Share
Unifor National President Jerry Dias became the first Canadian labour leader to speak at a UAW convention in 18 years recently, and used the occasion to call for the two unions to work together toward common goals.
“There is no reason anymore to ask for concessions,” Dias said. “We gave and we gave and we gave and that is over.”
Dias said outgoing UAW President Bob King worked to ease relations between the two unions.
“Bob King is responsible for knocking down the walls,” Dias said. “We are absolutely committed that we are not only going to continue that relationship, we are going to expand on it.”
The CAW, one of Unifor’s founding unions, CAW split from the UAW in 1985 and has bargained with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler separately for the past 29 years.
“We have global challenges and we need global solutions,” Dias said.
Dias attended the convention with his father.
To see Dias’s speech, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkyMAsFMMJY
