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June 10, 2021 by 1996-O Executive

Unifor calls for Reliance Home Comfort boycott in Ontario

June 9, 2021

TORONTO—Until Reliance makes a fair offer in contract negotiations and ends the lockout of more than 800 workers across Ontario, Unifor encourages customers to take their business elsewhere.

“This greedy employer could end this lockout tomorrow with a fair offer to junior staff,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Ontario’s Reliance customers should go elsewhere for their HVAC needs until the lockout is over.”

Reliance Home Comfort caused the impasse by refusing to reduce the gap between compensation of junior and senior employees. With the skyrocketing cost of living in most regions, Unifor Local 1999 members have made it a priority to ensure the younger staff have decent wages and benefits to support their families.

To support the Ontario-based boycott campaign, Unifor has launched dontcallreliance.com. The site is a resource for the public to learn more about the company’s tactics and has information for Local 1999 supporters to contact senior Reliance management.

“Ontario HVAC customers have options. We prefer they use unionized providers, but Reliance needs to feel financial pressure to get them to the table,” said Naureen Rizvi, Ontario Regional Director. “Our tactics will continue to escalate until we see a fair offer from Reliance.”

Unifor Local 1999 represents HVAC service technicians, installers, water heater installers, plumbers, electricians and administration staff at 13 locations across Ontario.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

Filed Under: Uncategorised

June 10, 2021 by 1996-O Executive

Ontario court rules in favour of workers, strikes down Doug Ford’s pre-election period

June 8, 2021 – 12:00 AM

TORONTO – In a decision today, the Ontario Superior Court rightly struck down the restrictions on Third Party political advertising prior to an election period that were included in Bill 254.

“While today’s decision is a relief, the fact remains that Premier Ford should have never introduced this undemocratic, unconstitutional attack on the rights of workers and their unions,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “From day one, Ontario’s workers and unions told MPPs that this Bill infringed on their rights and would never hold up in court.”

The bill severely and aggressively targeted third parties through a massive expansion of the pre-election period, restricting all political or issue-based advertising for 12 months before an election. It also included a unreasonable re-writing of the definition of collusion to prohibit third parties from “sharing information” or sharing a common vendor.

“With today’s decision, Ontario voters are protected against the conservative’s attempt to both silence their collective voices and shield the Premier from justified critiques that his government  deserves,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director. “In order to make our province better, and for our elections to be free and fair, voters must be able to engage fully in public political conversations.”

Rizvi told a legislative standing committee in March about many of the issues facing Ontario workers, including capped salaries and changed working conditions for health care workers, precarious minimum wage retail jobs and challenges encountered by gaming and hospitality workers in regulated industries.

Today’s decision was issued by Justice Morgan for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, in response to a challenge by Working Families Ontario, a coalition of trade unions including Unifor, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and other unions.

In 2009, the B.C. Court of Justice struck down legislation limiting third party advertising during a 60-day pre-election period because it impaired freedom of expression and would capture unrelated advertising. The Ontario Bill 254 pre-election period that was struck down would have been in force for 365 days before an election period.

Further information:

Read Unifor’s release, Conservatives double-down with amendments to Bill 254, the ‘Squashing Ontario Democracy Act

Read Unifor’s Submission to Attorney General Downey and the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly.

Read Jerry Dias’s March 10 blog on how Bill 254 seeks to tip the scales in favour of the PC Party.

Read the revised text of Bill 254.

Filed Under: Uncategorised

June 3, 2021 by 1996-O Executive

NEB Statement on Vaccine Certificates and Considerations to Guide the Re-Opening of Canada’s Economy

 

May 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a profound effect on Canada’s economy and, critically, the health, safety and security of workers.

Canada’s slow-moving vaccine rollout has clearly delayed economic re-start efforts, relative to other nations. However, new vaccine shipments entering Canada will greatly improve access in the near term. As health professionals work to vaccinate a critical mass of residents in the coming months, Canada must consider how to safely and gradually lift restrictions, open up businesses and get workers back to work.

Establishing a National Framework

Unifor encourages government to consider all available options that enable the safe restart of services and moving unemployed workers back into jobs.

This includes the implementation of certificates of vaccination in sectors where similar programs already exist (e.g. international air travel) along with others that may be well served by them, complemented by strict pre-screening measures along with diagnostic testing.

Various efforts to establish such certificates are underway in several jurisdictions and within industries. It is imperative that all levels of government in Canada work together to establish a framework and clear guidelines that support a seamless and consistent application of certificates that best coordinates a beneficial re-start to the Canadian economy.

Science must guide Canada’s re-start efforts

The prospect of fully reopening Canada’s economy is positive news for tens of thousands of Unifor members working in hospitality, gaming and passenger transportation – and millions more nation-wide – devastated by layoffs and loss of income due to service restrictions. For the first time since the start of this pandemic, a return to work appears within reach.

Despite the obvious economic advantages of a quick and safe return to work, Unifor recognizes that strong scientific evidence must underpin such efforts, to avoid the risk of potentially debilitating consequences should vaccines prove non-durable and unable to prevent transmission.

Unifor also encourages government officials to resolve the valid concerns laid out in the March 2021 Chief Science Advisor’s report regarding vaccine certifications. The Chief Science Advisor helpfully outlined a series of issues, including those related to equity, the appropriateness of application among vulnerable populations, personal privacy and data protection as well as human rights that may be incompatible with certain forms of vaccine certification.

Governments must balance these considerations against public health and the economic well-being of residents, to ensure fair and equal treatment.  Such actions must not contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or human rights statutes.

Toward ‘critical mass’ immunization

Unifor recognizes that until vaccines reach a critical mass of people in Canada, we cannot expect business-as-usual. Our union commits to further supporting the federal vaccination program, encouraging voluntary worker vaccinations throughout the country and removing barriers to vaccination.

Unifor will also continue to promote greater vaccine access throughout the world, urging governments to explore all options, including the easing of intellectual property barriers to encourage greater domestic vaccine production and supply, especially in underserved jurisdictions.

Workers need a seat at the table

As dialogue toward an economic re-start continues between government officials, health experts and business organizations, it is imperative that labour unions and community health advocates have a seat at the table.

This multi-stakeholder approach to workplace health and safety has served Canada well since the onset of the pandemic, and must continue.

All individuals must remain vigilant in adhering to public health guidelines and take necessary personal safety precautions to stay safe and prevent community spread. Governments and employers must do their part and act with haste to provide critical supports, including permanent paid sick days.

Government must foster a fair, inclusive and resilient recovery

The pandemic has exposed major fault lines in Canada’s physical, legislative and social infrastructure, including inadequate employment standards (e.g. paid sick days), a frayed social safety net (e.g. unemployment insurance supports) and diminished domestic supply chain for necessary goods (e.g. personal protection equipment, medicines and critical goods). These obvious gaps, long dismissed by governments, only made a bad situation worse.

Unifor recognizes that this pandemic will not be over for anyone, until it is over for everyone. As such, we commit to relentlessly championing progressive, practical and principled policies to repair these deficiencies and facilitate a safe return to work in the spirit of building a fair, resilient and inclusive economy.

Filed Under: Uncategorised

June 3, 2021 by 1996-O Executive

Bell collaborating with AWS for cloud and 5G multi-access edge computing

Source : BCE News

Full Article here

  • Bell chose AWS to help modernize its applications and services and will leverage AWS capabilities like machine learning and analytics to enhance customers’ digital experiences
  • Bell and AWS will offer AWS Wavelength Zones on Bell’s 5G network for fast and efficient 5G multi-access edge computing (MEC), the first such 5G MEC deployment in Canada
  • Combination will give developers access to AWS’s unparalleled portfolio of services to build applications that require ultra-low-latency connectivity for mobile devices running on Canada’s fastest-ranked national network

MONTRÉAL, June 3, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ – Bell Canada (TSX: BCE) (NYSE: BCE) today announced it has entered into an agreement with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) to modernize the digital experience for Bell customers and support 5G innovation across Canada. Bell will use the breadth and depth of AWS technologies to create and scale new consumer and business applications faster, as well as enhance how its voice, wireless, television and internet subscribers engage with Bell services and content such as streaming video. In addition, AWS and Bell are teaming up to bring AWS Wavelength to Canada, deploying it at the edge of Bell’s 5G network to allow developers to build ultra-low-latency applications for mobile devices and users. With this rollout, Bell will become the first Canadian communications company to offer AWS-powered multi-access edge computing (MEC) to business and government users.

Filed Under: Uncategorised

June 3, 2021 by 1996-O Executive

Arbitration Award – Island Days BTS-ON-18-01

JH 18-089 Unifor (Policy re Island Days BTS-ON-18-01) and Bell Canada AWARD,,,,read the full award by clicking here

Many grievors may have received a communication from the employer in reference to the above noted Policy Grievance Award. This grievance and those held in abeyance have been dismissed as per Arbitrator James Hayes

 

AWARD

Introduction

1. This decision addresses a policy grievance about whether all Regular Full-
Time employees are entitled to have consecutive days of rest (CDORs) regardless of
their schedules within each two-week period of work.

2. At issue is the interpretation of Article 16.02(d) of the Collective Agreement.
This clause was amended in the most recent round of collective bargaining.

3. UNIFOR takes the position that the amendments were made, specifically, to
reverse a 2012 arbitration award (“Herman Award”) that interpreted the then-existing
provision to allow the Company to schedule single days of rest (colloquially
referred to as ‘island days’) without a guarantee of CDORs. Bell Technical Solutions,
2012 CarswellOnt 4012 (Herman).

4. The Union further takes the position that, if it is wrong in its interpretation of
Article 16.02(d), BTS is estopped from relying on the strict language of the provision
based on the bargaining history. UNIFOR submits that, because the Company
remained silent in negotiations on the amendments to Article 16.02(d), the Union can
rely upon that silence as signifying agreement to the Union’s position.

5. BTS responds that a plain reading of the Collective Agreement and its context
in the Collective Agreement indicates that CDORs are only guaranteed in the limited
circumstances where a Full-Time employee’s hours have been averaged over a two-week
period. The Company says that its interpretation is reinforced when compared
to the clarity of language used in granting Part-Time employees CDORs in Article
16.04(k). It further maintains that the Union has not made out the essential legal
elements required to ground an estoppel.

To view the full document click the link at the top

Filed Under: Uncategorised

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