"I was employed for many years at a Teamster company that was shut down due to the economy. Because of my age, I was worried about starting over. Bobby, Bob and Paul not only negotiated a much better severance package than was in the contract, but they also went the extra mile and got me on at one of their other companies with an even better contract.They continued to help me even though it wasn't their job to."
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Trans-Pacific Partnership: Taxpayers Will Once Again Bear The Cost
October 7, 2015
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is now a done deal. This new free-trade agreement was negotiated behind closed doors and Canadians knew nothing of its negative impacts, at least, not before today.
“Talks began ten years ago. The Prime Minister should have regularly reported on the negotiating process instead of keeping voters in the dark for years,” criticizes François Laporte, President of Teamsters Canada. “The Conservatives did not have the mandate to negotiate this agreement seeing as it had not been a focus of the 2011 election campaign.”
Under the TPP, the supply management system regarding milk, eggs and poultry will be “partially opened up to foreign countries over a five-year period.” According to the media, the Canadian government will provide new compensation programs to help out producers negatively impacted by the agreement. Taxpayers will thus be paying out $4.3 billion to dairy farmers.
“Once again, taxpayers will be bearing the costs,” adds the union leader. “After having lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, can Canada afford to lose yet more jobs in a key sector such as the dairy industry or in other industries?”
The key question is now to determine if and how the TPP will benefit Canadian consumers, as claimed by federal government officials.
“The Teamsters Union will not accept that its members be forced to make concessions to allow Canada to remain artificially competitive in the Trans-Pacific economic area,” warns François Laporte. “If the workers we represent dispose of less income, their purchasing power and ultimately their contribution to society will decrease accordingly. We can’t build this country on low-wages.”
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Testimonial
- Armando Borean
"I have been a member of Teamsters Local 464 for 23 years and have seen many of the executives come and go. Some of the previous executives nearly ran the Local into bankruptcy including losing our pension. Bobby Kornhass, Bob Ryder and Paul Barton brought us back from the brink. Since they took over in 2000, we at Dairyland (Saputo) have had the best contracts I have seen since I have been there."
- Randy Onyschak
For
35 years I have been a Teamster and a Dairyworker, I was a young kid needing a
job in tough economic times. I found a place to work and make a living, I
learned to work together with others having varying and different backgrounds
than my own.
Much has changed for me personally and professionally, I got married to my
beautiful wife of almost 25 years and we have raised two amazing children, both
of whom are presently studying abroad. Both of my children were recipients of
Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Funding.
So much of my success I can credit to having a well paying union job. The
Teamsters have been a great union for me, negotiating strong collective
agreements that held good wage and benefit packages as well as the cornerstone
beliefs of seniority and workers’ rights. The Teamsters gave me a good wage and
a voice.
I have always been an active Teamster, and now I sit on Local 464's Executive
Board.
There can be a great degree of personal feelings when the word union is
mentioned, but so often I look at professional associations and realize the
name may be different, but the thought is the same...strength in numbers.
As I get toward the end of my career, I look forward to the thought of
receiving the Teamsters Canada Pension Plan, and I am so grateful for the
belief others had before me that Teamsters deserved a good and decent
retirement...thank you.
Drew
- Drew Speirs