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January 24, 2012
CAW Local Unions
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
The CAW has a proud history of defending our members and pushing for social change that has benefitted working people right across the country.
It is with this strong legacy in mind that we have been holding preliminary discussions with the leaders of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) about possibly forming a new Canadian union that would be better equipped to achieve our mutual goals of greater economic, social and political equality for our own members and all Canadians more broadly. The CAW was indeed built over the years by joining with a number of like-minded unions, representing the bulk of our membership today.
Since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008, unions have been under incredibly aggressive attacks by corporations and right-wing governments alike – as labour leaders and activists, we must find new ways of working together to fight this onslaught and continue making progress.
Very preliminary discussions began last autumn. Since then the National Executive Boards of both unions have unanimously approved a process to continue exploring the idea of joining together to form a new Canadian union. Included here are the Process Protocol, the protocol both the CAW and CEP will follow as the two unions explore the idea of forming a new Canadian union and an explanatory media release.
We will keep all of our locals informed of the process as it unfolds and will be posting updates regularly on our website.
If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with my office.
In solidarity,
Ken Lewenza
National President
