Re: Transit employees’ union faces uncertain future, Feb. 8
Transit employees’ union faces uncertain future, Feb. 8
As a retired member of ATU Local 113, I think the headline should have read “Bob Kinnear faces uncertain future.” It appears he has been working behind the back of the membership and the executive board in this matter. Why did he not bring this up when running for president last year if he so strongly believes in the evils of an international union?
I think Unifor would love to have local 113, not to give us better representation, but to provide itself with a cash cow due to the fact that we are no longer able to strike.
If Kinnear was trying to start a fully Canadian transit union I would maybe be on board. I was a member of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper-Mill Workers in Canada when we in Canada broke away and formed the Canadian Paper-Workers Union back in the early ’70s and I was fully in favour of that move. Of course, mostly due to the decline of the paper industry in Canada, that union got gobbled up by what became Unifor.
I believe your article was trying to imply that Kinnear has the backing of the membership on this when he most probably does not. However, there are a lot of younger members of the local who might be easily persuaded by outlandish promises by Unifor representatives. I hope all members take a good look at what they have obtained through the ATU and reject any phony calls to patriotism by Unifor or Bob Kinnear.