A press release from the union describes the tentative deal, reached after lengthy negotiations which were completed under Conciliation, as a four-year agreement with wage and premium increases, improved benefits and a Defined Benefit Pension Fund for members.

Air Canada’s labour troubles have been ongoing since last year when its flight attendants twice rejected tentative deals. They were finally legislated back to work and one of the rejected deals imposed on them.

The airline’s pilots also rejected a tentative deal last year. The current talks have been underway since November, 2011. The pilots’ union, which says there are major hurdles to overcome before a settlement can be reached with the airline, will be in a legal strike position as of next week.

Canadian manufacturers expressed more confidence in the Canadian economy and their own future growth in the final quarter of 2011 than they did in the previous quarter, according to a survey released by the professional services firm PwC.  The survey showed that 90 per cent of respondents expected positive revenue growth for their companies in 2012. This was up 25 per cent over the previous quarter. A good number (10 per cent) expected double-digit growth.

The positive projections include company growth, international sales, and spending, particularly on operations.  Fully 80 per cent of respondents hope to increase operational spending over the next year, according to the survey. Major areas of spending include information technology, research and development and new product or service roll-outs.

The hands of the world's largest tower clock turn on specially developed versions of Federal-Mogul's deva.bm(R) bearings.

To meet the peculiar operating demands of the world’s heaviest clock, housed in the world’s tallest clock tower, all situated in a location where sand storms, winter storms and extremes of temperature are routine, the owners of the Makkah Clock Royal Tower at the Fairmont Hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia turned to German bearings manufacturer Federal-Mogul Corporation’s DEVA bearings division. Together with the clock tower manufacturer Perrot, they came up with the solution for unusual clockwork.

Stephen Harper said that the agreement, which will give Canadian uranium companies greater access to the world’s fastest growing market for these products, “will generate jobs here at home while contributing to the use of clean reliable energy in China.”

A new report from the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) provides a fascinating look at the value of the mineral industry to Canada. Facts & Figures 2011 finds that the Canadian mining industry has not only recovered from the 2008 economic crisis but is poised for significant and sustained growth.

The sector employs 308,000 people at mines and mills, in smelting, fabrication and manufacturing, and contributed $36 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2010. Mining accounted for 21 per cent of the value of Canada’s exports that year, including aluminum, copper, gold, iron and steel, iron ore, nickel, silver, uranium, zinc, diamonds, potash and coal.

A Hitachi Zaxis Dash-5 Excavator. South American demand for large excavators and the construction trucks produced at Hitachi's Guelph plant is said to be behind the company's intention to expand production.

Hitachi Construction Truck Manufacturing Ltd., one of the many subsidiaries of the Japanese giant’s worldwide operations, is proposing to expand production at its Guelph, Ontario plant. The company builds heavy-duty construction trucks in Guelph, most of which are shipped overseas. The $32-million expansion at the operation would make possible a near doubling in production, from about 150 vehicles annually to 280. It would also double its workforce from the current 400.

The closing of the Electro-Motive plant by Caterpillar Inc. in London, Ontario is more bad news for Ontario’s manufacturing industry. The company called its decision, which threw 450 workers out of work, “regrettable,” while the Canadian Autoworkers Union called it “callous,” but analysts see it as part of a trend. The Canadian dollar is strong, the US labour market is still weak, which makes Ontario a more expensive place to manufacture.

"The cost structure of the operation was not sustainable and efforts to negotiate a new, competitive collective agreement were not successful," the company said. The company had demanded a 50 per cent pay cut for some employees at the plant, reducing wages from $35 to $18 an hour.

The word is that the plant’s operations will be taken up by a US plant in Muncie, Indiana, where membership in labour unions is voluntary.

Subaru 2012 Impreza January sales were up 98.7 per cent over last January as Subaru recorded its best January sales ever.

Mercedes-Benz Canada delivered 2,057 Mercedes-Benz and smart units throughout the month, giving the company its best January on record, and an overall sales increase of 31.5 per cent compared to January 2011. A total of 1,773 Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and luxury light trucks were retailed in January, which is ahead 26.5 per cent for the month and also represents the best January ever for the Mercedes-Benz brand.

Toyota Canada started the year off with a record-setting 10,660 sales in January. Total Toyota sales for the month were 9,565, up 17.2 per cent. Biggest increases were seen in the Yaris Hatch, with sales up 188.5 per cent; the Prius and Prius v, whose sales shot up 176.8 per cent; and Camry/Camry Hybrid, up 168.5 per cent.

Existing technologies are insufficient for achieving NASA's long-term goals of exploring the universe. A new report prioritizes the most important technologies for NASA to pursue.

The National Research Council (NRC) in the United States, a body that advises the federal government, has identified what it considers the high-priority technologies most vital to NASA as it attempts to restore its technical edge.

NASA’s goals, which include extending and sustaining human activities across the solar system and creating the technologies to make this possible, as well expanding our understanding of the Earth, led to the establishment of 14 technology “roadmaps” to help it achieve these goals. These roadmaps include research and development of such technologies as propulsion systems, power and energy storage systems, life support systems, nanotechnology, and thermal management systems. 

The expansion will add a new 170 MW steam-generation and bitumen-processing plant to the four plants currently on site. The oil is extracted from below the surface by means of “cyclic steam stimulation,” a process in which steam is injected into the oil reservoir through a wellbore. After the bitumen has softened sufficiently, it is drawn to the surface through the same wellbore.