Endeavour Mining plunges after firing CEO for serious misconduct

Bloomberg News | January 5, 2024 |

Sabodala-Massawa CIL plant. Credit: Endeavour Mining

Endeavour Mining Plc tumbled after announcing it fired chief executive officer Sébastien de Montessus, citing “serious misconduct” and irregularities tied to the sale of a company asset.


The London-based gold miner removed de Montessus after discovering an alleged “irregular payment instruction” of $5.9 million related to an asset sale, it said in a statement. The company also revealed it recently conducted an external investigation into the CEO’s personal conduct with colleagues, following whistle-blowing allegations from October.

Endeavour, which is backed by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, traded 12% lower in London on Friday, after falling 10% in Toronto following the announcement on Thursday. The company has named mining industry veteran and deputy chairman Ian Cockerill as CEO.

In a statement on Thursday, De Montessus said that in 2021 he instructed an unnamed creditor of Endeavour to offset an amount owed to the company for essential security equipment, to protect its partners and employees in an unspecified conflict zone.

“The decision had no additional cost to the company and did not benefit me personally in any way,” de Montessus said. “I omitted to inform the board that I had arranged for this offset, which I have freely accepted was a lapse in judgment.”

He said he was given 48 hours’ notice of the concerns and “no proper opportunity” to respond to them before he was fired.

“As to the other investigation: no misconduct of any kind was discovered because none occurred,” de Montessus said. “I am proud of what we have built together at Endeavour,” he said, adding he would “take my time to consider my position with my advisers.”

The dramatic termination ends de Montessus’s seven-year stint at the helm of Endeavour. The former executive transformed the company through a flurry of dealmaking and mine-building that replaced small and high-cost operations with new flagship projects. The company operates gold mines in West Africa with assets across Senegal, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

Neither the company or de Montessus disclosed the asset in question or its location. The company said it became aware of the payment instruction during a review of acquisitions and disposals, which is ongoing. In the past two years, Endeavor has sold mines in Burkina Faso and its stake in an Ivory Coast gold project.

Endeavour has been among the most acquisitive mining companies in recent years, having bought Teranga Gold Corp. and rival Semafo Inc. in 2020.

It has also backed away from deals, abandoning an attempt to buy Centamin Plc, which owns the Sukari mine in Egypt, after its advances were rebuffed. In 2017, the company ended talks on a potential combination with Acacia Mining Plc, a Tanzanian miner that has since been reabsorbed by Barrick Gold Corp.

Cockerill, who is replacing de Montessus effective immediately, previously served as CEO of Gold Fields Ltd. and Anglo Coal, a subsidiary of Anglo American Plc.

(By Jacob Lorinc and Thomas Biesheuvel)

Nippon Steel confident of completing US Steel acquisition

Bloomberg | January 5, 2024 | 

Credit: US Steel

Nippon Steel is confident of successfully completing its planned acquisition of US Steel, despite opposition from labor union and certain US senators, its president said on Friday.


The world’s fourth-largest steelmaker’s planned $14.9 billion deal has drawn criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and the powerful United Steelworkers union, the main union at the third-largest US steel company.


The White House has also expressed the need for “serious scrutiny” of the deal given the company’s role in U.S. steel production that the government regards as critical to national security.

“I believe we can successfully complete the planned acquisition,” Nippon Steel President Eiji Hashimoto told reporters on the sideline of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation’s new year party on Friday.

“The deal poses no harm to America… as we will make investment in line with the economic security strategies of the United States and other Western nations,” he said.

Hashimoto said the substantial investment from Nippon Steel and the use of the Japanese company’s advanced steel-making technology would be advantageous to the United States.

He also said the current labour agreement would be maintained, adding: “Taking good care of our employees and labour union is our speciality.”

Acknowledging the challenges, Hashimoto said that Nippon Steel had anticipated hurdles, including differing opinions, objections, and government’s scrutiny.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Barbara Lewis)

Workers at First Quantum’s shuttered Panama mine warn of threat to ‘invade’ site

Reuters | January 4, 2024 

Cobre Panama copper mine. (Image courtesy of Franco-Nevada assets handbook.)

The union representing workers at First Quantum’s copper mine in Panama on Wednesday warned of another union’s plan to “invade” the site next week, the latest face-off over the now-shuttered mine that provoked nationwide protests last year.


The UTRAMIPA miners’ union said in a statement it was “worried” by the plans of the Suntracs construction workers union, the largest in the country, to force its way into the Canadian miner’s operation on Jan. 9.

First Quantum in late November suspended commercial production at the mine and put it into care and maintenance, but the company still has equipment and workers at the site.

Suntracs, which does not represent the mine’s workers, in recent months led protests against First Quantum and backed blockades that strangled the mine’s ability to bring in supplies.


A Suntracs spokesperson said on Wednesday it would “symbolically close” the mine on Jan. 9, a national holiday commemorating anti-US demonstrations in 1964 over the sovereignty of the Panama Canal zone in which more than 20 Panamanians were killed.

“We’re calling all Panamanians to come with us, to go where our sovereignty was violated,” Suntracs union leader Saul Mendez said in a press conference late last month.

The miners’ union said Suntracs had entered the site by force in 2016 and 2018.

First Quantum did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the plans for the Jan. 9 protests at the mine.

Panama’s Supreme Court in late November ruled First Quantum’s lucrative contract to operate in the country unconstitutional, prompting the government to order its “definitive” shutdown.

The mine had previously accounted for some 5% of Panama’s gross domestic product, but became a flashpoint as previously small anti-mining protests grew into a larger anti-government movement.

The mine’s union called for aid from the government in protecting the site, citing previous incidents of violence against workers and the need to avoid an environmental disaster.

Union leader Michael Camacho said that they had yet to receive a response from authorities and that First Quantum had not given instructions to ensure workers’ safety.

(By Valentine Hilaire, Eli Moreno and Kylie Madry; Editing by Jamie Freed)

First Quantum said to be in talks with Jiangxi over Zambian mines

Cecilia Jamasmie | January 5, 2024 

The Sentinel open-pit copper mine. (Image courtesy of First Quantum Minerals.)

Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM), which is reeling from the forced closure of its flagship copper mine in Panama, is said to be in talks to sell a stake in its Zambian operations to help shore its finances.


A person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that Chinese state-owned Jiangxi Copper Corporation has already approached First Quantum on the matter, but that no agreement has been reached so far.

The Vancouver-based miner is the sole owner of the Sentinel copper mine and has a 80% stake in the Kansanshi mine, both in Zambia.

Jiangxi, First Quantum’s top shareholder, is said to be evaluating the acquisition of one of the two mines or a stake in one of them, according to the report.

First Quantum’s presence in Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, also includes the Fishtie copper project, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The companies, which have been exploring the asset since 2012, recently announced it would speed up development with the goal of beginning production in 2026.

The news adds to several other rumours about First Quantum’s future, which include an alleged takeover in the making by fellow Canadian miner Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX), (NYSE: GOLD).

The gold giant has been expanding into copper as of late as it aims to double production of the metal to 1 billion pounds by 2031. It has already committed $2 billion to the development of the Lumwana super pit expansion in Zambia, and has a stake in the Reko Diq mine in Pakistan, expected to be one of world’s 10 largest when it reaches production in 2028.

First Quantum said it plans to provide an update on the company’s plan to meet its debt obligations by the end of January.

UN economic forecast cites conflicts, sluggish trade, high interest and climate disasters

Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press

The United Nations issued a somber global economic forecast for 2024 on Thursday, pointing to challenges from escalating conflicts, sluggish global trade, persistently high interest rates and increasing climate disasters.

In its flagship economic report, the U.N. projected that global economic growth would slow to 2.4 per cent this year from an estimated 2.7 per cent in 2023, which exceeds expectations. But both are still below the three per cent growth rate before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, it said.

The U.N. forecast is lower than those of the International Monetary Fund in October and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in late November.

The IMF said it expects global growth to slow from an expected three per cent in 2023 to 2.9 per cent in 2024. The Paris-based OECD, comprising 38 mainly developed countries, estimated that international growth would also slow from an expected 2.9 per cent in 2023 to 2.7 per cent in 2024.

The U.N.’s report -- World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024 -- warned that the prospects of prolonged tighter credit conditions and higher borrowing costs present “strong headwinds” for a world economy saddled with debt, especially in poorer developing countries, and needing investment to resuscitate growth.

Shantanu Mukherjee, director of the U.N.’s Economic Analysis and Policy Division, said fears of a recession in 2023 were averted mainly due to the United States, the world’s largest economy, curbing high inflation without putting the brakes on the economy.

But he told a news conference launching the report: “We’re still not out of the danger zone.”

Mukherjee said that’s because the unsettled situation in the world could fuel inflation. For example, another supply chain shock or problem in fuel availability or distribution could prompt another interest rate hike to bring the situation under control, he said.

“We’re not expecting a recession, per se, but because there is volatility in the environment around us, this is the major source of risk,” he said.

Very high interest rates for a long time and the threat of possible shocks to prices contribute to “quite a difficult balancing act,” Mukherjee said. “So that’s really why we said that we are not yet out of the woods.”

According to the report, global inflation, which was at 8.1 per cent in 2022, is estimated to have declined to 5.7 per cent in 2023, and is projected to decline further to 3.9 per cent in 2023.

But in about a quarter of all developing countries, annual inflation is projected to exceed 10 per cent this year, it said.

While the U.S. economy performed “remarkably well” in 2023, the report said growth is expected to decline from an estimated 2.5 per cent in 2023 to 1.4 per cent this year.

“Amid falling household savings, high interest rates, and a gradually softening labor market, consumer spending is expected to weaken in 2024 and investment is projected to remain sluggish,” the U.N. said. “While the likelihood of a hard landing has declined considerably, the United States economy will face significant downside risks from deteriorating labor, housing and financial markets.”

With elevated inflation and high interest rates, the report said Europe faces “a challenging economic outlook.”

GDP in the European Union is forecast to expand from 0.5 per cent in 2023 to 1.2 per cent in 2024, it said, with the increase driven by “a pick-up in consumer spending as price pressures ease, real wages rise, and labor markets remain robust.”

Japan, the world's fourth largest economy, is projected to see economic growth slow from 1.7 per cent in 2023 to 1.2 per cent this year despite the country’s monetary and fiscal policies, the report said, “Rising inflation may signal an end from the deflationary trend that persisted for more than two decades” in the country, it said.

In China, the world’s second-largest economy, the U.N. said recovery from COVID lockdowns has been more gradual than expected “amid domestic and international headwinds.

With economic growth of just 3.0 per cent in 2022, the report said China turned a corner during the second half of 2023 with the growth rate reaching 5.3 per cent. But it said the combination of a weak property sector and faltering external demand for its products “will nudge growth down moderately to 4.7 per cent in 2024.

In developing regions, the U.N. said economic growth in Africa is projected to remain weak with a slight increase from an average of 3.3 per cent in 2023 to 3.5 per cent in 2024.

“The unfolding climate crisis and extreme weather events will undermine agricultural output and tourism, while geopolitical instability will continue to adversely impact several subregions … especially the Sahel and North Africa,” the report said.

The U.N. forecasts a moderate slowdown in East Asia economies from 4.9 per cent in 2023 to 4.6 per cent in 2024. In Western Asia, GDP is forecast to grow by 2.9 per cent in 2024, up from 1.7 per cent in 2023.

In South Asia, GDP rose by an estimated 5.3 per cent last year and is projected to increase by 5.2 per cent in 2024, “driven by a robust expansion in India, which remains the fastest growing large economy in the world.” Its growth is forecast to reach 6.2 per cent this year, similar to its projected 6.3 per cent increase in 2023.

 

U.S. employers add a surprisingly strong 216,000 jobs in a sign of continued economic strength

Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press

The nation’s employers added a robust 216,000 jobs last month, the latest sign that the American job market remains resilient even in the face of sharply higher interest rates.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department showed that December’s job gain exceeded the 173,000 that were added in November. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 per cent — the 23rd straight month that joblessness has remained below four per cent.

The latest data reflect an economy and a job market that are decelerating back to pre-pandemic norms. Hiring remains steady, and while employers are posting fewer openings, they are not laying off many workers.

Despite the low unemployment and cooling inflation, polls show that many Americans are dissatisfied with the economy. That disconnect, which will likely be an issue in the 2024 elections, has puzzled economists and political analysts.

A key factor, though, is the public’s exasperation with higher prices. Though inflation has been falling more or less steadily for a year and a half, prices are still 17 per cent higher than they were before the inflation surge began.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of hard times ahead after the central bank began jacking up interest rates in the spring of 2022 to attack high inflation. Most economists predicted that the much higher borrowing costs that resulted would cause a recession, with layoffs and rising unemployment, in 2023.

Yet the recession never arrived, and none appears to be on the horizon. The nation’s labour market, though cooler than in the sizzling-hot years of 2022 and 2023, is still cranking out enough jobs to keep the unemployment rate near historic lows.

The resilience of the job market has been matched by the durability of the overall economy. Far from collapsing into a recession, the U.S. gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — grew at a vigorous 4.9 per cent annual pace from July through September. Strong consumer spending and business investment drove much of the expansion.

At the same time, average hourly pay has outpaced inflation over the past year, leaving Americans with more money to spend. Indeed, as they did for much of 2023, consumers, a huge engine for U.S. economic growth, hit the stores in November, shopped online, went out to restaurants or traveled.

Since March 2022, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times, lifting it to a 22-year high of about 5.4 per cent. Those higher rates have made borrowing costlier for companies and households, but they are on their way toward achieving their goal: Conquering inflation.

Consumer prices were up 3.1 per cent in November from a year earlier, down drastically from a four-decade high 9.1 per cent in June 2022. The Fed is so satisfied with the progress so far that it hasn’t raised rates since July and has signaled that it expects to make three rate cuts this year.

Beyond a hard hit to the housing market, higher rates haven’t exerted much damage across the broader economy. Many industry sectors, including healthcare and government, have proved relatively resistant to higher interest rates.

The labour market’s cool-down has been nowhere near enough to signal that a recession is on the way. Normally, slowing job growth might be a cause for concern. But under the current circumstances, with inflation still above the Fed’s two per cent annual target, a more moderate pace of hiring is seen as just what the economy needs.

Lower demand for workers tends to ease the pressure on employers to raise pay to keep or attract workers and to pass on their higher labour costs to customers by raising prices.

New bridge connecting Detroit to Canada 

won't open until fall 2025

The Associated Press

The freighter Manitowoc makes its way down the Detroit River past continuing construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, Canadian span, in Detroit on Dec. 29, 2023. (Daniel Mears /Detroit News via AP)

DETROIT — A second bridge connecting Detroit and Canada over the Detroit River won't open for travel until fall 2025, months later than anticipated, officials said Thursday.

Officials cited construction disruptions in the U.S. and Canada related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, named for a Canadian who played hockey for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, began in 2018 and was last scheduled to be completed in 2024.

The target now is September 2025, though the bridge deck should be finished this year.

"Our project team is pleased that the impact to the construction schedule is limited to only 10 months beyond the original contracted completion date," said Charl van Niekerk, chief executive of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.

The project carries a price tag of $6.4 billion, up from $5.7 billion.

The Howe bridge will join the privately owned Ambassador Bridge as the second span connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

The Ambassador Bridge is considered the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing, carrying 25 per cent of all trade between the two countries. It plays an especially important role in auto manufacturing.

Canadian government will foot extra $700M

in Gordie Howe bridge delays

CBC
Thu, January 4, 2024

Crews work on the Canadian side of the Gordie Howe International Bridge in July. (Patrick Morrell/CBC - image credit)

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is now slated to open in September 2025, a delay of 10 months from its original targeted completion date in 2024.

The new targeted opening date means the international border crossing will now cost $6.4 billion Cdn, up from the original $5.7-billion cost estimate — a cost that will be borne entirely by the Canadian government, a Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority spokesperson said.

"The project is still entirely funded by the Government of Canada," said Heather Grondin, the chief relations officer for the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA). "So that does include this increase in the contract value."

Bridging North America, the private-sector partner on the project, would only absorb costs like fluctuations in the exchange rate or construction increases that are not caused by an unplanned event like the pandemic, Grondin said.

The new international border crossing was scheduled to be completed in November but "experienced unprecedented disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic," the bridge authority said in a press release issued Thursday morning.

"The disruptions were even more prevalent for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project given the differing applicable restrictions in the U.S. and Canada, combined with the ramping up of construction activities in early 2020," the statement reads.

The bridge authority says the contract between the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) and Bridging North America (BNA) has been updated to reflect the new completion date.

Grondin says the increased project cost will not impact the eventual toll to use the bridge — instead the government will just take longer to recoup its costs on the project via tolls.

The first vehicles are expected to cross the bridge in fall 2025. Last year was "the busiest construction year to date" on the project, the bridge authority says.

The delay comes with a one-year extension to the bridge's community benefits plan worth $3 million Cdn that will be split between Canada and the United States over the 2025-26 fiscal year.

In 2023 the bridge towers reached their full height of 220 metres. Grondin says the bridge itself will finally meet in the middle over the Detroit River this summer — but that does not mean the bridge will be ready to open.

The news was initially shared by Windsor West MP Brian Masse on Facebook late Wednesday night.

"We're doing this to improve the conditions in our community that have been really difficult to deal with," Masse told CBC News. "Getting $3 million for community benefits is a plus and it really does make a difference because we'll now have to wait a little longer, but at the same time we'll see some improvements in our community and that's the important part."

Mary Ann Cudderman is a business owner in Sandwich, the neighbourhood where the Canadian portion of the bridge is located, and sits on the committee advising on the bridge's community benefits plan.

"It's a little disappointing to tell you the truth. I think we're all looking forward to this new bridge here in this area and getting construction over with and done," Cudderman said. "But I think we can understand the challenges they have met especially with COVID."

Proceeds from the community benefits plan are awarded to non-profit organizations. Cudderman says personally she'd like to see funds address children's issues and poverty in the area.

"We're really looking forward to having this new bridge and having these community benefits," Cudderman said. "I think anyone that crosses the bridge is looking forward to the bridge being built.

"We need it."

QUEBEC INC.

Walmart abandons plan to open Quebec fulfilment centre, will instead upgrade stores

Walmart Canada says it is abandoning plans to open a new fulfilment centre in Quebec.

The U.S. retail giant was due to spend $100 million on the facility slated for the Montreal-area municipality of Vaudreuil-Dorion. It was expected to open early this year.

Walmart Canada spokesperson Sarah Kennedy confirmed the change of plans in an emailed statement, but d toronto id not say what prompted the company's decision.

Kennedy says the company will instead focus its attention on accelerating upgrades to its network of stores, including locations in Quebec.

She says Walmart has plans to invest about $100 million to upgrade eight stores in Quebec by the end of the company's next fiscal year. 

Walmart has allocated more than $120 million toward store upgrades in the province over the last two years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2024.

Gildan activists turn up heat on board for

shareholder vote

Stephanie Hughes, Bloomberg News

Jan 4, 2024

Canadian investment firm Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. is backing another shareholder’s push to change the board of Gildan Activewear Inc., saying the company needs a “swift resolution” to the battle over who should be CEO. 

Turtle Creek, one of Gildan’s largest investors, plans to vote for a slate of five new directors proposed last week by Los Angeles-based money manager Browning West LP. 

The two firms, along with several others including Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd., are angry that the Gildan board sacked longtime Chief Executive Officer Glenn Chamandy in December. Browning West says it plans to force a shareholder meeting to vote on a new board.

“The board’s reckless and ill-conceived termination of CEO Glenn Chamandy alienated long-time shareholders and exposed Gildan to significant risks including a loss of essential leadership, damaged employee morale, and threatened key customer relationships,” Turtle Creek said in a statement Thursday.

“We cannot recall a situation where shareholder objection to a board’s decision was so wide and so swift.” Gildan shares have fallen 13 per cent since Chamandy was ousted.

New York-based Oakcliff Capital followed with its own letter to Gildan, pledging to vote for Browning West’s slate of directors. The firm said the sale of shares by some other members of Gildan’s management team pointed to a lack of confidence.

Chamandy “should be reinstated as CEO immediately,” Oakcliff said.

These firms’ latest missives mark another escalation in the boardroom brawl at Gildan, a Montreal-based clothing manufacturer that owns the American Apparel brand. It may be months before the matter comes to a head — Browning West may be able to force a shareholder meeting, but the board has some discretion over the timing.

Gildan has appointed a new CEO, Vince Tyra, to take over on Feb. 12.

“Each member of the board should carefully consider how they conduct themselves in this matter. Investors across North America are watching closely,” said Turtle Creek, which owned more than 3 per cent of Gildan shares as of Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Browning West says it owns about 5 per cent.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for GILDAN 

RENT IS INFLATIONARY

Rentals.ca, StatCan to launch new rental 

housing market index

Jordan Fleguel, BNN Bloomberg

Jan 4, 2024

Statistics Canada and housing site Rentals.ca are teaming up to create a new rental housing market index.

Rentals.ca announced the data sharing partnership with the federal agency on Thursday.

In a press release, the site said the soon-to-be-released Rental Market Industry Index will track trends in the rental housing industry across Canada with a goal of helping landlords and tenants make “informed decisions.”

Rentals.ca will provide StatCan with rental listing data, while the agency will be “directly responsible for the analysis, aggregation, and development” of the index, the release said.

The index is also intended to help policymakers at all levels of government better understand how to address the housing needs of Canadians, Rentals.ca said.

“Through this new partnership, we’re able to get data into the hands of institutions,” Max Steinman, CEO of Rentals.ca’s parent company Rentsync, said in the release.

Steinman said the index will allow “policymakers, developers, and the Canadian public as a whole to make more informed decisions to help tackle the rental housing supply crisis.”

RENTS AT RECORD HIGHS

Rentals.ca, in partnership with research firm Urbanation, publishes a monthly rent report that examines average asking rent prices across Canada and how they’ve changed over time.

Their latest report found that asking rents for all residential property types in Canada averaged $2,174 in November, slightly below the record high of $2,178 set in October.

Rentals.ca said their new partnership with Statistics Canada represents a “significant step towards enhancing transparency and understanding” in Canada’s rental housing market.

• CANADA
  

• Here are some of the big union 

• talks set for 2024

Jordan Fleguel, BNN Bloomberg

Jan 4, 2024

Labour leaders say they plan to keep the pressure up in 2024 with potentially “tough” contract negotiations on the horizon in industries such as transportation, health-care and the public sector.

High-profile strikes and labour talks made headlines throughout 2023. Thousands of autoworkers negotiated major wage gains with Detroit’s Big Three carmakers, and strikes at B.C. ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway brought ships to a halt as workers demanded higher wages and better job protections.

Labour relations expert John Peters said high-profile labour negotiations and strikes usually come in “big waves,” as union wins spur similar demands from others.

“Unions are all watching what each other are doing and they're seeing their successes,” Peters, an associate professor in business administration at Memorial University, told BNNBloomberg.ca in an interview.

He expects 2023’s labour trends to continue next year. 

“We have seen bigger wins, both in terms of wages and better working conditions,” he said. “I think that provides context for unions taking and using strikes more frequently than they have in the past and getting more courage to do so.”

Lana Payne, president of Unifor, echoed Peters’ comments, calling 2023 a “renaissance” year for workers “understanding their power” and leveraging it for themselves and their families.

“These moments don't come around all the time,” Payne told BNNBloomberg.ca in a telephone interview.

“For us, it was making sure that we were ready to be able to do the best that we could and get the strongest agreements that we could in this moment in time, in this window.”

Payne, who heads Canada’s largest private-sector union, said she sees the labour movement’s momentum carrying through the next calendar year.

“I don't believe the window is closed yet.”

Here is a look at some of the major labour negotiations set to take place in 2024:

RAIL WORKERS

Workers at CN Rail and Via Rail have contract negotiations on the books.

“Transportation will be a big sector for us next year, in both road and rail,” Lana Payne, Unifor’s national president, told BNNBloomberg.ca in an interview this month. 

More than 5,000 CN Rail workers will head to the bargaining table next year. More than 6,000 CN yard and track maintenance workers represented by the Teamster Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) are already bargaining.

Those workers yet to enter into new contract talks are represented by Unifor, and will negotiate with the railway ahead of their contract’s expiry date on Dec. 31, 2024.

Unifor will also be bargaining with Via Rail in 2024, with some 2,400 workers’ contracts set to expire at the end of the year.

HEALTH-CARE AND EDUCATION

Around 40,000 health-care workers in Ontario represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) will head to the bargaining table in 2024.

There are also signs of labour tension among public workers in New Brunswick, where the provincial government recently voted to transfer five public sector pension plans to a shared-risk system.

The change impacts school bus drivers, school administrative staff, nursing home workers, custodians and maintenance workers, and it has drawn fervent opposition from CUPE.

After the government’s vote on the policy, the union’s New Brunswick president, Stephen Drost, said “today wasn’t the end, it’s just the beginning."

“I can’t tell you exactly what’s in store, but I can tell you they’re not going to take this lying down. Stay tuned,” Drost said.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS, PILOTS, PORT WORKERS

CUPE’s current agreement with Air Canada flight attendants expires in 2025, but bargaining is set to take place in 2024. The agreement covers approximately 10,000 workers.

Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske said the negotiations will likely be challenging.

“Flight attendants, not just at Air Canada but across the board, they're not paid for boarding or passengers on and off or the safety check time, they're only actually paid when that plane pulls away from the gate,” she told BNNBloomberg.ca in an interview.

“That's going to be a huge challenge to address that particular issue, and that's going to be a really big component that could potentially shut down air travel for a period of time.”

Air Canada pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), are also in the midst of negotiations with the airline, which have been ongoing since June.

Their decade-long collective agreement expired in September.

First Officer Charlene Hudy, ALPA’s Air Canada master executive council chair, called the expired contract “outdated.”

“The Air Canada pilots are seeking a world-class collective agreement that reflects today’s world, addressing career progression, job security, aviation safety and closing the growing wage gap between the U.S. and Canada,” Hudy said in an emailed note.

Hudy said the union’s primary goal is to reach an agreement at the bargaining table, adding that flight disruptions are never an ideal outcome for passengers or pilots.

“If talks break down, we will follow the requirements as set out by the Canada Labour Code, which will determine any timelines for labour action,” she said.

More labour action from port workers could be on the horizon in 2024 as well, as contract talks with longshore workers at the Port of Montreal stalled in December.

“CUPE will be very much engaged with that, and I think that's likely going to be a tough round of bargaining,” Bruske said.

Canada job gains miss forecast, jobless rate

steady at 5.8%

Randy Thanthong-Knight, Bloomberg

Canada’s labour market missed expectations for jobs gains, confirming a marked slowing of the economy at the end of last year.

The country added about 100 positions in December, while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa. The figures missed expectations for a gain of 15,000 positions but beat a jobless rate of 5.9 per cent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Canada has one of the world’s fastest rates of population growth because of high levels of immigration. But employment growth has been slower than the expansion of the labour force in recent months.

Overall, the report shows an economy in which growth is being constrained by high borrowing costs, cooling demand. That gives policymakers some room to consider lowering interest rates in the coming months, though faster wage growth may keep them from talking about easing anytime soon.

Wage growth for permanent employees accelerated to 5.7 per cent, higher than expectations for a 5.4 per cent rise, and up from 5 per cent a month earlier. That’s the strongest pace since January 2021.

The population aged 15 and older grew by 74,000 in December, on par with average monthly population growth in 2023 of 79,000. On the other hand, employment growth slowed in the second half of 2023, averaging 23,000 per month, compared with the average of 48,000 during the first six months.

As population growth outpaced job gains, the employment rate — the proportion of the working-age population who are employed — trended down over the past year. It fell 0.2 percentage points to 61.6 per cent in December, the fifth decline in the past six months, and was down 0.9 percentage points from its recent high of 62.5 per cent in January 2023.

Last year, the economy averaged about 36,000 new jobs per month, yet the unemployment rate rose 0.8 percentage points — highlighting how quickly the pool of workers is growing.

Total hours worked rose 0.4 per cent on a monthly basis in December, and were up 1.7 per cent from a year earlier. Although that points to relatively strong economic momentum at the end of 2023, it followed a 0.7 per cent month-over-month drop in November. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect gross domestic product to expand at a 0.4 per cent annualized rate in the fourth quarter.

This is the only jobs report before the first rate decision of this year by the Bank of Canada on Jan. 24.

All 29 forecasters in a Bloomberg survey expect the central bank to keep the overnight rate unchanged for a fourth consecutive meeting at 5 per cent, which is seen as the likely end point in this tightening cycle. Markets and economists see rate cuts by mid-2024.

The participation rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 65.4 per cent in December. That’s down from a recent peak of 65.7 per cent in June, and most of the decline was due to a drop in the youth participation rate.

Job gains were led by professional, scientific and technical services, as well as health care and social assistance. Wholesale and retail trade saw the biggest job losses, suggesting a slowdown in consumption. December is the third consecutive month where employment fell in this sector.

Regionally, employment rose in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador, while it fell in Ontario and was little changed in the other provinces.

Jobs data shows gig economy growing, drivers up nearly 50%

Ben Cousins, BNN Bloomberg

More Canadians are turning to ride-sharing or food delivery apps as a source of income, according to the latest data on Canada’s job market.

Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for December, released Friday, showed 135,000 Canadians between the ages of 16 and 69 provided ride-sharing services in 2023, an increase of 48.1 per cent compared to 2022.

Meanwhile, the number of people who provided delivery services through apps climbed 19.2 per cent from the previous year to 272,000 people.

“In 2023, digital platforms and apps continued to offer Canadians a convenient way of accessing personal transport and delivery services, while also making it possible for individuals to earn income by performing the associated work activities,” the report states.

A whopping 49.9 per cent of people providing app-based transportation and delivery services were located in Canada’s three biggest metropolitan regions: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

New Canadians are also more likely to take up gig work, as 57.5 per cent of those who worked for either ride sharing or delivery apps were new immigrants, while 70.5 per cent of gig workers belonged to racialized groups.

Unemployment rose for most racialized

populations in 2023: StatCan

BNN Bloomberg

The unemployment rate for most of Canada’s racialized populations grew in 2023, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal agency’s December report on the country’s labour force, released Friday, looked at unemployment across different racial groups.

It noted that as of December, people belonging to racialized groups accounted for just over 30 per cent of Canada’s labour force, a sight increase from 28.5 per cent a year earlier, while unemployment went up for a number of those groups.  

“As the tightness of the labour market eased in 2023, the unemployment rate increased for most racialized groups,” the report said.

As of December, the unemployment rate for Black Canadians between the ages of 25 to 54 rose 1.6 percentage points to 8.5 per cent from the previous year, the report said.

For South Asian Canadians in the same age range, the unemployment rate rose 0.8 percentage points to 5.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for Chinese Canadians was little changed from 12 months earlier, at 5.1 per cent, StatCan said.