IAM Canada – IAM Union Speaks Out in Ottawa Against Airport Privatization

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The IAM Union is continuing to speak out against the federal government’s plans to bring private investment into the operation of Canada’s largest airports.

On September 22, Dave Flowers, President and Directing General Chairperson of IAM District 140, attended a press conference in Ottawa on behalf of the IAM Union to raise concerns about the impact of airport privatization on workers, travelers and communities across Canada.

The federal government has announced plans to seek private investment through long-term concessions to operate Canada’s four largest airports: Toronto Pearson, Vancouver International, Montréal-Trudeau and Calgary International. The government has said it will retain ownership of the land and assets while bringing in private capital and expertise to support airport operations and growth.

For the IAM Union, Canada’s airports are critical public infrastructure that should continue to serve the public interest.

“We represent tens of thousands of workers in airports and across the aviation industry in this country. We know airports and we know flying,” said Dave Flowers during the press conference.

Flowers emphasized that Canadian airports were built through public investment and that any shift toward private control raises concerns about affordability, accessibility, labour standards, regional connectivity, public oversight and safety.

“We need to make sure that Canada’s airports operate for a long-term public good rather than short-term private financial gain,” he said.

The IAM Union represents workers across Canada’s aviation sector who play an essential role in keeping the traveling public safe and keeping Canada’s air transportation system moving.

Watch Dave Flowers speak at the Ottawa press conference.

Sign the petition

The IAM Union has launched a national House of Commons petition calling on the Government of Canada to reject any proposal to privatize, sell or transfer ownership or control of Canadian airports to private, for-profit interests.

Sign the petition here.

The IAM Union will continue advocating for an aviation system that protects workers, travellers, communities and the public interest.

IAM Union: Working Families Will Pay the Price for U.S.-Canada Trade War

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 Brian Bryant, International President of the 600,000-member IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) and IAM Union Canadian Territory General Vice President David Chartrand issued the following statement in response to the collapse of U.S. and Canadian trade talks, coupled with steep tariff increases:

“As a result of President Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on numerous Canadian goods—and further threats by administration officials to ‘ban’ Canadian goods—Prime Minister Carney announced that Canada will match the incoming U.S. tariffs ‘dollar for dollar.’ These new targeted counter tariffs are concentrated in sectors such as steel and aluminum, appliances, agricultural equipment, and pulp and paper —all industries that directly affect IAM members and their jobs.

“This administration’s decision to continue escalating attacks against Canada, and the resulting trade war that will ensue, is deeply harmful to working families on both sides of the border—with no winners. The threat to thousands of workers’ jobs will not help address the affordability crisis, nor will it ensure domestic manufacturing increases for the benefit of workers on either side of the border.

“This administration must, now more than ever, listen to labor and working people to develop a trade policy that centers U.S. and Canadian workers and brings the parties back from destructive brinksmanship.”

The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries across the United States and Canada.

IAM Canada – Bill C-39 Must Put Canadian Workers at the Heart of Canada’s Future

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The IAM Union is deeply concerned about the labour provisions contained in Bill C-39 and what they could mean for workers across Canada.

The federal government says the legislation will strengthen collective bargaining and protect the right to strike. But provisions that expand government intervention in labour disputes could shift the balance of power away from workers and make it harder for them to use collective bargaining to secure better wages, safer workplaces and good, secure jobs.

“Canadian workers are the lifeblood of this country. We cannot win a trade war by weakening workers’ rights. A stronger Canada means standing up for the people who keep our country moving”, said David Chartrand, General Vice-President of the IAM Union in Canada.

Canada is facing significant economic uncertainty and pressure from global trade disputes. This is precisely when workers need strong collective bargaining rights and a meaningful voice in their workplaces, not measures that could give government greater authority to intervene in legal labour disputes.

“Building a stronger and more independent Canada means investing in Canadian workers and Canadian communities. It means creating good union jobs, strengthening domestic industries and ensuring that the people who build, maintain and operate Canada’s infrastructure can share in the prosperity they help create”, Chartrand added.

For the IAM Union, economic sovereignty must include the ability of Canadian workers to have a real say in their working conditions and their future. Canada’s economic strength cannot be measured only by investment, major projects or trade corridors. It must also be measured by the quality of the jobs created and whether workers have the rights and protections needed to benefit from that growth.

Nation-building must not come at the expense of workers’ rights or collective bargaining and Canadian workers are not separate from Canada’s economic success. They are the foundation of it.

A stronger and more independent Canada must be built with workers, with strong unions and with respect for the rights that generations of Canadians fought to establish.

NDP Responds to Airport Private Investment Plan

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NDP Leader Avi Lewis, the party’s transport critic Heather McPherson, and union representatives speak out against the government’s plan to attract private investment in four major airports. 

https://www.cpac.ca/headline-politics/episode/ndp-responds-to-airport-private-investment-plan?id=14a399ae-42ea-49bb-a996-bca8d3b9e896

Petition

https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7453&fbclid=IwY2xjawUfskNwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMUlXMTZORTB3aEx6ODlGTkRzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeRZUtPssWkeYmpwWsr6t8h5AIvZd_gnr8OIp_qv5-jHwlLvaGjwHV0qv6uUM_aem_E9TckpFPq0ZDOMezMq0nzA