USW 9074

09/06/2026

Please share!

Due to the dismal forecast of 100% rain all day tomorrow, we are cancelling our Labour Day Family Fun Day!

Wishing you all a happy Labour Day. Hope you get to spend it with your friends and family.

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

Brothers, Sisters and Siblings,

As we head into September and the summer winds down, things are starting to pick up again across our Local. With that comes an important opportunity for us to hear directly from our members and the people who are on the ground every day representing them.

The USW District 3 2026 Membership Priorities Survey is launching after Labour Day. The survey is designed to help us better understand the needs, priorities and concerns of our members. Responses are anonymous and confidential, and District 3 will only receive the results in aggregate form. The survey will remain open until November 2, 2026.

We are asking every Plant Chair to encourage your members to take the time to complete it.

Our Local is proudly Member Driven. If we want to understand where our members want their union to go, we need to hear from the people who are working on the shop floor, dealing with the issues at their workplaces and talking with their coworkers every day.

As members, you are an important connection to the Local. You hear the concerns, the ideas, the frustrations and the successes that don't always make their way into a formal meeting or grievance. The more members who participate, the better picture we have of what matters to the people we represent.

Members will receive invitations by email, text message or telephone. Anyone who doesn't receive one can complete the survey at usw.ca/d3survey Members who participate will also have an opportunity to enter a draw for VISA gift cards or an iPad.

And don't forget about our membership meetings

As we get back into our regular monthly membership meetings, we want to see our Plant Chairs and members there as well.

Our next USW 9074 Membership Meeting is September 12, followed by the Southern Manitoba Area Council (SMAC) meeting.

These meetings are about much more than conducting union business. They are an opportunity to:

Meet members of the Executive Committee and other Plant Chairs.
Bring forward what is happening in your unit and hear what is happening in others.
Share ideas and learn from the experiences of other units.
Get connected with the committees and activities happening throughout our Local.
Build the relationships and solidarity that make us stronger when our members need us most.

None of us has all the answers, and none of our units operates in exactly the same way. But when we get together, share what we're seeing and listen to one another, we become a stronger and more connected Local.

That's what being Member Driven means.

So please encourage your members to complete the survey, talk to your coworkers about why their participation matters, and make every effort to bring members out to our September membership meeting.

The direction of our union shouldn't be decided by a handful of people sitting around a table. It should be shaped by the members we represent.

Thank you for the work you do every day in your workplaces and for continuing to be the connection between our Local and our members.

In Solidarity,

Shawn McIvor
President
USW Local 9074

09/02/2026

Solidarity for Labour Day 2026!

Throughout these difficult times, our local leadership and members continue to lead the way, negotiating strong collective agreements while protecting hard-won labour, human rights and workplace health and safety. This is why Steelworkers make great neighbours and build strong communities.

In challenging times, workers need solidarity. And together, we win.

Read our USW statement for Labour Day 2026. Next weekend, attend a Labour Day event near you.
https://usw.ca/together-we-win-solidarity-for-labour-day-2026

08/28/2026

🎓 Bargaining to Win — Building Knowledge, Building Power, Building Solidarity

Today, 20 Steelworkers from across Manitoba wrapped up the United Steelworkers Bargaining to Win course at the Union Centre in Winnipeg — and what a three days it was!

Facilitating this course alongside Staff Representative Matt Winterton was an experience we won’t soon forget. We came into the classroom with the goal of helping members build the knowledge, skills and confidence to be stronger at the bargaining table. We left knowing that those lessons are already heading back into workplaces and units across Manitoba.

Over the course, our students worked through what it really takes to Bargain to Win — developing a deliberate bargaining strategy, understanding the power that comes from an engaged membership, identifying the issues that matter to our members, researching employers and industries, building Communication and Action Teams, developing campaign strategies, understanding the importance of costing proposals, working effectively as a bargaining committee, and writing strong contract language.

But perhaps the most important lesson was bigger than any individual bargaining skill:

Our power comes from our members.

Collective bargaining works because we bargain collectively. The stronger our communication, engagement and solidarity, the stronger we are when we sit across the table from an employer. The course itself emphasizes that workers build collective power by informing, engaging and uniting members around their hopes, needs and priorities.

And that’s what made today so rewarding.

Hearing participants talk about what they were already planning to take back to their units — and hearing how much they valued the training — was a great reminder that union education is not just about learning something new. It’s about building the capacity of our members to stand up for one another.

To our 20 students: thank you. Thank you for bringing your experience, your questions, your different perspectives and your willingness to learn from one another. You made this class what it was.

And to Matt Winterton, thank you for being such a great co-facilitator and for helping make this course one to remember. It was a privilege to share the classroom with you.

Congratulations to everyone who graduated today! 🎓

Take what you learned, bring it home, share it with your members, build your teams, ask the questions, have the conversations — and keep building our collective power.

Because education is a foundation for solidarity. And solidarity is how we win. ✊

08/26/2026

Bargaining to Win — Building Our Collective Power 💪⚙️

Day 1 of Bargaining to Win is in the books, and there has already been a lot of great discussion, learning and sharing happening at the Union Centre in Winnipeg.

We have 20 students in the room, all bringing different experiences and perspectives to the table from across Manitoba. Some have been part of bargaining committees before and are looking to sharpen their skills, while for others, this is their first USW course. That mix makes for a great learning environment where we can learn from both the course material and from each other.

So, what have we been working on?

🔹 Bargaining strategy — successful bargaining isn't something we simply throw together at the last minute. We need to understand what we're trying to accomplish, where our strengths and challenges are, and develop a strategy to get there.

🔹 Power comes from our members — our collective power is built by workers standing together. The stronger our communication, engagement and unity, the stronger we are at the bargaining table.

🔹 Learning from the last round — we looked honestly at what worked, what didn't, and what we can do differently next time. The goal isn't to point fingers; it's to learn and build a stronger strategy.

🔹 Knowing our strengths and weaknesses — understanding where our union is strong and where we have room to improve helps us turn weaknesses into opportunities to build power.

🔹 Communication matters — Facebook posts, emails, bulletin boards and other tools all have their place, but meaningful face-to-face conversations are a critical part of engaging members and building support.

🔹 Building Communication and Action Teams (CATs) — we started looking at how we can build networks that connect bargaining committees directly with members across departments and shifts, while also creating a way for members to communicate back to their union leadership.

And we are carrying that thinking into Day 2.

We've looked at who our members are and what matters to them, because effective bargaining starts with understanding the people we represent. We have been examining how the makeup of our membership can influence bargaining priorities, participation and the proposals we bring to the table.

We've also started looking at equality issues in our collective agreements and how bargaining can address issues of rights and dignity—not everything that matters to our members is simply about wages.

A big part of this course is recognizing that bargaining is about all of us. We want agreements that improve the lives of our members and build a stronger union for everyone. One of the key statements Shawn has repeatedly made is that we bargain for everyt member and that at the table there should not be an imbalance of power.

Staff Rep Matt Winterton and USW9074 President Shawn McIvor are bringing their facilitator skills and years of experience at the bargaining table to the classroom, but just as importantly, we're learning from the experiences and ideas of the 20 members in the room.

There are still several days to go, and we're just getting started. We're looking forward to continuing the conversations, challenging ourselves, and building the skills needed to represent our members with confidence at the bargaining table. ✊

When we build our collective power, we build our ability to win.

08/24/2026

We have many members across sectors at the bargaining table this year.

Share this post to show your solidarity! ✊