MONTREAL, MARIEVILLE, Que. – The United Steelworkers union (USW)/Syndicat des Métallos in Quebec welcomes a decision by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) that foreign dumping of steel wire products has harmed the Canadian market.
However, the USW also is raising concern that Quebec’s Bill 3, the anti-union and unconstitutional legislation proposed by François Legault’s CAQ government, will prevent unions from pursuing such trade complaints in the future.
The CITT ruled this month that Canadian steel producers have been harmed by the dumping of carbon steel wire and other alloy materials by producers from China, Taiwan, India, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Turkey and Vietnam. As a result, Canada will impose anti-dumping duties on such imports from these countries.
“This is good news for our members who produce steel wire at Sivaco in Marieville and at ArcelorMittal in Montreal,” said Yves Rolland, a USW representative responsible for the steel sector in Quebec.
The CITT ruling came following testimony delivered to the trade tribunal in December by USW members, including Philippe Beaudoin, president of USW Local 6818 which represents members at the Sivaco (Heico Group) operations in Marieville.
“I testified to describe the damage done to our working conditions and our jobs. There have been layoffs and early retirements because of this unfair competition … It was a serious blow that affected our approach to negotiations and undermined our bargaining power,” Beaudoin said.
Union activism under threat
The USW and its members from communities across the country are involved in several trade cases before the CITT. However, there is concern that Quebec unions could be prevented from defending workers’ interests in such case if the CAQ government passes Bill 3, which aims to restrict political action by unions.
“This is exactly the kind of issue that falls into a grey area of what could be prohibited by Bill 3,” said Nicolas Lapierre, the USW’s Quebec Director.
“The CAQ government’s bill would restrict our ability as a union to defend the jobs and working conditions of our members. This is completely unfair and unacceptable. We are in the midst of a trade war, and not only is Quebec failing to help our industries, as we saw with the closure of the Rio Tinto Fer et Titane metallic powders plant in Sorel, it also is undermining unions that want to protect our economy,” Lapierre said.
The Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers, affiliated with the FTQ, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec, representing more than 60,000 workers from all economic sectors.
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