President’s Message

Supporting good Unionized jobs in Canada in the face of on-again off-again tariffs

Canada is currently part of 15 in-force free trade agreements, like the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The terms of these deals help guide countries forward when it comes to industry, jobs, goods, resources, consumer demand, and more.

Trade agreements provide a degree of certainty on which industries and businesses – and, as a result, working people – can rely. Those agreements mean that the economies and livelihoods of working people and consumers around the world are deeply interconnected.

But now we have the everchanging threat of U.S. tariffs creating a lot of uncertainty and alarm for working people throughout a number of industries across the country.

Whether you agree or disagree with the principles of Free Trade or Canada’s current agreements, the ripple effects of these ill-considered substantial tariffs will be felt throughout the country.

The 70,000 members of your Union work across a wide variety of sectors and jobs, and our members produce goods and services you purchase and use every day.

The jobs of our members in many industries depend on the terms of existing trade deals as well as supply management systems that control the import and export of materials and goods moving back and forth across our border.

Those jobs are vital to our provincial and national economies. People across the province rely on those good, unionized jobs being a part of their communities.

We encourage Canadians to shop in unionized stores and buy Union-made products, shop local, and purchase items labelled as 'Product of' or 'Made in' Canada. I encourage you to check out page 2 and pages 12-13 of this issue of Checkout for more information on ‘Canadian’ labels and trying to #ShopUnion.

On our Facebook and Instagram pages, you’ll see us posting #UnionMade features for some of the products and services you can purchase to support your UFCW Locals 175 & 633 Union family.

Outright boycotts of American-owned companies can have negative effects on millions of Canadians employed by those companies here at home, and the communities where those workers live and work.

You control how you spend your money. And while choices may not always be easy or clear, please do what’s best for you and make choices that, whenever possible, support Canadian workers.

With a federal election coming on April 28, Canada’s stance on international relations and trade agreements, and what that means for Canadian workers, is going to be one of the main issues the candidates have to address.

I encourage all of our members to get informed about their candidates and to get out and vote on April 28.

In Solidarity, Kelly Tosato president@ufcw175.com