a broad coalition of health, environment and labour organizations, which has supported the introduction of an Ontario toxics use reduction legislation.
- April 2009 Unite and USW global union sets out response to global crisis ahead of G20 meetings Workers Uniting, the first global union created through the coming together of Unite, the UK’s biggest union and the USW, the largest private sector union in the USA and Canada, is calling for support for the manufacturing sector, particularly the auto companies and their suppliers.
- April 2009 Steelworkers Humanity Fund Responding to World Crises With part of its mandate to provide relief to areas of crisis and disaster in the world, the Steelworkers’ Humanity Fund has made $20,000 in contributions to various humanitarian aid initiatives so far in 2009.
- April 2009 BC Budget Fails Forest Workers The recent budget announced in BC, the last one before a provincial election in May, offers nothing to assist workers, or to re-tool the wood manufacturing industry or properly reforest areas devastated by the mountain pine beetle.
- April 2009 Green Energy + Green Economy = Green Jobs As more Canadians become aware of the need to protect our environment in more precise and directed ways, some steps have been taken to make the greening of our economy a reality on a more macro scale.
- April 2009 News Flash - US Steel Announces Temporary Shutdown in Hamilton , Lake Erie At press time, US Steel had just announced the temporary shutdown of operations in Hamilton and Lake Erie. The shutdown is said to be “temporary” but no specific details were offered.
- December 2008 National Women's Conference - "I Live in a Ghost Town" - Joni Fraser Joni Fraser is a USW member with a personal perspective on how raw log exports are hurting communities in BC.
- December 2008 Economic Crisis - Towards Solutions Protecting workers and working families in a crisis - With an accumulated surplus of more than $50-billion in the Employment Insurance Account, the federal government must maintain and increase EI benefits and expand spending from the EI Fund to pay for labour adjustment and training programs. Canadian pensions should be backstopped by a national pension guarantee fund. Revenues from a financial transaction tax should go to this fund.
- December 2008 Economic Crisis No Accident - Now it's time to clean up the mess ‘I told you so’ is never a welcome statement to someone who rejects good advice and then gets into trouble. But that is exactly what progressive economists, the labour movement and social democratic parties the world over have to say to the policy-makers, financial institutions and free traders who have created the current economic crisis.
- December 2008 National Women's Conference - Insider Report A great deal of time and effort goes into every Steelworker conference. The National Women’s Conference was no exception. From the documents and their design and reproduction to the agenda, the call for delegates, the hotel, the speakers, the guests, the theme, the entertainment, the catering – logistics are huge and a lot of people are involved.
- December 2008 National Women's Conference - Panel on Trade: Free Trade, what has it been good for? Nothing, says BC economist The 1990s were a lost decade in many ways, with women paying disproportionately for the expansion of the free trade agenda that started with the Canada-USA Free Trade Agreement in 1988, says Marjorie Griffin-Cohen.
- December 2008 National Women’s Conference - Women workers in UK see themselves in Unite The USW’s global union partner, Unite, has made a conscious effort to build gender proportionality into every level of the union structure, from the national executive to local unions (called ‘branches’ in the UK).
- August 2008 Carol Landry: Vice President at Large 2008 Convention delegates made history when they voted in favour of creating a new position on the International Executive Board – Vice President at Large.
- August 2008 Are you an American citizen eligible to vote in the US Election? Democrats Abroad want you The organization Democrats Abroad Canada is hoping to communicate with as many US or dual US/Canadian citizens as possible to encourage them to vote for Barack Obama in the November US presidential election.
- August 2008 Global Union a Reality AUGUST 2008 - After 15 months of discussion and preparations Unite, the UK’s largest union, and USW, North America’s largest private sector union signed an agreement establishing a fully registered union in the UK, USA, Ireland and Canada in June 2008.
- August 2008 Labour Day 2008 a day for you and me Over the course of the last century and a half, the significance of Labour Day has gone from being a workers’ demonstration in a period when unions were still illegal, to simply the last long weekend of the summer before the start of the school year.
- August 2008 Protection for the 21st Century: Strike and Defense Fund strengthened Delegates to the 2008 Convention voted overwhelmingly in favour of strengthening the union’s Strike and Defense fund, a move that will increase strike and lockout benefits for members forced to walk the picket line, as well as provide resources for running strategic campaigns to achieve good collective agreements.
- August 2008 Thought for food: $90,000 to Canadian food banks through the Steelworkers Humanity Fund At Christmas, food bank hampers fill up quickly as people associate more readily with the season of giving. The need is equally great in the summer but contributions are fewer and farther between.
- June 2008 Darren Patrick wins Aboriginal Seat on CLC Executive Council Darren Patrick, USW’s District 3 education coordinator, was selected by the Aboriginal Caucus at the recent Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) Convention to represent aboriginal interests as a vice-president of the CLC Executive Council.
- June 2008 Still time to STOP Free Trade with Colombia One Saturday in June a small story appeared inside most Canadian newspapers. Based on a federal government press release issued sometime Friday night, the story announced that Canada has concluded negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.
- March 2008 New Scholarship Opportunity The Steelworkers’ proud tradition of worker education has now been enhanced by a new scholarship available to members who have been accepted into an accredited college, university, community college, or technical or trade school or accredited labour program.
- March 2008 News on the Envlronment: Lights Out for an Hour on March 29
- March 2008 ACTRA and USW Renew Vows The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and USW have renewed a strategic alliance first signed at the USW International Convention in 2005.
- March 2008 Election Season is Upon Us, Choose Wisely - by KEN NEUMANN, National Director At press time, Steelworkers in Alberta were getting ready to go to the polls in a provincial election. Nova Scotia was looking ripe for one and BC, with its fixed term, will hold an election in 2009.
- March 2008 No Free Trade with Colombia With more trade unionists murdered there than anywhere else in the world, Colombia is the focus of a campaign by Steelworkers and others to stop the federal government from signing a free trade agreement with the Latin American country.
- March 2008 SOAR in Quebec MONTREAL -- District 5’s recent Annual Assembly became the platform to launch a Quebec-wide chapter of SOAR (ORME in French). Chapter 5-1 will be led by retired Steelworker Michel Picard.