Our History

Chartered in 1944, the Lumber and Sawmill Workers’ Union was affiliated with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, an international union. This association lasted 44 year, ending in 1988 when we merged with the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada (IWA), a wholly Canadian union recently separated from its U.S. parent.

In September 2004, the membership, following recommendations from the National Office, voted in favour of merging with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). This merger has not affected the way we serve our membership; it has only enhanced the level of services that we can offer. With the strength of the more than 600,000 steelworker membership behind us, we will be better equipped to deal with multinational companies. The Steelworkers are a progressive, democratic and growing union representing Canadian, and U.S. workers in all sectors of the economy.

In June 2010, a historical merger between locals 1-2995 and 1-2693 brought two local unions together that will do great things for the brothers and sisters of the newly formed Local 1-2010. Under this merger, we have become one of the largest amalgamated local unions geographically speaking. The Local now spans from Sudbury to the Manitoba border, covering all of Northern Ontario. This will give us the strenght to assure a more effective continuity of our historic mission of defending the workers' rights while maintaining the high level of service the the membership deserves.