“When We Fight, We Win” – IFPTE’s 2025 Labour Day Message

On behalf of the Executive Council and Staff of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), we wish the 90,000 represented IFPTE members and their families across North America a happy and inspiring Labour Day. 

As we are all aware, the purpose of Labour Day is to honor and recognize the achievements and innovations brought to our society by workers and their Labor Unions. At IFPTE, our members keep the lights on for our fellow citizens; design and engineer the safest airplanes in the world; are working toward putting astronauts back on the moon and eventually to Mars; serve the public with pride at the federal, provincial, state, and local government levels; and represent the most vulnerable among us in the legal arena.  As a Union, we take pride in the work that all of our members perform, and are proud to stand arm in arm with all of you to ensure that we all have a voice on the job, safety and accountability in our workplaces, and enjoy wages, pensions, and benefits that are truly worthy of our Labor.  Indeed, on this Labour Day, we should all take a moment to savor all that we have accomplished as workers and as Unions. 

We should also understand that as we participate in Labour Day festivities in our communities and with our fellow Union members and workers, and celebrate the end of Summer and beginning of Fall with our families and friends at cookouts, we also acknowledge that this year has, thus far, tested our collective resolve and Solidarity.  However, we are proud to report that IFPTE Local after IFPTE Local has stepped up to the plate to fight every challenge. For example, when an Executive Order was signed on March 27th that eliminated collective bargaining rights and Union payroll dues deduction for over 1 million federal workers, including tens of thousands of IFPTE members, IFPTE Locals from across Canada and the private and public sectors in the U.S. quickly volunteered to contribute toward the cost of an EDues collection system that allows Locals to collect member dues electronically.  In addition, when the current president of the United States attacked our Canadian Siblings, Sisters and Brothers, and working families all across Canada, with damaging tariffs that will surely lead to job losses while also challenging Canada’s sovereignty, IFPTE joined the fight to urge Congress to strip the president’s authority to unilaterally impose trade barriers to the detriment of working families, and has been one of, if not the most vocal American Unions condemning non-sensical rhetoric toward Canada.  

Our great Federation was founded in 1918, representing workers at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Over our more than 100-year history, we have always taken challenges head-on. When there was an effort in 2001 to strip Department of Defense (DOD) workers of their collective bargaining rights, we beat it back and won. When the Ford Government in Ontario attempted to erode collective bargaining for public sector workers in 2022, the Society of United Professionals (SUP/IFPTE Local 160) and IFPTE stood in strong Solidarity with all public sector unions in the Province and forced the government to do an about-face. When former Boeing CEO Jim McNerney commented to stockholders in 2014 that his job was safe because “the workers will be cowering,” the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA/IFPTE Local 2001) responded by bargaining some of the strongest contracts ever seen at the Boeing Company.  Simply stated, when we fight, we win! 

Throughout his five decades of public service, former President Joe Biden frequently and correctly said that middle-class workers built our communities and our nation, and Unions built the middle class. These words ring true today more than ever. As Union members, let us not forget this sentiment on this Labour Day. 

We wish you all a safe and inspirational Labour Day!

 
In Solidarity,

Matthew Biggs                                                                   Gay Henson            
IFPTE President                                                                 IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer

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IFPTE members are encouraged to share your Labor Day event with us. Send your information/pics to Recap@ifpte.org.

Find a Labor Day event near you at workerslaborday.org.  

You can find best practices for peaceful First Amendment activity, safety, and legal protection at events here: aflcio.org/1st-amendment