Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union and a close UE ally, joined 27 other Canadian unions and faith and civil-society organizations in calling for peace, sovereignty and solidarity with the people of Cuba. The joint statement, released on Monday, calls on the Canadian government to oppose threats of military intervention by the U.S. and to speak out against unlawful measures harming Cuban people.

In addition to Unifor, unions that signed the statement include the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (Canada’s largest union), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the Canadian section of the United Steelworkers. Several major churches also joined the statement, including the Anglican Church of Canada, the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and the United Church of Canada.

The signatories “urgently call on Prime Minister Mark Carney to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cuba, cornerstone rights of all states under international law,” and insist that their country must:

• publicly oppose and work to stop a U.S. military intervention in Cuba;
• speak out forcefully against unlawful U.S. coercive measures to withhold fuel and starve the Cuban people;
• work more determinedly with the United Nations and other countries to get fuel and other life-sustaining supplies to Cuba without delay.

For decades, UE has demanded that our own government normalize relations with Cuba, and end the “inhumane” blockade on trade with the island nation. As UE policy notes:

Cuba poses no economic or military threat to the U.S. Our government has no justification for the economic blockade of Cuba, which, as members of UE Local 150 who visited the island this past year learned first-hand, makes it more difficult for Cubans to access medicine, food, and essential life-giving supplies. The blockade hurts workers in both countries. Jobs are lost, while U.S. manufacturers are denied a major market just 90 miles offshore. Instead of restoring diplomatic relationships and lifting the economic embargo, the U.S. prefers to portray an island nation of fewer than 10 million people as a threat.

In March, delegates to UE’s Eastern Region council meeting passed a resolution denouncing President Trump’s escalating threats against Cuba and endorsing the “Let Cuba Live” petition.

UE General President Scott Slawson sent a letter today to members of the Metal Workers Union of the Argentine Republic (UOM), expressing UE’s solidarity with UOM members after the government removed their democratically-elected leaders. In May, the National Labor Appeals Court ordered a 180-day judicial intervention in UOM, annulling the re-election of General Secretary Abel Furlán.

Slawson writes, “The right of rank-and-file union members to democratically choose their own leaders is a right we hold dearly, and we fully condemn the actions of the labor court. Labor court judges Víctor Pesino and María Dora González are no friends to the working class, having endorsed the labor legislation introduced by Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei, legislation that severely restricts the rights of union members to take action, including strike action, to defend their rights.

“This unconscionable attack on the UOM comes in the middle of collective bargaining, and is clearly aimed at strengthening the hands of employers and weakening the ability of the union to defend and improve the wages and working conditions of Argentina’s metalworkers. Since Milei’s party won control of government, wages have declined, more than 200,000 private-sector jobs — including 25,000 in the metal sector — have been destroyed, and 25,000 companies have closed.

“We feel a particular sympathy with UOM given the history of the U.S. government’s attacks on national and local UE leaders during the Cold War, including attempts to deport UE Director of Organization James Matles and to remove UE Local 506 President John Nelson. The Argentine government has intervened in the UOM twice in the union’s 83-year history, during the dictatorships of 1955 and 1976. We are confident that Argentina’s metal workers will prevail against this intervention; your struggle in our struggle.”

In November, UE’s close Italian ally FIOM secured a major victory after four days of continuous and intense negotiations. The new national agreement, negotiated by FIOM and two other metalworkers’ unions with national employers’ federations, covers more than 1.5 million workers across the country and guarantees a €205 (US $237.17) increase on minimum contractual salaries over four years, which the unions say is essential to protecting wages amid rising living costs and economic uncertainty.

In June 2025, FIOM and the other unions staged an eight-hour strike, accompanied by regional demonstrations across Italy, calling out what they described as the employers’ irresponsible refusal to negotiate. Workers across the sector, including those in small and medium-sized enterprises, joined the strike action and additional measures, such as overtime and flexibility blockades, were enforced. Demonstrations sent a clear and unified message: workers would not accept stagnation, wage erosion or further delays. The strike movement strengthened union resolve and demonstrated to employers that metal workers were mobilized, united and prepared to continue the fight to defend purchasing power and secure fair working conditions.

Union negotiators have described this as a crucial victory that ensures long-term wage defense at a moment when many families are facing mounting financial strain. The revised wage structure maintains a system designed to safeguard purchasing power through inflation. The agreement also includes an additional salary quota and a safeguard clause should inflation surge beyond forecasts during the contract period.

FIOM General Secretary Michele De Palma, in a joint statement with the leaders of the other two unions, said the contract represents not only a negotiation victory, but also the defense of Italy’s national collective bargaining system itself:

It was a very hard negotiation, but we closed the gap and signed a strong contract. We protected the purchasing power of metal workers and strengthened rights and protections. The wage increase, the start of a working-time reduction trial and the stabilization of precarious work were our pillars and we achieved them. Today, we can say we saved the national contract, which has never stopped being challenged. This agreement ensures dignity for those who build the industrial heart of Italy. Metal workers are once again writing the history of this country at a time when it needs stability, courage and lasting solutions.

The contract delivers significant gains in the fight against job insecurity and precarious (part-time and temporary) work, issues that have been central to the unions’ platform. Employers will now be required to stabilize a share of fixed-term workers after 12 months if they wish to extend temporary contracts under specific conditions. Workers employed through staffing agencies will gain the right to permanent employment at the host company after 48 months, an important shift toward fairer and more secure employment for thousands of metal workers. 

The agreement also introduces forward-looking changes, including a structured trial to reduce working hours under the guidance of a dedicated commission. Additional improvements include stronger health and safety protections, expanded rights to workplace training, enhanced safeguards for seriously ill and disabled workers and new provisions specifically aimed at preventing violence against women.

This is an abridged and lightly-edited version of an article posted by IndustriALL, the global union federation of manufacturing workers of which both UE and FIOM are members.

By John Miles, Local 506 Business Agent

On July 31, 2025 my wife and I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Japan for the International Trade Union Forum for Peaceful and Just World without Nuclear Weapons.  At this International Solidarity conference, we met with several different trade unions from around the globe including Zenroren — Japan, Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers, CGTP) — Portugal, Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labor, CGT) — France, Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union (KPTU) — South Korea, and the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) — United States. While we were in Hiroshima for this conference we were invited to attend another conference, The World Conference Against A&H (Atomic & Hydrogen) Bombs, commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki August 9, 1945. I could not attend the ceremony in Nagasaki because of travel constraints but I did attend the ceremony in Hiroshima.

During the International Solidarity Conference, each union had the opportunity to speak on some of the issues they were facing in their own countries. Most had the same issues, such as government/company interference trying to drive out unions, shrinking the middle class, safety, and wages and other benefits issues. For example, Zenroren is fighting to get a 1500 yen ($10 US) minimum wage. And KPTU is on strike for improved working conditions.  Listening to these groups I realized that we here at UE are not alone in our struggles. The solidarity felt with the other unions at this conference was reminiscent of that which we felt at our own National Convention recently in Chicago.

While attending The World Conference Against A&H Bombs, we met with many different social groups from across the world. Including Veterans for Peace from the United States and Jeremy Corbyn, a member of the parliament in the UK who has been fighting for social justice for almost 40 years. These are just a few of the many people we got to meet while there.

We were able to hear testimony from the Hibakusha from Japan, who are survivors of the atomic bombs who just won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, and from Marshall Islands atomic bomb test survivors who now live on a concrete pad where the test had taken place. (They had to cover it with concrete to contain the radiation.) The last day of the conference we were able to attend a memorial ceremony at Memorial Park in Hiroshima, for the victims of the atomic bombs, where tens of thousands of people attended. There were many speakers, among which were government officials, Hibakusha, and social justice leaders. This was the most somber vigil that I have ever attended. It hit at the hearts of everyone present. The number of nuclear weapons in this world could wipe out every continent 100 times over; nine countries own those nuclear weapons and just two of them own 90 percent of them. Everyone has their opinion on why and how we have come to this state, but it is extremely frightening to think about what could happen in the future. One lesson I learned from the many speakers and the testimonial at this conference is that people do not fight wars, governments do.

The 10 days we spent attending conferences, meeting new unions and social groups and traveling for international solidarity was a chance of a lifetime that we will never forget. The opportunity for new experiences and education should never be passed up. I encourage anyone who is offered this opportunity to take it.

On Tuesday afternoon of UE’s 79th Convention, held in Chicago in August 2025, delegates heard remarks from several international guests, representatives of close UE allies in Mexico, Japan, Quebec, Canada, and Italy.

Eladio Abundiz Guadian, National Coordinator of the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo, an independent union federation in Mexico, said, “It is an honor for me to be at the convention of an independent, progressive union with a democratic structure, where major decisions are made from the bottom up,and which represents more than 40,000 members.”

He added, “I am delighted to see that the UE is renewing itself; there are many of you sisters and brothers who will one day be here on the stage” (e.g., will lead the union).

Abundiz noted similarities between the organizing practices of both unions, with a shared emphasis on education, one-on-one conversations with workers, union democracy, and solidarity campaigns with allies. He ended his remarks by recalling for delegates that “The first meeting between the UE and the FAT took place in 1992, and together we’ve fought against greedy employers who disregard workers’ labor rights. Thanks to this alliance, we’ve achieved significant milestones. [ … ] I know there’s still a long way to go, but we’re on the right track.”

“We believe in the power of rank-and-file workers”

Manabu Natori, a member of the executive committee of the militant Japanese labor federation Zenroren, told the convention, “We believe in the power of our rank-and-file workers, and organize from the bottom up in every aspect of our struggles, campaigns, and organization.” He reported that they had won a six percent increase in the minimum wage, the highest increase in Japanese history, and that over the past two years many of Zenroren’s affiliate unions have also won the highest wage increases they had seen in the last twenty years. “These victories could be won,” he said, “because more and more union locals have decided to use the most powerful workers’ weapon,” the strike.

Natori noted that “far-right, authoritarian and populist forces like Donald Trump are rising not only in the U.S. but around the world,” and reported that during elections held in Japan the day before, right-wing candidates “were using their campaign speeches to incite xenophobia, discrimination and prejudice against foreign workers.” In contrast, he said, Zenroren opposes all forms of discrimination and continues to organize workers “to speak up against xenophobia, discrimination and hate speech.”

He also warned that “We are once again facing the danger of the use of nuclear weapons,” which he called a “serious, serious danger,” and spoke about UE and Zenroren’s common commitment to a “peaceful, just world.” He ended by saying that “We as workers see our common goals and aspirations. Zenroren is proud of our longstanding friendship with UE.”

“We are in a very difficult time”

Three other allies sent video greetings. Michele De Palma, the general secretary of the Italian metalworkers’ union FIOM-CGIL, reported that “We are in a very difficult time. We need to fight now so that we can safeguard our manufacturing plants and prevent layoffs. [ … ] At the same time we are striking to be able to renew the national contract of metalworkers.” Italian metalworkers had recently held a 40-hour strike to defend wages, job security, and workplace safety in their national contract, because “while companies are making extraordinary profits … they want to pay the workers little or very little.”

De Palma ended his remarks by saying that “International solidarity is essential, because only when we are together” can workers effectively fight for a better world. “Forward together, we can do it!”

Caroline Senneville, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) in Quebec explained that she could not attend in person “because the present administration doesn’t make it easy for non-Americans to visit your beautiful country.” However, she said, “we wanted to extend our solidarity to you” in the “dark hours” that Americans are facing under the Trump administration.

Echoing the convention theme of “One Voice, One Fight, One Future,” Senneville said, “We want to unite our voice, our fights, so that we can share one future, because we know that both our countries, and both our unions have a long history of solidarity. So let’s fight and hope for the best.”

Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union, said, “We know in times like these it is often workers who pay. That is why our work as trade unionists is so incredibly important. As you know, our union and our members have been on the frontlines of this trade war launched against our country by the president of the United States. And with each passing day, we see how this trade war is hurting workers in my country and in yours.”

She noted that, “It is no coincidence that it is also union workplaces and highly unionized industries that are caught in the middle of this economic war: manufacturing, auto, steel and forestry.” But, she said, “We know there is a better path forward, a path built on the principles of fair trade, a path that lifts workers up,” and concluded, “Let’s continue building the labor movement that all North American workers deserve and need.”

“Fighting the same fight every single day”

Following the remarks from international guests, delegates discussed the resolution “International Solidarity.” John Miles, Local 506, spoke about his recent trip to Japan to represent UE at the International Trade Union Forum for Peaceful and Just World without Nuclear Weapons and the World Conference Against A&H (Atomic & Hydrogen) Bombs.

The conference marked the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Miles reported that he “learned a lot” from the people he met, including the Hibakusha, the survivors of the bombings.

“When you really think about what happened on that day in Hiroshima, 200,000 people lost their lives in an instant because there was a bomb dropped,” Miles said. “And God forbid we ever do that again. Because I would never want to see what happens to this world if it does.” He emphasized, “Everybody has to understand that wars are not fought by the individuals who live in the countries, they’re fought by the governments.”

While at the trade union forum he got to speak with unions from not only Japan, but also Korea, France, Portugal and Spain. “All these unions throughout the world that I got to meet with are fighting the same fight we are every single day,” he said.

Scott Slawson, Local 506, recounted how “Back in 2015, [at the UE convention] in Baltimore, we had a conversation in a hallway that started with, if companies are going to be global then unions need to be global,” and how that conversation led to the formation of an international alliance of GE workers’ unions. Now that the Erie plant has been sold to Wabtec, he urged the development of a similar alliance for Wabtec workers.

Katrina Davis, Local 300, reported on her participation in the 2024 UE-FAT exchange in Mexico, saying it was “a great experience.” Max Pagano, Local 1466, said that “the commitment to a world without nuclear weapons has certain special resonance for the locals from New Mexico because they were developed there.”

Video of remarks by Abundiz, Natori, De Palma, Senneville and Payne is available on the UE YouTube channel.

Mexico City

In June, Mexico held federal, state and local elections. Claudia Sheinbaum, who had been the mayor of Mexico City, was elected the country’s first woman president. Her party, Morena, also gained a majority in both houses of the legislature and won at many other levels. 

Sheinbaum has pledged to continue the progressive reforms that the current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, popularly known as AMLO, has put into place. These include improved rights in the workplace, requirements for democratic union elections, and strengthening social safety nets, like reforming the pension system to better support lower income workers when they retire. Prior to being a politician, Sheinbaum was an environmental engineer, and she has pledged to combat climate change and address its effects. One area that will need her attention is a water crisis that has left millions of Mexico City residents without water, and in other places leaves people without water while crops are irrigated.

Sheinbaum’s party, Morena, is a relatively new party formed from a coalition of many progressive parties and groups, not one standalone organization. Its name in Spanish, Movimiento Regeneración, means “National Regeneration Movement.” One of the main goals of the party has been addressing poverty by undoing the neoliberal economic policies that have allowed corporate profits to flourish at the expense of the working class.

Leaders of the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT), an independent Mexican union and a close UE ally for three decades, commented after the election that it will take time to accomplish the extensive work needed in Mexico to transform the lives of working people. “However,” they noted, “the policies implemented by the AMLO government were headed in the right direction: increases in the minimum wage, social support for unprotected groups, infrastructure development. These measures have made it possible to gradually reduce the high rates of poverty that have persisted in the country. The majority of Mexican society expressed at the polls not only support for these policies, but also their desire for them to continue and deepen, which Claudia Sheinbaum has raised within her government platform.”

The FAT notes that there is a lot of work to do to improve conditions for workers in construction and agriculture, as well as the informal economy, where work continues to be precarious with many violations of labor law (where it applies at all). They also hope for a larger budget for the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration that oversees union elections.

Candidates affiliated with Morena won six of the nine governor races open in 2024, including for the state of Mexico City, which surrounds the capital. Sheinbaum’s replacement as mayor of Mexico City will be Clara Brugada, also from Morena. Brugada had been the mayor of Iztapalapa, a borough of Mexico City, where she worked on improving public lighting and completing a public transportation line.

FAT leaders are aware of the work that needs to continue and will remain critical of the policies that need attention, but they are excited about “the triumph of the current president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum as a fact that will mark a starting point in Mexico.”

In July, both the United Kingdom and France held national elections. In both countries, parties representing “labour” or working class perspectives did better than expected.

In the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, from the Conservative Party, lacked credibility with the public and faced growing public discontent. Much of this was fueled by extremely high prices, with inflation over 11 percent at one point, and only dropping recently. This has been one of many impacts of the British exit from the European Union, or “Brexit” as it was commonly called.

Sunak had pledged to crack down on immigration by boat to the UK, an island nation, and had largely failed. But he and his party had succeeded in attacking the rights of workers, including limiting the right to strike.

In the election held on July 4, Sunak and his party had their biggest loss in history. The Labour Party, a center-left party led by Keir Starmer, won the largest number of seats, and Starmer is now the new Prime Minister. Labour has promised stronger protections for workers and a higher minimum wage for many workers. They have also pledged to tighten rules for corporations and to provide more protections for renters. Additionally, Labour intends to gradually renationalize the passenger rail network as contracts expire with private companies.

Following the announcements of the party’s initial plans, the president of Unite the Union, Sharon Graham, said, “The forthcoming employment rights bill is key to rebalancing the relationship between employers and workers, making work fairer. As always, the details will be important. Given the sheer scale of the challenge facing the government after a decade and a half of neglect, Labour has to be ready to deliver the transformation and change that workers and communities need.”

In France, President Emmanual Macron called for parliamentary elections after his own centrist party did poorly in elections for the European Union parliament in June. In those elections the racist, anti-immigrant National Rally party (RN) far exceeded expectations. He called parliamentary elections to clarify the direction for French government policies. The French elections happen with a primary and a run-off in short succession. After the primary, it seemed likely that the RN would do well in the final vote. However, a coalition of left political parties, called the New Popular Front (NFP), won the largest bloc of seats instead. The NFP campaigned on raising the minimum wage, lowering the retirement age to what it was before Macron’s 2023 “reforms,” lowering the voting age to 16, and investing in public services. However, the NFP did not win a full majority. Macron’s centrists hold the second-largest number of seats, and the RN came in third.

This has left the 577-seat parliament incredibly divided. In another twist to this process, the speaker of the National Assembly will remain the same centrist as it was before, despite the NFP’s larger proportion of seats. It is unclear when Macron will name a new Prime Minister, and what that person’s political affiliation will be.

Following the first round of the French elections, the LabourStart podcast interviewed Judith Kirton-Darling, the General Secretary of IndustriAll Europe, which unites the continent’s manufacturing unions. Kirton-Darling said that it’s important for unions to distinguish between people agitating around far-right themes and those who are voting for far-right candidates. Some of those voting for far-right groups are young workers entering an economy that has left little opportunity for them, as well as middle-aged workers who have been left behind by the lack of planned industrial policy in most European countries.

As the elections in both these countries showed, those who are loudly taking up space with anti-worker, protectionist ideas are not winning the most votes when people actually go to the ballot box. Kirton-Darling noted that this is an important time for unions to be reaching out to their members to make sure they understand the bad implications for working people if far-right leaders come to power.