July 9, 2020 - The Local Union received a favourable arbitration award on June 29, 2020, reinstating a terminated member, in a case led by one of our Local Union Representatives, Tamara Marshall. The Local’s past practice has been that lawyers represented union members at arbitrations, but Local 1944’s Local Union Representatives have now been trained so that they can represent our members instead.

July 2, 2020 - On Friday, the Union was notified by Telus that a member had dared to post the Local’s poster that reads, “Thanks to all Telecom Workers that allow Canadians to work from home” on a door within a Central Office in Alberta, and that management had taken the poster down as it wasn’t on a Union Board. 

June 30, 2020 - Hello Brothers and Sisters,

Grievances have now been filed under all three of our Collective Agreements with Shaw in regards to Shaw’s recent layoffs, and the first level meetings have each been held. The company has so far denied all grievances.

We have grieved this downsizing initiative on several fronts: 

June 30, 2020 - Check out the June 2020 issue of your magazine.

June 26, 2020 - A November 27, 2019 hotline communicated the Union’s intent to seek a ruling from the Arbitrator over the Company’s proposed compensation to our members, stemming from the Arbitrator deciding the Concierge grievance in our favour.

June 16, 2020 - On Monday, June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that their 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ+ employees from being discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status. FINALLY!

In Canada, these rights have been recognized for the last TWENTY-TWO years. In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Vriend V Alberta that irrespective of sexual identity, or expression, employers could not discriminate.

June 5, 2020 - USW Local 1944 stands in solidarity with the unprecedented groundswell of protest taking place internationally against the systemic racism faced by Black citizens, in particular from police.

June 1, 2020 - During these unprecedented times it is tremendously important for members to communicate with the union and that the union communicates with its members. One fundamental role the Union has is to advocate for improved working conditions on behalf of its members.

We are all impacted by the effects of COVID-19, personally and at work. We are asking that you provide your Union a better sense of how you are being affected, so that we can improve our efforts to help.

May 29, 2020 - Check out the May 2020 issue of your magazine.

USW Local 1944 members commemorated the Day of Mourning on April 28. The pandemic is affecting our lives in many ways, bringing along anxiety and burnout. A good way to shake off the negativity is to join one of the Pride events organized this year, some of them will be virtual. This issue also features the Steelworkers Humanity Fund’s report for 2019 and information on scholarships for 2020.