By Craig Heron, Professor Emeritus, York University How will you acknowledge the 1st of May? The provincial government probably won’t let you dance around a Maypole in any local parks. So maybe we can take a moment to ponder how people in Canada have celebrated this day more soberly for more than a century. The history of May Day is wrapped up in the struggle for an eight-hour day. In
29 April, 2021 Toronto, ON – While the IAM welcomes the announcement that Ontario will finally have paid sick days, we are concerned that there is much missing from this legislation. The new legislation, Ontario COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Program, provides $200 per day for up to three days if a worker is sick, has symptoms, needs to get vaccinated, waiting for COVID-19 test results, or has COVID-related mental health
Today marks the birth of the founder of the Machinists Union, Tom Talbot. Born on a farm in Chesterfield County, South Carolina on April 27, 1849, Talbot served as the IAM’s Grand Master Machinist (President) from the IAM’s founding on May 5, 1888 until his resignation in 1890. Talbot was working as a Machinist in the Atlantic Coastline Railway shops, at Florence, South Carolina under deplorable conditions and for very small wages when he conceived the idea of organizing the Machinists for the purpose of improving their conditions through cooperation and collective action.
Canada’s unions are marking the National Day of Mourning by calling attention to the human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. For over a year, the world has faced unprecedented upheaval due to COVID-19. The virus and its variants have wrought havoc on our society and laid bare a troubling lack of protection for workers. #DayOfMourning #DoM2021
April 26, 2021 On Saturday, April 24, 2021, the new members of the Stelia Aerospace Canada unit (Local 712) at Mirabel ratified their first collective agreement. “The major challenge of this negotiation was to improve and ensure the upkeep of working conditions as employers generally seek to reduce working conditions since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Éric Rancourt, Business Representative at District 11, responsible for the Stelia Mirabel unit.
Sisters and Brothers, I hope this finds you well. April 28th is our National Day of Mourning. It’s a day when we remember those who lost their lives or were injured as the result of a workplace tragedy. This is particularly painful at this time for IAM members of Local Lodge 99 and District 14 in Alberta, who recently saw a member lose his life in a workplace accident. In
The Grand Lodge election take place Saturday April 24, 2021; for in-person voting. Members who choose to vote by absentee ballot, requires that be mailed prior to April 22, 2021. If you voted by absentee ballot, you need not go in-person, to the voting location. However if you wish to change your vote, you can still vote in person. The in-person vote takes precedent over the absentee ballot. Nevertheless, you
19 April, 2021 Toronto, ON – In one of the most important-anticipated budgets in our lifetime, the IAM hopes it will reveal a clear roadmap to our fiscal future. The grave nature of the disruptions caused by COVID-19 demands nothing less. Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered her first budget to Canadians today. The budget, first intended to be presented by former Finance Minister Bill Morneau on 30 March, 2020,
It is with regret and sadness that we announce the death of our colleague Normand Cherry, at the age of 82. A man of conviction and in solidarity with his fellow Machinists, he left his mark on the history of Local 712, the labour movement, politics and the economy of Quebec. He joined Canadair as a machinist in 1954 and served as President General Chairperson of IAMAW Local 712 from
By Ivana Saula Mass unemployment, a slow recovery and debt incurred over the last few months have prompted discussion about Universal Basic Income (UBI). Success of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) has been used as a prelude to a conversation about UBI, given how effective it was in assisting thousands of workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic. Missing from this narrative is that many workers were initially
