May 10, 2021

The Ontario government must act immediately to reduce the unacceptable surgical and diagnostic test backlog says Unifor.

“The Ford government failed to quickly enact measures to protect Ontarians from the spread of COVID-19, such as paid sick days and priority vaccination access for essential workers,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “Now the cancellation of elective surgeries and redirection of hospital resources to deal with third wave patients will cause further suffering and claim additional lives due to skyrocketing surgical and test backlogs.”

The postponement of elective surgeries and non-emergency diagnostic procedures during the pandemic has created a massive backlog that will take 3.5 years and 3 years respectively to clear, according to a new report by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO).

“Allowing people to continue to suffer while awaiting surgery and negating the benefits of early diagnosis by delaying vital medical tests is unconscionable,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi. “This report reflects not only the historical gap in health care funding in Ontario, but confirms that the government’s spending plan will make the backlog issue even worse, with the 2021 budget falling $700 million short of the $1.3 billion required.”

The FAO projects an elective surgery backlog of 419,200 procedures and diagnostic backlog of 2.5 million procedures by end of September 2021.

The province’s spending plan in budget 2021 calls for an average annual 0.5% decline in real per capita spending from 2019-20 to 2029-30, despite the FAO projecting that almost double that amount will be needed based on current program design and commitments. By 2030, the FAO estimates a cumulative funding shortfall of $61.9 billion.

“While there is no denying the strain that COVID-19 has put on healthcare the government cannot blame the pandemic alone for the projected surgical and testing delays,” said Dias. “This is the result of a chronically underfunded system and the only way to fix it is by investing now, not next budget, not during the next election campaign, but tomorrow.”

Sisters and Brothers,

Reminder,  1996-O Structured Cable Chief Steward Election, the deadline to return your ballots by way of Canada Post is no later than May 19th 2021 2400 hrs.

 

(May 7th 2021)

Nominations have closed for the 2021 1996-O Chief Steward Elections.

There will be an Election for Chief Steward in Structured Cable 1996-O,

The dates of the election are the following:

• Mail out of ballots will commence from May 7th 2021.
• Return ballot envelopes must be deposited by way of Canada Post no later than May 19th 2021 2400hrs.
  (Note any return ballot envelopes postmarked after May 20th 2021 will not be accepted or counted.)
  Spoiled ballots are those that do not clearly indicate the person voted for/and or otherwise marked in any way, including if the return envelope has been written/marked on, or tampered with. (There is a detailed explanation insert with the mailed out ballot.)
• Seniority list from April of 2021 will be used as a voters list
• Member Address List: The Current home address list of 1996-O Structured Cable members attained from BTS/Unifor1996-O in May 2021
• May 11^th 2021 @ 1000hrs is the deadline to inform the committee of an address discrepancy on file with the employer/Union. The committee must be informed via email Elections1996@gmail.com for the correction, there will be no exceptions.
• Please note eligibility to vote is for Structured cable members of 1996-O
• The Election will take place on May 31st 2021.

1996-O, Structured Cable Chief Steward 2021 Election candidates as follows:

• Lloyd Bishop
• Colum Lynn

 

In Solidarity,

Local 1996-O

May 11, 2021

CALGARY— Unifor is relieved the federal Minister of Natural Resources is intervening on the eve of tomorrow’s deadline for Enbridge to shut down a key artery in the energy infrastructure between Canada and the U.S., providing vital energy needs for four provinces and four states.

“The Governor of Michigan is recklessly messing with a critical piece of infrastructure that puts thousands of jobs at risk,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “We are in full support of the Canadian government filing a brief to try to continue mediation between Enbridge and the State of Michigan.”

Today Canada filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to support continued mediation between Enbridge and the State of Michigan.

Last fall Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer gave Enbridge a May 12, 2021 deadline to shut down a section pipeline that has been moving crude safely for 67 years.

“Line 5 is a critical energy and economic link between Canada and the United States, and coveys Canada’s belief that the U.S. federal court is the proper jurisdiction to hear the case between Michigan and Enbridge,” said the federal government’s news release.

“Energy security, economic prosperity, and supporting energy workers are top priorities for the Government of Canada,” said the Honourable Seamus O’Regan.

“Closing Line 5 would be disastrous for our energy security across the region, resulting in a supply drop of 45% to the refineries serviced by the line, including refineries in Sarnia, Nanticoke, and Montreal and putting at least 4,900 jobs in Ontario are ‘at risk’.  The repercussions would be felt as far away as Alberta and Saskatchewan, said Dias.

Dias points out that Enbridge’s Great Lakes Tunnel Project, approved in 2018, will reroute Line 5 underneath the lakebed of Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac, virtually eliminating the threat of a pipeline incident.

May 12, 2021

THUNDER BAY—After months of lobbying, Unifor members are relieved with today’s funding announcement by federal and provincial ministers, the Mayors of Toronto and Thunder Bay, and transit officials to purchase sixty additional streetcars and refurbish bi-level coaches that will secure jobs for Unifor Local 1075 members at the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay.

“Today’s announcement is about securing jobs for the present but more importantly for the future,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President, speaking at the virtual news conference, streamed live on Unifor’s Facebook page. “Sixty additional zero-emission streetcars is a real game changer for the facility in Thunder Bay. Today’s announcement is about vision, it’s about saying how we can do things when we put our collective minds together.”

Since 2018, Unifor has repeatedly raised concerns with public officials that hundreds of direct and many more indirect jobs were at risk at the Thunder Bay plant. As the plant moved from Bombardier to new overseas ownership by French rail manufacturer Alstom, the union ramped up its campaign to secure orders for transit vehicles beginning in 2020.

Today’s announcement provides much needed short-term sustainability for the plant. Funding commitments include a combined total of $568 million in federal, provincial and municipal funds to purchase 60 streetcars from Alstom Thunder Bay as well as expand storage facilities for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). In addition, discussions will continue with Metrolinx to refurbish additional GO bi-level coaches.

“These jobs are vital to our economy and our members have always delivered high-quality rail vehicles,” said Dominic Pasqualino, Unifor Local 1075 President. “Now our goal is to secure the plant’s long-term stability and increase capacity.”

Unifor will continue work with the company and public officials to help obtain additional work for the plant.