Michael Atkins is correct when he says Steelworkers have had to be
creative when dealing with the steel industry
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The union has been equally creative in every sector in which our
members work. Sudbury is no exception. Inco has benefited over the years
from the participation of our members in the outstanding production and
profits the company has enjoyed. Our contracts with the old Inco were
always negotiated with an eye on the future and the protection of active
members and retirees. The nickel price bonus is a part of that-and
agreed to by a company willing to negotiate a share of its success. The
2009 negotiations with the new Vale-Inco will involve no less of a
commitment to discuss openly, backed by the solidarity of the
membership, those issues that both sides bring to the table.
The difference is that, over the last two years since Vale's
purchase of Inco, the union has been working locally, nationally and
internationally to build relationships that will provide new innovation
at the bargaining table. One of the union's strategic decisions is
to strengthen our global alliances. That opportunity was seized early in
July to form a new global alliance. The USW signed a merger agreement
with the largest labour organization in Britain and Ireland to create
the world's first global union.
Our new union, called Workers Uniting, will represent more than 2.8
million workers in the steel, paper, oil, health care and transportation
industries. Why did we do this? We fully understand that we must be part
of the negotiations and part of the discussion about the future of
industry itself. We did it because we already understand the growing
power of global capital. We also did this when we created the Sudbury
Unity Accord, bringing union members from Canada, Brazil, Mozambique and
New Caledonia together to deal with international companies like Vale,
their common employer.
Michael Atkins also mentioned the CIBC strike in Sudbury.For the 63
women, in a few isolated branches, the fight is on a different scale,
but the union's long-term commitment is equally solid.
The majority of the CIBC strikers are moms with growing family
bills. They are not asking for a king's ransom, especially
considering that the bank's CEO, Gerald McCaughey, takes in
$9.42-million per year. That's about $4,500 an hour.
But it's not just CIBC's top dog who's rolling in
cash. Last year the bank itself took in $12.1-billion in revenues and
kept $3.3-billion in profits. The CIBC workers want nothing less than
their fair share. For Michael Atkins to suggest anything less is simply
inappropriate.
Make no mistake, the USW is used to applying innovation and the
power of solidarity to work for greater economic and social justice, not
only for our members, but also in our communities where we live.
www.uswa.org
BYLEO W.GERARD International President, United Steelworkers
COPYRIGHT 2008 Laurentian Business Publishing,
Inc. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.