About Workplace Campaigns

Every year, USW members, activists and staff work together to bargain and renew hundreds of collective agreements affecting tens of thousands of working people across Canada.  On top of that members in workplaces that have just joined the USW bargain dozens of new first agreements.

But representing workers' interests nowadays extends far beyond writing or enforcing language in a collective agreement. Both during negotiations and between negotiations, the USW works with local union activists to research the employer, connect with other stakeholders and engage in strategic campaigns to advance our members' interests.

The union's capacity to engage and campaign on strategic issues is particularly valuable in the rare cases when bargaining runs into an employer trying to stop our members' positive progress and erode our members' rights.  At those times, the USW can use community and international coalition-building, publicity, political and regulatory pressure, and economic and legal pressure to add to the power of our membership in the workplace.