Issues

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, Steel slabs made in Hamilton by U.S. Steel are being shipped to the U.S., rolled into coils there and then returned to Hamilton for customers like Honda Canada. U.S. Steel is moving Canadian product 1,500 kilometres for processing in the U.S. when Lake Erie Works, a top-notch Canadian facility in Nanticoke, is left sitting idle.

Steelworkers need our support

Chris Charlton, MP
Hamilton Mountain

Published in the Simcoe Reformer

Two and a half years ago, U.S. Steel took over Stelco, and signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to meet employment and production requirements under the Investment Canada Act.

This is a foreign take-over that's gone completely awry.

A year ago, U.S. Steel laid off 800 workers at its Nanticoke plant. The remaining workers were locked out in August. Zero jobs and zero production. So much for meeting the conditions of the takeover.

Workers rally for jobs at Siemens

Kevin Werner
Hamilton Mountain News

Standing on the same site where a Siemens-Westinghouse time capsule is housed, union leaders and politicians raged against both levels of government that are allowing the Munich-based company to close its doors and move south of the border.

“This is ridiculous,” said Ken Lewenza, Canadian Auto Workers union president. “I’m pissed. Capitalism has to be regulated. To allow Siemens to have the right to move workers around, it’s ridiculous.”

Hamilton area loses 1,600 jobs last month; mixed reviews on recovery

Carmela Fragomeni
The Hamilton Spectator

While national and local unemployment rates edged down, the Hamilton region still lost 1,600 jobs in February.

The news from Statistics Canada yesterday comes on the heels of Thursday's announcement from Siemens Canada that it is moving its gas turbine manufacturing and 550 Hamilton jobs to North Carolina. In January, the Hamilton area lost 1,900 jobs.

Siemens moving 550 jobs to N. Carolina

Lisa Grace Marr
The Hamilton Spectator

The union representing about 325 workers at Siemens in Hamilton is vowing to fight the company’s decision to relocate in North Carolina.

Andrea Horwath, Hamilton Centre MPP and leader of the NDP party, led a press conference in front of the time capsule placed by Siemens in 1998 when it bought the 100-year-old plant from Westinghouse.

NATIONAL POST
BUSINESS, Page: E3

Back-to-work law proposed for CN strike
Tories quickly introduce legislation after engineers walk off the job
Scott Deveau, Canwest News Service; Financial Post

The federal government served notice Monday it won't tolerate anything derailing Canada's economic recovery, swiftly introducing back-to-work legislation for 1,700 locomotive engineers at Canadian National Railway Co. less than three days after their strike began.

Op-ed by Chris Charlton originally appeared in the Hamilton Mountain News

By CHRIS CHARLTON

Nov 13, 2009

Large Medium Small Print This Article Tell a friend Whenever my schedule permits, I knock on doors on the Mountain to ask which issues residents would like me to raise on their behalf in the House of Commons. For the last year, no issue has come up as often as the security of workplace pensions and the fear of not having enough money to survive retirement.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP)
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-477, An Act respecting the harmonization of holidays.

She said: Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure today to introduce a bill respecting the harmonization of holidays. This enactment would entitle employees under federal jurisdiction to all the general holidays observed in the province in which they work.

I know that I only have 30 seconds to explain the intent of the bill, so let me try to put it as succinctly as possible by way of an example.

September 28th, 2009 2nd Session, 40th Parliament:

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, workers at the U.S. Steel plant in Nanticoke are currently in a labour dispute, but at the same plant there were layoffs before that dispute was ever started. ROEs clearly show that these layoffs predate the dispute and yet EI claims are being held up for an average of six to eight weeks. This cannot be news to the Minister of Human Resources. The Nanticoke plant is in her own riding and it is her constituents who are losing their homes.

Ignatieff flip-flops while Ontarians brace for higher taxes

OTTAWA – Ontarians are facing an eight percent increase in the cost of everything from funerals to car repairs, airline tickets, vitamins, movie tickets, summer camps and home heating because of a deal the Harper Conservatives have struck with the McGuinty Liberals, warn New Democrats.