Alberta

National Indigenous Day

June 15, 2018 - June 21st is National Indigenous Day. Local 1944 invites all our members to recognize and celebrate the heritage and culture of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in our communities.

"On June 21, as we should do so on any other day, we acknowledge that many of our workplaces are located on Indigenous land," said Lee Riggs, President of USW Local 1944. "National Indigenous Day is also an opportunity to reflect on the dark legacy of residential schools and to honour the survivors. Our duty, as a union, is to advance our members' rights, inside and outside of the workplace. On National Indigenous Day, let's renew our commitment to pressure our governments for overdue equitable policies favourable to our Indigenous communities."

Vice-President BC Betty Carrasco announces her retirement from Local 1944

June 14, 2018 - Betty Carrasco, Vice-President BC of Local 1944, longest serving-member of our Executive Board, and Chair of our Local's Women of Steel Committee, will retire this month on June 30, 2018, after working for our Local for over 20 years.

For over 37 years, Betty has been active in our Union and dedicated herself to helping people. She started working for BC Tel in 1981 and quickly got involved in the labour movement as a Shop Steward in Unit 50. She later became a Counsellor/Delegate and the Vice-President of the Unit. In 1994, Betty was elected to our BC Tel Bargaining Committee, and four years later, she was elected as Business Agent.

USW International Women’s Conference 2018 Application

May 29, 2018 - The USW will be holding its International Women's Conference at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto, Ontario, on October 14-17, 2018. The Conference will start with registration on Sunday, October 14th and continue until 1:00 pm on Wednesday, October 17th.

This year, the Conference's theme is "Women of Steel - A Call to Action". It will focus on skills enhancement, global solidarity and strengthening the labour movement, all of which contribute to your Local Union's capacity to better serve the membership, influence politics and legislation, and strengthen the labour movement as a whole. The program will include high profile motivational speakers from the US and Canada along with women from countries and unions where the USW is forming global alliances. Participants will have the opportunity to choose among many skill-building workshops.

USW Local 1944 Scholarship

May 29, 2018 - Every year, USW Local 1944 offers three educational scholarships of $750 and four scholarships of $1,000 to children of union members graduating from high school.

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

  • Applicant must be a child of an active member of USW Local 1944;
  • Applicant must be graduating from grade 12;
  • Applicant must be registering for courses at a public post-secondary institution.

Update regarding the Election Tellers report

May 16, 2018 - The USW Local 1944 Executive Board met on Monday, May 14th and Tuesday, May 15th, 2018. During this meeting, the Local Union Election Tellers presented their report of the recent 2018 Local Union Officers and Unit Official Elections.

Asian Heritage Month

May 1, 2018 - In May, we celebrate Asian Heritage Month in Canada, a time to honour and connect our diverse communities, and learn from each other.

Asian immigration in Canada started more than 150 years ago, when Chinese workers arrived on the west coast to help with the construction of the railways that contributed in the building of Canada as a nation. They worked under terrible conditions for ridiculously low pay. People of Asian descent were subjected to discrimination and had to fight for human rights and social justice in Canada. May is a month to reflect on these diverse struggles.

National Day of Mourning 2018

April 27, 2018 - Every year on April 28, we celebrate the National Day of Mourning throughout Canada. This day is dedicated to remembering and honouring those who have lost their lives, or suffered injury or illness on the job.

The statistics from the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada show that 905 workplace deaths were recorded in 2016 in Canada. There were more than 241,500 claims for lost time due to a work-related injury or disease - this figure only includes the cases reported and accepted by the compensation boards. In Canada since 1985, over 25,000 workers have died due to work-related injury or disease.

District 3 Summer School Application 2018

April 25, 2018 - District 3 will be holding a weeklong Summer School at the Trickle Creek Lodge & Kimberley Alpine Resort in Kimberley, BC, on June 10-15, 2018.

The school commences with registration on Sunday, June 10th and continues until noon on Friday, June 15th. For those students new to the D3 Summer School, they will be holding registration in the Stemwinder from 2:00 pm-5:00 pm and a "Welcome" barbeque for all at 6:00 pm.

USW Local 1944 will be selecting up to 8 rank-and-file members to attend the D3 Summer School.

Conciliation Requested for Shaw Vancouver and Surrey Bargaining

April 23, 2018 - Yesterday the Company and the Union formally requested assistance from the Federal Minister of Labour by filing for conciliation

Robert Reich will be addressing the AFL Midterm 2018

April 22, 2018 - The Alberta Federation of Labour is holding its Midterm 2018, on the theme "Forward, Not Back. How Alberta unions can make a difference in the next election".

The 2019 election will be a pivotal one for Albertans and it arises many questions. Will the province continue to support our vital public services? Will it diversify the economy? Will it continue to support policies aimed at helping working families? The stakes are high for working people.

In this context, the conference will feature a keynote address by former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, on Friday, May 4, 2018, from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.