Unifor, a new Canadian union with over 300,000 members, was created on the Labour Day Weekend. It represents the completion of the long-awaited merger of the Canadian Auto Workers and Communication Energy and Paperworkers unions.
As we have previously reported, the new union has high hopes and and is making promises to do some things differently. There is a stated commitment to renewed and more vigourous organizing efforts, and there is talk of reaching out to younger workers. But there is also much of the old class warfare rhetoric and railing against corporations and bankers. Employers should continue to work at communicating with and understanding their employees in case the Unifor message is eventually refined and begins to resonate with the modern employee.
In the meantime, employers with collective bargaining relationships with CAW or CEP may be asked to agree to a form of successorship agreement. What we have seen so far suggests that any proposed agreement should be carefully reviewed.
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