IAM Canada is saddened by the impending closure of Union Communications Services (UCS) effective August 30, 2019. IAM members across North America benefitted from the UCS “Steward Update” which gave valuable and topical information to union stewards from all unions.
Gord Falconer, Chief-of-Staff of IAM Canada, who has used and promoted the service as long as it has been available, commented, “Over the years, IAM activists came to depend on the information UCS shared with us. We believe in a strong education for all our activists, and UCS was a tremendous help towards that goal. We will miss it greatly”, he said. Falconer previously held the roles of Educator and GLR Responsible for Political action.
For the past five years, the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School operated Union Communication Services (UCS), which publishes Steward Update. David Prosten founded UCS in 1981, and gifted it to Cornell University’s Worker Institute.
A statement emailed out to its subscribed members says, “The August issue of Steward Update (Vol. 30, No. 4) will be the final issue. Also, as of August 30, 2019, Cornell University will no longer sell UCS-published books. The leadership of the Worker Institute reached this decision through a good faith process, which involved searching for a new home for all or parts of UCS. Unfortunately, this effort did not come to a successful conclusion.”
(With files from Cornell University)
