ILA Local 273

History

Newsletter

Elected Officials

Picture Gallery

Links

Message Board

Home Page

Contract
   Negotiations
   (Letters Of
   Support)

Contract Negotiations

Letters of Support

Smaller union pairing up with CUPE

SJ Telegraph-Journal | Greater Saint John
Article published: Nov 5, 2002

A partnership between the International Longshoremen's Association, Local 273, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees may be the start of a trend that will see smaller unions pairing with their larger counterparts to gain negotiating strength.

"I think this is a wave of the future," sad CUPE representative Bob Davidson.

"Workers are realizing now that no one group can go to the bargaining table with government or big employers alone, any longer. There has to be a partnership mentality throughout the labour movement."

CUPE represents 550,000 members in Canada, 20,000 of those in New Brunswick.

ILA, Local 273 remains autonomous, said its business agent, Patrick Riley, but the partnership allows its 170 members to call on CUPE for support, if need be.

Over the past 20 years, the local's membership has shrunk from hundreds of members.

"Our numbers keep declining. It's a function of mechanization and technological change. We just don't have the same number of members we had in the past. It becomes a problem in terms of being able to deliver for the membership."

Top of the page