Latest news with #FrançoisLaporte
Hamilton Spectator
31-07-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
FedEx Canada Tries to Strip Union Rights from Immigrant Workers, say Teamsters
CALGARY, Alberta, July 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FedEx Canada is attempting to deny basic union rights to immigrant workers. In response to a union organizing drive by Teamsters Local Union 362 at the FedEx facility in Fort McMurray, the company has filed arguments before the Canada Industrial Relations Board claiming that 'temporary workers,' like international students and temporary foreign workers, are not entitled to join a union alongside their Canadian colleagues. The Teamsters are vigorously challenging this position before the Board. 'The idea that immigrant workers with temporary status should be denied union representation is racist and morally indefensible. Regardless of how someone came to work at FedEx, they deserve to be treated like any other worker in this country. That means fairness, dignity, and the right to join a union,' said François Laporte, President, Teamsters Canada. Temporary workers often face greater vulnerability in the workplace, often due to language barriers and limited awareness of their labour rights. Some may hold closed permits tied to a single employer, meaning their right to stay in Canada can depend on keeping their job. That precarity increases the risk of abuse and the need for union representation. Across Canada, labour boards routinely recognize foreign students and other temporary residents as union members. At FedEx in Fort McMurray, 31 of the 52 workers are either temporary foreign workers or international students. The Teamsters have been fighting for years to bring union representation to FedEx workers. Employees at the company earn approximately $3 less per hour than their counterparts at UPS and Purolator. They are also required to contribute 3% of their wages to their pensions, unlike workers at UPS and Purolator whose pensions are fully employer-funded. Conditions can also be harsher at FedEx. Workers are frequently expected to lift and move packages over 100 pounds alone - something that would require another worker's assistance under at UPS and Purolator. In Fort McMurray, FedEx workers do not have a living out allowance, an allowance commonly given to workers in the area meant to offset the high cost of living. Although UPS does not operate locally, full-time unionized Purolator employees in Fort McMurray can receive up to $1,500 per month. 'Our message to FedEx workers is simple. It doesn't matter where you were born. You give your all on the job and deserve the same wages, protections, and respect as any other unionized courier service employee. Our organizers are mobilized across the country to help you win the future you deserve. Count on the Teamsters to fight for you,' added Laporte. Teamsters Canada represents close to 135,000 workers in Canada in all industries from coast to coast. Media requests: Christopher Monette Director of Public Affairs Teamsters Canada Cell: 514-226-6002 cmonette@
Toronto Sun
11-07-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
STOSSEL: Labour unions are killing American jobs
François Laporte, national president, with Teamsters Canada and Sean O'Brien, general president with the U.S based International Brotherhood of Teamsters talk with media at a union rally outside CPKC headquarters in Calgary on Friday August 23, 2024. Gavin Young/Postmedia Progressives love unions. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Not only do unions protect workers, they say, but unions gave us the weekend and the middle class. I say capitalism created the middle class. Employers, competing for better workers, gave us the weekend. But whatever you think about capitalism, few people question the claim that unions help workers. But I will. It's the focus of my new video. A couple of years ago, the Teamsters demanded more pay from UPS. Seemed like UPS could easily afford it. The company made almost $13 billion in 2021. UPS used some of that money to hire more union workers. Then they offered them raises. But Teamsters boss Sean O'Brien wanted more. He threatened a strike. UPS gave in. MSNBC called that 'collective bargaining at its finest!' Today, full-time drivers make $170,000 a year. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Good for them — for those who still have jobs. But paying for the new Teamsters contract meant UPS wasn't as competitive as before. It raised some prices and lost business to other shippers. Profit dropped. In 2024, UPS laid off 12,000 workers. The next year, 20,000. It wasn't just the wage hikes; it was also the work rules. The Teamsters agreement includes hundreds of pages with limits on subcontracting, bans on employees working long hours, etc. Many of these rules made it hard for a company to adapt and cut costs. 'These headline-grabbing union deals are delivering short-run sugar highs with long-run hangovers,' says Mercatus Center economist Lily Palagashvili. 'UPS is just one example of this.' Another was Yellow Corp — once one of the largest freight carriers in America. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Then the Teamsters threatened to strike, demanding faster payments of health-care and pension benefits. The company warned that a strike could bankrupt it. But O'Brien kept pushing, saying, 'The company has two more days to fulfil its obligations or we will strike. Teamsters at Yellow are furious and ready to act!' Yellow gave in. The strike was averted. Days later, the trucking company shut down for good. Thirty thousand people lost their jobs. Asked if he felt responsible for the lost jobs, O'Brien said, 'No, not at all … they were so mismanaged.' 'That's true,' says Palagashvili. '(Yellow Corp) was having a lot of financial issues. But if you're on the verge of collapse, the last thing you need is a Teamsters labour union contract that says you have to increase labour costs. Yellow is basically covered in gasoline and Sean O'Brien comes and lights the match.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Meanwhile, union leadership help themselves. The Teamsters now brag that they have $1 billion in assets. Sean O'Brien earns more than $430,000 per year. The same year Yellow went bankrupt, United Auto Workers went on strike against Stellantis, the company that owns Chrysler. Stellantis gave in, giving the UAW a pay raise and promising to open a new plant. But then Stellantis started laying off workers: 1,340 during the strike and 2,450 more the next year. In 2024, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers walked off the job, demanding better pay from Boeing. Boeing gave in. One month later, Boeing announced a 10% workforce cut. When I grew up, Midwestern states were called the 'Steel Belt.' Now they're called the 'Rust Belt.' The media blame 'free trade' and 'globalization.' On social media, people say, 'foreigners took our jobs.' Palagashvili says, 'It wasn't trade that killed the Rust Belt. It was labour unions. Unions in the Rust Belt were striking. Companies said, 'Higher labour costs, tons of strikes, productivity isn't going up, we're going to relocate,' and they did.' Unions help some workers. But they hurt many more. Every Tuesday at Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom Editorial Cartoons Toronto & GTA NFL World Toronto & GTA
