All News

Unifor retirees gathered at the union’s Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, Ont. from Sept. 6 to 11, 2026, for this year’s Retired Workers’ Council.

“The contribution of retirees are seen in all the places and spaces of our union, including in the wonderful legacy of militant trade unionism they have built over decades, as well as the rights they won and we still defend today,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

VANCOUVER – Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 and Coast Mountain Bus Company will return to the bargaining table on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the request of mediator Trevor Sones.

“Nobody wants these negotiations settled more than our members,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “They are the ones out on the road every day and they want a contract that works. We will be at the table Saturday and we will stay as long as it takes.”

Sones reached out to both parties and asked them to resume negotiations. Both parties have agreed.

Unifor and FFAW-Unifor brought workers’ priorities to the table as Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham convened a roundtable on the escalating Canada-U.S. trade tensions.

The September 9 meeting was the first tariff roundtable hosted by Wakeham since his election last October. The roundtable was established to bring together unions, business leaders and other key stakeholders to identify ways to protect workers and navigate the growing threat of tariffs and trade disruption.

Mr. Phillip Underwood
President and Chief Executive Officer
Magellan Aerospace Corporation
3160 Derry Road East
Mississauga, Ontario L4T 1A9

Mr. Underwood,

Unifor is Canada’s largest private-sector union, representing more than 320,000 members across Canada, including 11,000 workers across the aerospace value chain: manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul, avionics, composites, propulsion and advanced systems. That membership includes workers at Magellan’s own operations in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

To all Unifor members at Bombardier,

By now, you have read the headlines about Trump's latest threats to ban the sale of Bombardier aircraft in the United States. 

Since the President posted to social media, your union has been working hard to counter his threats. We’ve been in constant contact with Bombardier. We’ve opened up dialogue with the federal government. We’re also working with the wide range of sectors across the supply chain caught up in this latest escalation of the trade war. Protecting good Canadian aerospace jobs is our priority.

“Workers in this country are in the fight of their lives and this union is standing with them leading this fight all across the country.”

Unifor National President Lana Payne shares a Labour Day message with members from coast to coast.

TORONTO- The Canadian government must be prepared to use every economic lever at its disposal to defend jobs under assault from the U.S. administration, as President Trump escalates the trade war with new tariffs and outright bans on targeted Canadian goods.

"Trump's latest economic attack is part of a bigger plan to weaken Canada’s industrial base and undermine our national sovereignty,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “In response Canada must hold the line, stand up for workers and defend good jobs and critical sectors of our economy." 

WestJet contact centre workers in Calgary are the voice of WestJet, and their jobs are worth protecting. 

Hear workers share why they’re organizing with Unifor for a real voice, greater fairness, better working conditions and stronger job security. 

Learn more at westjet.unifor.org

This Labour Day, Unifor members came together across the country at marches, BBQs, family fun days and fairs to celebrate worker power, and stand united to protect Canadian jobs as the U.S. trade war escalates.

Unifor’s national and regional leaders continue to sound the alarm that the tariff crisis is a country-wide fight that demands governments at every level defend Canadian jobs, invest in domestic industrial strategies, and put workers at the centre of the response.

THUNDER BAY, ONT.— Unifor applauds today’s federal government announcement that Alstom has been awarded a $4.7 billion contract to build 313 passenger cars for VIA Rail, securing significant work for Unifor Local 1075 members at the company’s Thunder Bay facility.

VANCOUVER – Transit operators represented by Unifor Local 111 will begin taking the breaks they are entitled to at the end of designated routes starting Wednesday, September 2, escalating job action at Coast Mountain Bus Company. Operators will no longer give up their breaks to make up lost time.

Buses will continue to run and operators will remain on the job. Riders on a limited number of routes may see delays. Unifor will announce affected routes in advance so passengers can plan.

Unifor Quebec urges Premier Fréchette to issue clear directives to state-owned corporations and calls for a commitment from all political parties

While Canada’s last heavy truck assembly plant has been particularly hard hit by U.S. tariffs, the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) has just issued two requests for proposals for the acquisition of new trucks, with the contract to be awarded based solely on the lowest cost. No consideration is given to the economic benefits for Quebec, the resilience of our supply chains, or local manufacturing jobs. A truck assembled in Sainte-Thérèse by Quebec workers would be evaluated on an equal footing with an imported vehicle.

For Unifor Quebec, this move reflects a fundamental contradiction. On the one hand, Quebec has repeatedly claimed it wants to protect its economy and its manufacturing jobs from Donald Trump’s tariff attacks, even as a new wave of 50% tariffs has just been imposed on Quebec products. On the other hand, the Quebec government’s own state-owned corporations are sourcing their trucks based on the lowest possible price, regardless of where they come from.

Meanwhile, the PACCAR plant in Sainte-Thérèse, which assembles Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks and at one point provided for some 1,400 families, has faced successive rounds of layoffs since Washington imposed a 25% duty on heavy trucks under Section 232. Over 600 jobs at the plant have been lost so far.

“We can’t claim to be fighting to protect our jobs on Monday, and then turn around and purchase from abroad using Quebecers’ money on Tuesday,” decried Unifor Quebec director Daniel Cloutier. “We don’t control the trade war. But we do control public purchasing. It is the most direct tool Quebec has at its disposal for protecting our factories, and it refuses to use it.”

An immediate and clear directive

Unifor Quebec is calling on Premier Christine Fréchette to immediately issue a clear directive to all state-owned corporations, instructing them to adopt and prioritize a genuine made-in-Quebec procurement policy.

The SAQ already has such a policy in place. The problem is that it lacks teeth. It is possible to do much better while respecting the trade agreements to which Quebec is bound. 

A test for all the parties

With just weeks to go before the October 5 election, Unifor Quebec is challenging the leaders of all political parties to clearly explain in their platforms, in black and white, how they intend to ensure that procurement by state-owned corporations is aligned with Québec’s economic interests.

“Preventing a plant closure by using the levers we control is the true test of economic consistency in this campaign,” added Daniel Cloutier. “The workers in Sainte-Thérèse don’t want sympathy. They want purchase orders.”

Unifor opened negotiations with Stellantis today with the union focused on the future of more than 9,000 members at Stellantis facilities in Ontario and Alberta.

TORONTO—Unifor and Stellantis met today to begin negotiations on a new contract for more than 9,000 workers at facilities across Canada.

“Our focus in this round of bargaining will be on Stellantis’ commitment to Canada, and what that looks like. It’s about positioning our members for the future,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. 

Stellantis is the last Detroit Three company to enter bargaining with Unifor, following the successful negotiation of the union’s D3 pattern with Ford Motor Company and General Motors. 

VICTORIA – Transit workers represented by Unifor Local 333-BC will begin an overtime ban at BC Transit as of September 1, escalating job action in Greater Victoria after more than a year without a collective agreement.

Members remain on the job and buses continue to run. Because scheduled service depends on members taking overtime, riders should expect a noticeable impact on service.

TORONTO—Unifor applauds the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s decision to proceed with developing rules that will ensure Canadian programming is available and visible on online streaming services. At the same time, the union is also calling on the federal government to also immediately move ahead with implementing the contributions requirements for digital streamers.

The Commission’s decisive move comes after the issue played a significant role in ending trade talks with the U.S.

"I have witnessed remarkable courage in the face of adversity. I’ve witnessed victories, challenges, uncertainty, and I’ve witnessed joy and a hell of a lot of love. But most importantly, I have witnessed the strength of working people and everywhere I have gone, one message is clear: we are all worth the fight," Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray.

“We cannot simply defend the union density we inherited…we have to also built a union density that the next generation will need,” Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle.

“I know what this union does with hard years. We turn them into organizing. We turn them into legislation. We turn them into contracts our members are proud of. And communities that are a little bit stronger for having us in their corner.” Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi.

“We are meeting at a time when the world around us is ever changing. And for many working people, leaving them with a sense of uncertainty about their future…But there is one thing that has not changed. People need their union,” Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer Len Poirier.

As the Canadian government walked away from trade negotiations with the United States amid escalating tensions, delegates to Unifor’s Canadian Council 2026 in Ottawa committed to intensifying the fight to protect Canadian jobs.

On the Friday of the council, Unifor National President Lana Payne welcomed the growing resolve against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to key Canadian industries.

TORONTO—Unifor members at General Motors voted overwhelmingly to ratify contracts that secure new products and investment, while also delivering the wages and benefit improvements in the union’s pattern agreement.

Cheryl Williams, Unifor Local 114 member, accepted the 2026 Bud Jimmerfield Award at Unifor Canadian Council in Ottawa, recognizing a decade of work making Cascade Aerospace a safer place to work.

“Health and safety leadership is rarely one big moment. It is a thousand acts of persistence, and Cheryl Williams has strung together ten years of them,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. 

"Every day we fight at the bargaining table to improve lives. That's our daily bread. But it's not enough." Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier at Unifor Canadian Council. 

"This is more than a trade war. It is a war against working people." National President Lana Payne, opening Unifor Canadian Council in Ottawa with a call to defend good union jobs and Canadian industry.

Lana Payne said Unifor will not be “giving up or giving in” as the trade war with the U.S. continues to escalate.

Addressing delegates on the first day of Unifor’s 2026 Canadian Council in Ottawa, the union’s National President repeatedly returned to solidarity as the answer to efforts to divide workers.

“Our union has been fighting this trade war for almost two years, and now finally we are seeing a strengthening of resolve in many places. I say, ‘Welcome to the fight.’ We are the union that is going to save Canada, and yes, protect Canadian jobs,” she said.

Thursday August 27, 2026

OTTAWA- Unifor is set to rally on Parliament Hill as part of the union’s campaign to Protect Canadian Jobs. 

What:                Unifor Rally to Protect Canadian Jobs 

When:               Friday August 28, 2026, 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm  

By Daniel Cloutier, Unifor Quebec Director - Originally published in Le Devoir 

In the run-up to an election campaign, Quebec finds itself embroiled in an unprecedented trade war. Since January 2025, our plants have been dealing with a series of tariff attacks from Washington, with duties on softwood lumber soaring to 144% in 2025 alone and sectoral tariffs of up to 50% on aluminum, copper and a constantly growing list of other products.  

TORONTO—Unifor welcomes the Canadian tariff countermeasures announced today but is reiterating the union’s call for stronger industrial policies and income security measures, as the trade war with the United States escalates.