TORONTO – Leaders of the United Steelworkers (USW) welcome the Ontario Court of Appeal decision to reject an appeal by lawyers for a Metron Construction Inc. supervisor sentenced in the 2009 deaths of four workers in a Toronto scaffolding collapse. However, USW National Director Ken Neumann and Ontario Director Marty Warren call on the Ontario […]
On January 17, 2018, Unifor announced it was leaving the Canadian Labour Congress. Within hours of that decision, Unifor had started a concerted campaign to raid the members of UNITE HERE Local 75 in Toronto. It subsequently emerged that Unifor hired the former president of Local 75, Lis Pimentel, and a number of staff from […]
OTTAWA – The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal negotiated secretly by the Liberal government will further erode Canada’s manufacturing and industrial base, eliminate more middle-class jobs and drive down wages, working conditions and environmental standards. “While in opposition, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals strongly criticized the Conservative government for secretive negotiations on the TPP and its profound […]
Op-ed column by Ken Neumann For more than a decade, against a backdrop of targeted killings, sexual violence, ecological damage and exploited workers, a coalition of civil society groups pressed the federal government to take meaningful action to oversee and investigate the behaviour of Canadian mining companies operating abroad. The unrelenting campaign by the Canadian […]
BÉCANCOUR, Que. – United Steelworkers (USW) members across Canada and the U.S. will mobilize to support workers locked out of their jobs at the ABI aluminum smelter, USW Canadian Director Ken Neumann says. Neumann and Steelworkers Quebec Director Alain Croteau were joined on the picket line today by leaders of Mexico’s national miners’ union Los Mineros, […]
An Open Letter to All USW Local Unions, Activists and Members: As many of you know by now, Unifor’s leadership made the decision to unilaterally leave the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) last Wednesday, Jan. 17. This is, of course, a very disappointing decision. What’s more disappointing is that Unifor attempts to justify this decision by […]
On Wednesday, Jan. 17, the Bank of Canada announced that it was raising the target for the overnight rate by .25 basis points, from 1.00% to 1.25%. With this adjustment to the overnight rate, the third rate increase in the previous six months, the Bank of Canada seeks to put the brakes on what has […]
OTTAWA – The United Steelworkers (USW) is calling for quick implementation of a new Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), announced today by the federal Minister of International Trade. “The Minister is to be commended for seeing the need for an ombudsperson and for recognizing the positive contribution it can make in encouraging respect for […]
VANCOUVER – The decision by Shaw Communications to close its Freedom Mobile call centre in Windsor, Ont., is an unjustified attack on employees, the United Steelworkers (USW) says. Shaw’s decision to move its call centre activity to its operation in Victoria, B.C. will affect over 130 hard-working employees and their families in Windsor. “Freedom and […]
TORONTO – The United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada and the United States join the Mexican National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Related Workers (“Los Mineros”) in demanding justice for the families of two protesters against the Media Luna mining operations in Guerrero, Mexico, owned by the Canadian company Torex Gold Resources, who were killed […]
We have the chance to strengthen human rights legislation in Canada. NDP MP Romeo Saganash’s private member’s bill, C-262, would ensure that the laws of Canada are in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The bill comes is currently in its second reading. Members of the USW have been […]
TORONTO – The murders of two strikers at a Canadian-owned mine underscores the widespread repression of basic labour rights in Mexico – even when the employer is Canadian, the United Steelworkers (USW) says. “On Saturday, November 18 – four days after the Canadian government was warned of the potential for such violence – an armed […]
TORONTO – As NAFTA renegotiations shift to Mexico City, the United Steelworkers (USW) is calling on the Canadian government to intervene in a potentially violent crackdown on labour rights at a Canadian-owned mine in Mexico. “The situation developing at the Media Luna mining project in the state of Guerrero is extremely troubling. It demands the […]
VANCOUVER – “The U.S. Department of Commerce’s announcement of final duties averaging 20.8% on Canadian softwood is completely unjustified and will be crippling for Canadian workers and our forestry industry if not overturned,” said Ken Neumann, United Steelworkers (USW) National Director. “Canada must do more to protect our forest-dependent communities in the face of such […]
On May 9, 1992, a lethal build-up of methane gas led to the explosion of the Westray Coal mine in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. The explosion killed all 26 miners working underground and forever scarred the communities of Pictou County. Since that time, family groups and the United Steelworkers union (USW) have worked together to honour […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement must reverse the erosion of economic security, raise living and working conditions for all and provide broad, effective and enforceable labour rights, say leaders of the United Steelworkers (USW), North America’s largest industrial union. At the Trinational Labour Summit in Washington, D.C., the USW’s International […]
Steelworkers congratulate Jagmeet Singh as the new federal leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP)! In a letter to Singh on behalf of Steelworkers, USW National Director Ken Neumann expressed excitement about Singh’s leadership and the tremendous energy and enthusiasm the new leader brings to our proud and principled party. “You are arriving at an […]
TORONTO – The Steelworkers Humanity Fund is contributing $25,000 to communities throughout the Caribbean impacted by Hurricane Irma. “Irma was a devastating storm, unlike anything seen in decades, where it touched down in Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. “Once again it is the poorest communities that will have the greatest difficulty […]