<\/a><\/p>\n

Union and company representatives from Canada, the US and Germany gathered in May for the annual Siemens Labour Meeting, held this year in San Antonio, TX.<\/p>\n

One of the most concerning topics discussed was union density within Siemens in North America; Union representation has continued to drop in the US, as Siemens moves work to non-unionized, right-to-work locations such as Charlotte in North Carolina. Unfortunately, it appears that at least one of three GP (or PG) locations in the US will no longer be represented by the IAMAW as the plant in Wellsville, NY, is slated to close by 2020. The future remains uncertain for the other two factories, located in Painted Post and Olean, both also in NY.<\/p>\n

Although the International Framework Agreement (https:\/\/www.planetlabor.com\/en\/industrial-relations-en\/siemens-new-international-framework-agreement\/), put together by Siemens AG and IG Metall (the largest union in Europe, representing most unionized Siemens employees), which was written in order to ensure that unionization will not be hindered in any way at any Siemens plant in the world, was agreed to by Siemens in the US via a memorandum of understanding (https:\/\/digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=lelb), Union representation remains largely unchanged: around 6% for the approximately 50 000 Siemens employees in the US and not much better in Canada at approximately 10% (as compared to approximately 30% Union density in all of Canada) of the approximately 5 000 Siemens Canada employees.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very sad that since the existence of Unions, many companies and governments have sought to control, weaken or eliminate labour groups. These historical articles are very revealing:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/spartacus-educational.com\/GERMANtradeU.htm
\nhttps:\/\/www.teachers.org.uk\/files\/trade-unionists-leaflet.pdf
\nhttps:\/\/www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca\/en\/article\/winnipeg-general-strike<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, even current governments take their turn at trying to control unionism; whether that be the \u201cright-to-work\u201d legislation in the US, or similar bills (C-377 and C-525) in Canada that were passed by the previous Conservative government and subsequently repealed. The purpose of these laws is to undermine Unions.<\/p>\n

Some Implications of a Canadian "Right to Work" Law<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n