1 min read

Season 5, Episode 171

Training partnership could provide unions with recruitment opportunity

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Guest Name:


Tom Buffenbarger

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Tom Buffenbarger, retired International President of the International Association of Machinists and Allied Workers, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the union workers being locked out by two Canadian rail companies. He also discussed a defense industrial training program and what it means for unions to be involved with the political process.

Following a lockout of union workers by Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) on Aug. 22, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) had every intention of walking out. Buffenbarger explained why the lockout was ended by the Canadian government and why union workers at CPKC walked out immediately while CN workers delayed their strike action. He then explained what happened to halt the strike at CN and return some members to work. 

Recently, a new training partnership known as Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeship and Learning (METAL) was announced to provide education and training for individuals seeking a career in the metal manufacturing industry. Buffenbarger talked about the new program and what it could mean for the future of the trades as manufacturing begins to return to American soil.

Finally, Buffenbarger discussed the resurgence of political involvement from unions. In his opinion, the best way to improve the middle class and ensure that unions have a future is for members to get active in educating and informing the general public. Buffenbarger went on to discuss the different reasons why he believes this election is one that could set a new standard for union activism.

Listen to the show above to hear more from Buffenbarger.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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