Latest news with #labourUnions
National Post
12 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
Michael Taube: Unifor wants to turn Canada into a third-rate banana republic
It's no secret that labour unions are opposed to capitalism, free markets and globalization. But Unifor's ludicrous demand that Canadian companies should be penalized if they don't work to further Canada's 'national interest' is pure insanity. Article content Lana Payne, Unifor's national president, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney last month, relaying her union's concerns about Canadian manufacturers closing up shop and moving south to avoid U.S. tariffs. Payne urged Carney to take 'immediate and decisive action using the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA), to prevent corporations, operating in Canada, from offshoring jobs in response to foreign trade policies — particularly those originating from the United States.' Article content Article content Article content Payne noted that FEMA 'allows the attorney general, with the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to issue blocking orders prohibiting compliance with foreign laws or directives that are contrary to Canadian interests.' What would this entail, exactly? 'These orders can make it a federal offence to move production out of Canada in response to foreign trade measures, carrying penalties of up to $1.5 million for corporations and up to five years' imprisonment for individuals,' wrote Payne. Article content Article content Fines and incarceration for offshoring? Payne and Unifor must be out of their minds! Alas, this is the typical narrow-minded view that many union leaders and members have when it comes to understanding private enterprise and how most businesses operate. The basic concept of outsourcing has long been an important component of the free market economy. It enables companies to be more competitive and achieve greater financial potential, thus protecting workers and their jobs, by focusing on their core competencies. Article content Article content Entrepreneur Sam Darwish wrote in Forbes in 2021 that, 'Outsourcing is a great way to help your business as it progresses through its various growth stages.' He highlighted several economic benefits of outsourcing that companies should utilize. It can lead to steady growth 'because it's more affordable to outsource the work than it is to build your own in-house team, and because you can cancel an outsourcing contract without having to put people out of work.' Outsourcing gives a business the ability to retain additional flexibility since it can 'staff up before a busy season without the financial commitment of hiring in-house employees, the cost of which can take years to break even on.' Article content Article content Darwish also pointed out that outsourcing agencies 'are capable of attracting top talent to ensure customer satisfaction and competitive results.' Hiring the best-qualified candidates can help build a company's brand and enhance its reputation, which are both vital to success in a competitive marketplace. Outsourcing enables a company to 'provide your customers with consistent customer service,' and allows 'your internal team members to focus on their own tasks, helping your business run more efficiently and ultimately increasing your (return on investment).'
CBC
10-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
How grassroots rallies and organized labour are helping ramp up protests against Trump
Social Sharing While much of the attention on ICE raids and the protests against them have been focused on Los Angeles, rallies popping up in cities across the United States as protest and labour movements against the Trump administration continue to grow. On Monday, demonstrations organized in part by labour unions were held in at least 13 American cities, including Austin, Tex., San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. More rallies are planned for this weekend. On Saturday, more than 1,500 "No Kings Day of Defiance" events are expected to take place across the United States. The rallies are meant to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's planned Flag Day parade in Washington, D.C. Black dots crowd a map on the No Kings website showing the dozens of places protests are planned across the U.S. "The flag doesn't belong to President Trump. It belongs to us. We're not watching history happen. We're making it," the group wrote on its website. Armida Vicente-Sanchez, a 29-year-old welder, is organizing the No Kings rally in Dalton, Ga., the city of about 30,000 where she lives. Earlier this spring, Vicente-Sanchez had been paying close attention to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at schools and workplaces. People in her family have feared they could be targeted. "Once anybody messes with my family or with anybody that I love, that's all you need to set a fire in me," Vicente-Sanchez told CBC on Tuesday. Vicente-Sanchez added that Latino people in her community, regardless of their citizen status, have been fearful of ICE because the raids have resulted in the detention and even deportation of people with legitimate immigration statuses. 'Only difference … is that my skin is brown' Vicente-Sanchez was born in New York State, but whose family is from Guatemala. "I have papers just like you. The only difference between me and you is that my skin is brown," she said. She said message groups are used to alert others to the possible whereabouts of ICE agents, who are often not in uniform when carrying out raids. Vicente-Sanchez said she has approached suspected agents in public places like Home Depot and asked who they work for. "I have every right to do that," she said. Her Saturday protest is planned for noon outside a small commercial building in Dalton. Vicente-Sanchez said the aim is for a peaceful show of solidarity. "We're not trying to start anything like riots or nothing like that," she said. "It has nothing to do with what's going on in L.A. Like, this is our own protest." Legal scholars and democracy watchers have raised concerns about the Trump administration's response to the protests, especially the president's weekend decision to federalize California's National Guard without consent from the state's governor, Gavin Newsom, and to send 700 marines to Los Angeles. Newsom has sued the federal government for its action, but some say the president's proclamation deploying the National Guard is so vague that he could easily repeat the move again and again in other states where there is dissent. "The legal language that Trump is using is in fact ambiguous on whether it's a requirement that he goes through the governors," said Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton University who specializes in new autocracies. Scheppele and other democracy experts that spoke to CBC worry Trump is trying to escalate clashes between protesters and law enforcement to justify using even more force against them. The No Kings Day organizers appear aware of this possibility. "Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance," the group wrote on its website. "They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too far…. We're taking action to reject authoritarianism." When Trump was asked Tuesday about the protests, he said he hadn't "even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force." Meanwhile, citizens like Vicente-Sanchez aren't alone in their fight. A burgeoning labour movement has popped up alongside anti-ICE protests as unions decry the federal agency's targeting of workplaces. On Monday, thousands of protesters gathered in at least 13 cities to call for the release of David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California, who was arrested last week during a protest against an ICE raid at a garment warehouse. Huerta was released Monday but faces a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede a federal officer. 'Threat to our democracy' Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University, researches social change in the U.S. and Canada, with a particular focus on labour movements. He said that unions joining in calling an end to the raids are giving protest movement legitimacy. "It makes it much harder to dismiss the protesters as just a bunch of malcontents intent on rioting," said Eidlin, who splits his time between Montreal and L.A. In coming days, he plans to attend the protests in L.A. He noted that if movement continues to grow, "it could really alter the balance of power" against Trump. Erik Berg, the president of the Boston Teachers' Union, attended one of Monday's #FreeDavidEndRaids rallies calling for Huerta's release. He said this is "an important moment in organizing history." "We have a federal government that is going after people who disagree with them politically. That's a threat to our to our democracy," Berg said.
