International News

A sad day for Canadian Aerospace

Bombardier announces 2,500 layoffs in Québec Montréal, QC – “This comes as a complete shock and surprise to the IAM, we had no prior knowledge of this action,” said IAM Canadian General Vice President Stan Pickthall regarding Bombardier announcement today of 5,000 layoffs worldwide including 2,500 in Québec. “The biggest frustration is that once again Bombardier has announced major cuts just before Christmas with very few details,” explained IAM Québec

International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) 2018 Congress Summary

IAM Canada was a part of a vigorous delegation that participated in the 2018 ITF Congress.  What follows is a summary of the main work programs that were approved by the delegates in attendance for the next 5 years. The 2400 delegates in attendance at this ITF Congress voted to support a new strategy program and have set priorities for the Civil Aviation section of the ITF which covers workers

Achieving gender equality in male dominated sectors

19.10.2018 On 16-17 October, IndustriALL affiliates from across the world met in Cape Town, South Africa, to develop strategies for achieving gender equality in the mining, base metals, materials and energy sectors. These sectors, which often provide skilled, well-paid and prestigious work, are dominated by men. Women working in these sectors tend to do the most menial and precarious work, with the lowest wages and status, and are often not

IAM Canada delegates active at ITF Singapore Congress

Singapore – The largest ITF (International Transport Workers Federation) Congress is underway in Singapore this week and the IAM is among the participants from 600 unions representing more than 19 million members from 140 countries. This congress is the biggest to date with over 2,000 participants. The civil aviation conference at the ITF congress talked about the global aviation industry with an affiliate-led outlook. “The conference opened with a research

7 October - World Day for Decent Work: Change the Rules

Workers from around the world will be holding activities to mark the 11th World Day for Decent Work on 7 October. This year’s global theme, “Change the Rules”, highlights the deeply entrenched injustice of the global economic system alongside shrinking democratic space and deteriorating labour rights in many countries, documented in the ITUC Global Rights Index. “The rules are stacked against working people, and that is why we have unprecedented and

New trade deal with new name!

Washington, DC – We have a tentative new trade deal with a new name, NAFTA is gone, to be replaced by the USMCA or United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. To get this new deal, it appears Canada has given away the farm! America has a chronic problem of over production of its milk products and our supply management system restricted Americans from dumping their surplus here. Under the deal American dairy farmers

Canada back to the table after U.S. – Mexico reach trade understanding!

Ottawa, ON – Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland heads back to Washington this week to resume face-to-face negotiations with the United States and Mexico regarding NAFTA. The minister cut short her diplomatic trip to Europe for high-level talks after U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the U.S. and Mexico had reached a bilateral trade understanding. Trump implied this agreement could lead to the overhaul or termination of the three-country

How a trade war may hurt our economy!

Toronto, ON – Canada’s economy would shrink by 1.8 per cent if the United States breaks all trade ties with its partners and imposes across-the-board tariffs that average 20 per cent, according to a Scotiabank report. “A ramp-up in protectionism in the U.S. results in a negative impact on growth in each of the NAFTA partners economies,” said the report. Earlier this month, the U.S. imposed significant tariffs on steel

Canada knows where it stands!

Washington, DC – While President Donald Trump demands Canada dismantle its supply management dairy system or risk our trading partnership, and his advisers have reserved a special place in hell for our Prime Minister following his comments at the recent G7 summit, Canada has not taken the bait! “I did not vote for Justin Trudeau in the last election, and our politics are often polar opposites but I applaud he

NAFTA Update: Nowhere near an Agreement on a modernized NAFTA

If you have been following the rounds of negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), you may be surprised by the latest development. Last week, Prime Minister Trudeau was declaring that the three nations were close to reaching an agreement and this week the negotiations have come to a halt because of the United States. US President Trump has decided to play a card that nobody expected: launch