As we close out 2025, we reflect on a year defined by extraordinary challenges, but also incredible resolve and solidarity from Unifor members across the country. Our union confronted an unrelenting trade war and escalating attacks on Canadian workers as Donald Trump targeted our industrial economy including the auto, forestry, steel and aluminum sectors, and the 100,000s of good union jobs they sustain.

Make no mistake: while specific industries were singled out, the threat extended to our entire economy. And at every step, Unifor stood firm.

Throughout the year, we demanded real solutions and real accountability. We pushed governments to defend workers, invest in major Canadian infrastructure projects, and uphold corporate commitments to keep jobs here at home. We fought corporations and business leaders who were all too willing to sacrifice Canadian workers for a quick deal with the U.S. We insisted on bold action: developing sector based industrial strategies, building with Canadian lumber and steel, shoring up east-west energy links, restricting foreign control of critical minerals, and strengthening procurement to support Canadian industries.

These fights have not been easy. Our members faced difficult news in workplaces all across the country from forestry mills in British Columbia to manufacturing plants in Ontario and Quebec to the fisheries in Newfoundland and Labrador. Every sector of the economy was impacted in some form, including the ongoing restructuring in the media and telecommunications sectors.

But even in the hardest moments, our union never stopped fighting back. We pushed for respect on the job, from fair wages for hospitality workers, to washroom access for transit operators. Our locked-out Titan Tool & Die members continue to stand strong after more than 125 days on the line, to oppose and expose an employer trying to move jobs quietly south.

When we rallied, whether in Windsor, Ear Falls, Brampton, Ingersoll, Halifax, St. John’s, Vancouver or Montreal we made sure our voices carried loud and clear, to the chambers of legislatures and the boardrooms of corporations. Our health care and education members stood strong, fighting for adequately funded public services for everyone.

We celebrated important victories too. After years of relentless advocacy, federal anti-scab legislation finally became law and we wasted no time enforcing it, taking on DHL Express when it tried to dodge its responsibilities.

Most importantly, our movement grew. Thousands of workers joined Unifor this year, choosing collective strength in a time when workers’ rights are increasingly under attack, whether through anti-worker legislation in Alberta, Quebec’s dangerous Bill 3, the egregious invoking of Section107 of the federal Labour Code or renewed pushes to privatize airports and public infrastructure. When governments attempt to silence workers, our message remains the same: they will have to come through us. We will organize. We will resist.

As we look to 2026, the work ahead is significant, but so is our momentum and determination. Trump’s tariff war continues and our Canadian government must take a firm, coordinated approach to fighting the unabated attacks on Canadian workers. Our union will be fully engaged in the upcoming CUSMA review because workers’ voices must be at every table including trade negotiations.

Unifor will continue to push the federal government to deliver on its promises: advancing a real Buy Canadian plan, investing in major projects, strengthening public services, building homes, and developing a clear industrial strategy and workforce plan.

For our union, 2026 will mark a very important bargaining year. Nearly 94,000 members will head to the table, with many negotiating key pattern-setting collective agreements like auto, energy and forestry.

It will also be a critical year in growing worker power in warehouses, including the continued fight to unionize and achieve first collective agreements for Amazon and Walmart workers.

Through every challenge of 2025, our solidarity proved stronger than ever. We showed up for each other every single time.

We enter 2026 ready to defend workers, our rights and our jobs. To build an economy rooted in fairness, security, and opportunity for workers in every corner of this country.

Thank you to every Unifor member for your strength, your determination, and your solidarity.

Together, we will continue the fight because when we fight together, we win together.

We wish you all every joy of the holiday season as well as special time with family and friends. May the warmth of our collective solidarity be felt by every Unifor family.
Peace, love and solidarity,

It is with great sadness that we confirm that Unifor Local 892 member Tyrone McLeod was killed on Monday in the Mosaic K3 potash mine near Esterhazy, Saskatchewan where he worked as miner operator.

Tyrone was a valued and active member of the local union and is survived by two daughters, Bailey and Hunter.
Our union is deeply saddened by this tragic news. We sincerely grieve this preventable loss and we extend our deepest sympathies and solidarity with his loved ones and Local 892 members.

The “fall of ground” incident is currently under investigation by the provincial Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety and the Chief Mines Inspector. The local and the Unifor Health and Safety Department are seeking to be a part of the process and are actively collecting facts on the job site.

Call for donations

We ask that you consider donating to Tyrone’s family to help them recover from this tragedy. Please use the link below to direct donations via the Unifor National Office. We have also created a poster to hang in the workplace with a QR code to assist members who want to make their own donations.

Donate Now

Rest assured Unifor will fight for justice for Tyrone and under no circumstances will we allow his death to be brushed aside. We stand ready to participate in the investigation into what transpired and to share our findings with the ministry to determine the extent of the employer’s culpability and what remedies are needed at the mine.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

In solidarity,

Lana Payne
National President

HALIFAX—Unifor members at the now-shuttered Northern Pulp mill in Pictou, Nova Scotia, will see their pension fund made whole and fully wound up as the company’s woodland assets secures a buyer at auction for $235 million.

This amount is enough to repay the $37 million owed to Unifor Local 440 members’ defined benefit pension plan.

“This is a small but important victory for all workers as the bankruptcy process typically places workers and their pensions at the bottom of the list of creditors or off the list entirely,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Current Northern Pulp pensioners can rest easier knowing their retirement is secure, and those who will retire in the future can now count on the pension they earned being there for them.”

Unifor represented 220 members at Northern Pulp prior to its closure in 2020 and has continued to advocate for them through the closure, creditor protection and sale processes.

“The fact that it feels like a long-fought victory to protect workers’ pensions — deferred wages that were earned and saved — shows how awful the outcome usually is for workers as companies file for bankruptcy or close entirely,” said Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray. “I’m happy we achieved this outcome for Northern Pulp members and their families.”

The union provided consistent support to members of Local 440 through the many years of uncertainty leading up to the closure and contested every move by the company and government that did not favour workers in the years since the mill closed.

Unifor advocated for legislative changes to protect workers’ pensions, supporting a private members’ bill that gives pension plan members super-priority during plan windups and bankruptcy proceedings.

The bill received royal assent in 2023 but will not take effect until 2027.

“Being a member of a union and supporting unions is more important than ever as we continue to see new ways corporations will dodge their responsibilities and ignore their promises to workers,” said Murray. “Workers stand with each other, particularly in a strong union like Unifor, to fight back against unfair treatment and this long fight proves that after everyone else leaves the building, the union will be there fighting for you, with you.”

Learn more about the Fight for Forestry jobs at unifor.org/forestry.