By Joseph Maloney
International Vice-President for Canada

If there's one thing the events of this year have shown, it's that solidarity is a very real and meaningful concept for every Boilermaker.

On a very elemental level, Boilermakers across Canada showed support for our brothers and sisters in Ft. McMurray when that community was devastated not only by fire, but later by flooding. The billions of dollars of damage doesn't even begin to account for the hardship and heartbreak that our members and thousands of other residents have gone through - and are still going through.

Our union stepped up to the plate. Members of Lodge 146 were among the many volunteers who helped in whatever way they could. In all, our union has contributed more than $200,000 to the rescue and rebuilding effort. And that doesn't begin to count the generosity of individual Boilermakers across Canada, who contributed to the Red Cross and other relief efforts.

The job is not done yet but if I know our Boilermakers, we won't stop until the wounds of Ft. McMurray have healed.

A similar spirit of solidarity was evident in our union's 33rd Consolidated Convention, which we held in July. While the issues we debated didn't have the urgency of the Ft. McMurray disaster, the convention also showed how much we can accomplish if we put our minds to it and pull together.

An important discussion took place at the convention on the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal that will sell out our members and our jobs to low-wage countries in Asia. Under the TPP, corporations can import workers en masse, with virtually no safeguards as to their qualifications or ability to do the type of skilled work we Boilermakers take such pride in.

Our American brothers and sisters have worked hard to turn the tide on this travesty and are on the verge of success in shooting it down once and for all. In Canada, we still have work to do, but under the leadership of Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, I'm confident we can turn things around here too.

That kind of solidarity - working towards the same goal with Boilermakers and other union members across North America - can get results, if we stick with it and keep pushing for the rights of our members and all working people.

Think of the other attacks we face in our own union. In the west, we have some contractors who are trying to cut our wages and benefits, using the fall in oil prices as an excuse. Thousand of other workers across Canada are facing the same pressures.

How can we defeat these attacks? We don't have the billions of dollars that multinational corporations can use to buy the media and the politicians. But we do have our collective strength, which can rebuild a community or defeat politicians that promote destructive policies like the TPP.

If there's any message we can keep in mind for Labour Day this year, let it be that one: that in solidarity with one another, we can accomplish anything.