Our Roadmap to Moving Federal Politics in Canada
As ATU members, we know that real gains come from organizing together, not just at the bargaining table but in the political arena. In Canada, that has historically meant engaging with the New Democratic Party, the labour party that grew out of unions and working people to give us a political voice in our multi-party system.
Stepping Into the Leadership Race
When the NDP’s national support collapsed under the threat of Trump tariffs following the last federal election, our ATU Canada Executive Board made a deliberate decision: we would engage actively in the leadership race and help rebuild the party from the ground up.
ATU Canada’s executive board hosted a leadership forum for all NDP candidates. This was an organizing moment, not a photo opportunity. We grounded ourselves in our national transit strategy and developed a detailed briefing note that laid out our priorities in plain language: stable operating funding for transit, strong federal legislation protecting the safety of our workers and riders, and an end to creeping privatization that pits workers against each other and erodes public services.
Putting Every Candidate on Record
That briefing note shaped the questions we asked every candidate. Would they fight for dedicated federal operating funding? How would they protect collective bargaining in transit? Would they stand with workers when cities try to cut service or contract out jobs? Our Executive Board listened carefully, not to crown a favourite, but to assess who was willing to champion transit workers in a serious way.
We made a collective decision not to issue an early endorsement. Leadership contests often pressure unions to rush, pick a side, and then disengage once the race is over. We understood that in this critical moment, that was a trap. Our goal was never access for access’ sake. It was to build relational influence that lasts beyond a campaign.
ATU Canada Shows Up in Winnipeg
That strategy paid off. At the NDP Leadership Convention in Winnipeg, ATU Canada brought its largest delegation in decades. Our presence on the floor was a signal to every candidate: transit workers are organized, we are engaged, and we expect to be heard. On the first ballot, Avi Lewis was elected as the new federal leader of the New Democratic Party.
Avi Lewis has proven to be a strong champion for transit, for workers, and for the kind of public investment our members depend on. We look forward to working closely with him and the NDP to bring our members’ priorities and issues to the national stage.
Political Power is Organized Power
This approach mirrors how unions win on the shop floor. We don’t rely on goodwill. We organize, we prepare, and we build relationships from a position of collective strength. The stakes could not be higher. With corporate forces pushing austerity, privatization, and anti-worker laws, transit workers need political allies who will fight, not triangulate.
ATU Canada’s engagement in this leadership race was about more than one election cycle. It was about rebuilding the bridge between organized labour and political power that created the NDP in the first place. Our members move this country every single day. It is time for our politics and our political leaders to move for us.