Steelworkers Union Seeks Legislative Changes to Protect Labour Rights
WINNIPEG, May 10 /CNW/ – The United Steelworkers union (USW) is lobbying members of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly to improve labour laws and the Fatalities Inquiries Act as it applies to workplace deaths.
“We believe that workers in Manitoba should be able to sign up to join a union and a 50%-plus-one majority should prevail,” said USW Local 7913 President Cory Szczepanski. “We also say workers involved in a labour dispute shouldn’t be threatened with use of replacement workers.”
Replacement workers pose a serious threat to USW members in Thompson who go into bargaining with Vale Inco next year.
USW members in Sudbury, Ont. have been locked in a bitter dispute with Brazil-based Vale for 10 months. Vale is using replacement workers – a move the Steelworkers say typically prolongs strikes and encourages violence, particularly in resource-based communities like Sudbury and Thompson where labour disputes feature so prominently in the community.
“We don’t need the kind of tactics Vale Inco is using in Sudbury to find their way to Thompson,” said Wayne Skrypnyk, USW area coordinator for Manitoba.
