Ontario Construction News staff writer
The United Steelworkers union is backing Canada’s decision to suspend trade negotiations with the United States, saying the federal government was right to reject an agreement that failed to adequately protect Canadian workers and industries.
Union leaders had consistently maintained that “no deal is better than a bad deal” as Canada and the United States worked toward a new agreement.
“Canada was right to hold the line rather than accept a deal that did not adequately protect Canadian workers, jobs and communities,” Marty Warren, national director of the United Steelworkers union, said in a statement following the suspension of negotiations and the imposition of new 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods.
The proposed terms, including significant tariffs and restrictive quotas on Canadian steel and barriers affecting other key sectors, raise serious concerns for workers and industry, he said.
New tariffs will have consequences for workers, businesses and communities on both sides of the border and Warren called on Ottawa to provide more than retaliatory measures and move quickly to protect affected workers and industries.
He called for tariff revenues to be used to protect jobs and strengthen Canadian industrial capacity, along with improvements to Employment Insurance, Work-Sharing and other programs aimed at supporting incomes and keeping workers connected to their jobs.
The union is also calling for stronger buy canadian procurement policies and investments that increase demand for Canadian-made steel, aluminum, wood, copper and other domestic products.
“Building Canada’s economic strength at home is now even more urgent,” Warren said.
Canada should remain open to negotiating a fair agreement, he added, but should not build its economic future around the threat of future tariffs.
“We need to keep building here, protecting Canadian jobs and diversifying toward reliable trading partners,” Warren said. “Canadian workers did not create this trade war. Governments must make sure workers and communities do not bear the cost.”
