BCTGM Supports CUPW

Local 406 Members recently attended a rally with various labour organizations in support of our Sisters and Brothers of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
This rally was held at the office of Moncton/Riverview/Dieppe Member of Parliament, Ginette Petitpas-Taylor.

Supporting UFCW workers  

Local 406 supports striking UFCW Workers on the line at the Covered Bridge Potato Chip plant in Hartland, NB.

Labour Pleased Government Scraps Arbitration Changes

Legislation aimed at throttling back growth in wage settlements has been dropped in the face of strong objections from organized labour.
   The Liberal government said Friday that instead of legislated changes to arbitration it will strike a committee of stakeholders to talk about rising labour costs.   
The move was disappointing for municipalities who warned the government their future viability is threatened by spiralling wage bills they cannot afford, especially for essential services.
   But labour leaders, including those for police and firefighters, welcomed the Liberal government announcement, hailing it as a victory for democracy and the labour movement.
Union Leaders were saying the Liberal government was trying to fix a problem that didn’t exist.
  Unions presented a good case, showing where we are and how we got where we are. The fact is arbitration ensures a fair wage settlement and a fair contract not only for police and fire, but also for other sectors of the economy.
   Police and firefighters in New Brunswick gave up the right to strike years ago in favour of binding arbitration in settling contracts.
   The decision to create a "labour/management committee" in place of the binding arbitration bill could just be window-dressing.
Labour Unions in New Brunswick are very aware of what Governments can do to workers and we will remain quite vigilant with this proposed "Labour/management committee"

climate and the environment, labor standards, occupational safety and health at risk with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Deal

The U.S. and Canadian electorate are massively opposed, across the political spectrum, to the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Hatched during the market triumphalism of the 1980's, modern era trade agreements like the TPP have contributed to the most lopsided inequality in income distribution since the Great Depression. They created the commercial and legal framework for outsourcing living-wage jobs, escalating the prices of critical medicines, and assigning corporate privileges globally that undermine national and local government laws and regulations on climate and the environment, labor standards and occupational safety and health, controls on tobacco, alcohol and obesogenic foods and beverages, and privatizing services such as health, education, social services, water, and corrections.
The TPP would continue and extend these policies, which significantly undermine the social and economic determinants of the public’s health. In fact, even the recent analysis by the usually complacent International Trade Commission concedes that the TPP would add virtually nothing to U.S. and Canadian economic growth, while further eroding jobs in 16 out of 25 economic sectors in agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Public health must not collude with efforts to resuscitate the TPP.
Another world is possible. The 12-nation TPP, finalized in February, 2016, is now subject to approval by those 12 governments. In the U.S., each presidential candidate says they oppose it, as do majorities in the House and the Senate. Empty promises of a glittering 21st century trade agreement are no substitute for meaningful policies that shape a healthy global economy.
The TPP would exacerbate income inequality, entrench unaffordable prices for prescription drugs, undermine and endanger public health protections for the environment, tobacco and alcohol control, food safety, and data privacy, and generally elevate corporate rights over the public’s interest. It is on a glide path to defeat. Public health should promote its demise and replacement with international agreements that give priority to ensuring and strengthening the social determinants that improve health for all.