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Steelworkers statement on police conduct at Montebello

NEWS RELEASE UNITED STEELWORKERS ************************* Steelworkers condemn police action at montebello, echo calls for inquiry TORONTO – United Steelworkers’ (USW) National Director Ken Neumann said Friday the admission by Sûreté du Québec that
KenNeumann

NEWS RELEASE

UNITED STEELWORKERS

************************* Steelworkers condemn police action at montebello, echo calls for inquiry TORONTO – United Steelworkers’ (USW) National Director Ken Neumann said Friday the admission by Sûreté du Québec that two of its officers were disguised as protesters at this week’s demonstrations in Montebello is shocking and anti-democratic in the extreme.

Neumann [shown] also echoed the call by the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union for an independent judicial inquiry into the cover-up.

"It's one thing to go undercover but these guys were sent in to cause trouble," said Neumann, who was taking part in a tri-national meeting of labour leaders from major North American unions representing energy sector workers.

The gathering marked a new level of cross-border cooperation on the future of the energy sector.

"Business leaders have tried to persuade us that Montebello and the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) is just about tweaking and harmonizing regulations on things like cross-border trade," Neumann said. "Meanwhile, energy sector trade unionists from Mexico, the US and Canada are building common strategies to contend with one of the SPP projects that neither business nor government leaders are mentioning.

"That project is to ensure that even more of Mexican and Canadian oil and gas resources are piped directly into the US to feed its energy-consuming culture."

In a statement following the tri-national meeting, participating unions said energy policies will shape the 21st century world.

"These policies will lead either to democratic, sustainable development or to global environmental disaster and new wars of aggression," said the statement. "Energy workers, their unions and social partners in Mexico, Canada and the United States will act together for democratic, sustainable national development of our energy resources."

The USW is Canada’s most diverse union, representing more than 280,000 men and women in every sector of the economy.

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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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