By Ian Bickis
The head of Canada’s largest private-sector union says she’s glad to be putting this year behind her, but next year will present a whole new set of daunting challenges.
Unifor national president Lana Payne said in an interview Friday that tariffs imposed by the United States this year have meant a lot of hardship for union members, while uncertainty over trade will loom over contract talks set for next year.
“We’re going into bargaining in a year with a lot of uncertainty, a lot of chaos,” said Payne.
“So it’s going to be a very, very challenging year on that front.”
Contract talks will cover about 95,000 Unifor workers next year, almost a third of its total members, including workers at the Detroit Three automakers.
Negotiators will have to contend with the risks of losing production and jobs to the U.S., as the Trump administration uses tariffs to try and bring more industrial jobs back into the country.
Sectors including automotive, forestry and metal production have been especially hit with steep tariffs, even as most other goods are still flowing freely into the U.S., leading to an uneven picture on how the economy fared this year, Payne said.
“While the macro numbers might look a certain way, I would say beneath the surface of those numbers are some very, very serious problems,” she said.
“We still had many thousands of workers in auto and forestry, and in general manufacturing, who’ve been impacted in a severe way. They’ve faced either layoff notices, we’ve had shifts that have been reduced in plants, we’ve had plants that have been idled and we have plants that have closed.”
The forestry sector has seen several mill closures and curtailments as it faces 45 per cent tariffs on exports to the U.S., while Algoma Steel Inc. announced layoffs of about 1,000 workers represented by the United Steelworkers as it accelerated a planned production transition because of 50 per cent tariffs on products heading south.
The automotive sector, which is facing varying degrees of tariffs, this year saw Stellantis announce it was moving production planned for its Brampton, Ont., plant to the U.S. GM also announced it was cutting the third shift at its Oshawa plant and the end of production for an electric delivery vehicle at its plant in Ingersoll, Ont.
Besides the high profile moves, there are also numerous smaller manufacturers that have been forced to make adjustments because of tariffs.
“It’s been a hard year for working people,” said Payne.
Adding to the challenges has been moves by government, at both the provincial and federal level, to erode the power of labour, she said.
Alberta’s use of the notwithstanding clause to end a teacher strike, Quebec’s Bill 3 that she said is designed to weaken unions, and the federal government’s use of Section 107 to force employees back to work all come as unions try to fight for jobs, Payne said.
“I think it is disgusting that governments choose this moment, this moment particularly, to try and weaken unions, when unions are the voices for working people at a time when working people need voices more than ever.”
But despite the challenges, she says she still has faith that the big challenges can be tackled through collective action.
“I’ve seen it all this year, the way people have come together, to support each other,” said Payne.
“Often when the chips are down and we’re in the biggest of crises, it’s when working people come together.”
