December 22, 2016 - 2016 is coming to an end after a long and busy time for our national local.

Much of our time was spent on bargaining for Telus and Stratcom, which resulted in the ratification of new collective agreements.  Although bargaining is a long and arduous process, and often a very stressful time, there was an outpouring of solidarity throughout the process. We saw a high level of member engagement in comparison to previous years of bargaining, and we saw brothers and sisters step up and volunteer their own time to keep up communication and engagement by participating on CATs. Our bargaining committees spent countless hours away from their families in order to fight for member rights.

“I’m really proud of our membership and how people stepped up during bargaining in the fight for a fair collective agreement. We have passionate activists in our local who make us stronger,” said Lee Riggs, National President of USW 1944. “We have a big year in 2017 and I hope we can continue with this level of engagement and move forward together.”

2017 promises to be another busy year with the USW Telecom Council, USW International Convention, and our own Local Annual Delegated Meeting at the end of May. For our BC members, it is also an election year and we have an opportunity to elect a labour friendly BC NDP government and get rid of the Christy Clark Liberals.

That being said, take this much-needed reprise with your loved ones during this holiday season. Celebrate safely and have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

In solidarity,

The Telecommunications Workers Union, United Steelworkers National Local 1944