Laval, May 6, 2010 – The organizing campaign launched by the Teamsters Union in 2009 continues with Challenger Motorfreight workers. Indeed, the Teamsters Canada truck was spotted in the front the transportation company’s head office, in Cambridge, Ontario, as well as in front of the Elgin Transport (a Challenger subsidiary) terminal.

“We decided to park our truck in front of these two buildings to send a clear message to the workers,” explains Robert Bouvier, president of Teamsters Canada. “These workers must not fear the reprisals of their employer if they decide to join the Teamsters because we will be there to support them.”

Over the course of the past months, many workers of these transportation companies have expressed their intent to join the Teamsters Union. Most of them mention their employer’s arbitrary decisions to justify this intent.

“If the OECD, Statistics Canada and the World Bank all claim that unions enable workers to improve their conditions, in my opinion, these are convincing arguments in favour of signing a membership card. For these workers, it’s now or never to improve their working conditions!” adds Mr. Bouvier.

Indeed, the World Bank claims that high unionization rates lead to “lower inequality of earnings and can improve economic performance.” For its part, Statistics Canada indicates that a lower unionization rate has a stagnating effect on workers’ purchasing power. The OECD adds that the unequal distribution of wealth has a negative impact on citizens’ levels of education, access to capital and a country’s political climate.

Beyond the campaign targeting Challenger workers, the Teamsters Union is organizing new members throughout the country, namely at FedEx, First Student and Young Transport.

“Joining a union has never been as relevant as it is now in 2010. We encourage Challenger’s workers to contact us,” concludes Mr. Bouvier.


The Teamsters Union represents 125,000 members in Canada in all trades. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North America.

Information:
Stéphane Lacroix, Director of Communications, Teamsters Canada
514-609-5101
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