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Unifor and its predecessor unions have bargained a national pattern in the energy and chemical sector since 1965. Over the last year, many members identified ideas for updating or modernizing the process, and Unifor’s energy and chemical sector council convened a meeting in Calgary during April 9–11 to amend the program.
Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier opened the meeting with remarks that described how profitable the sector is in 2024, and that the national pattern should stay ambitious to ensure the workers are getting their fair share of the profits.
During her keynote address, National President Lana Payne encouraged delegates to take ownership over the process and work together to improve the national pattern process to ensure it still serves members today and tomorrow.
“We have good energy jobs today because of those union leaders and workers who fought hard to have them. And because you are still doing so. None of this is automatic. We know this. And if we want good energy jobs for tomorrow, it is up to us to fight for them,” she said.
Payne pointed to the breadth of Unifor as a key strength for improving the pattern bargaining process in the energy and chemical sector: “A big advantage for us in Unifor is we have experience and a deep history of union building in so many different sectors. We can learn from each other and build worker power across the union.”
Changes adopted to the pattern bargaining process would be implemented for the negotiations in 2026.
