April 28, 2021

TORONTO – Ontario’s auditor general Special Report on Pandemic Readiness and Response in Long-Term Care says due to years of governments neglecting systemic concerns, the government was not prepared or equipped to handle the issues created by the pandemic.

“I welcome this report, but to be honest, workers, residents and families all knew that the sector was on the brink of collapse,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “For decades, workers have been telling governments about the crisis in Ontario’s long-term care sector. The issues of being overworked, short-staffed and not having enough time to care for their residents are nothing new to workers and families. It’s true the Ford government didn’t start the fire in long-term care but they surely poured gas on it.”

According to the report, from March 2020 to December 31, 2020,  76% of long-term-care homes in Ontario reported cases of COVID-19 among their residents and staff. Some of the contributing factors that negatively impacted residents were insufficient staff to provide appropriate care, overcrowding due to hospital patients being transferred into long-term care homes and infection prevention and control measures were not consistently practised in homes, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The physical and mental toll some of Doug Ford’s emergency measures played on residents is truly heartbreaking,” said Naureen Rizvi, Ontario Regional Director. “On one hand, the Premier restricts family visits to residents, but on the other hand allows temporary staff to go work in multiple homes and in some cases further spreading the virus. This Premier needs to put his ego aside and listen to workers, families and health experts to save our long-term care system.”

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk made 16 recommendations to strengthen long-term care homes and how the Ontario government can better respond to the issues emphasized during the pandemic.

2021-04-15-Proof-of-Vaccination

 

To: All National Representatives associated by BCE and its subsidiaries

 

Dear colleagues,

 

The question of vaccination at Bell Canada and its various subsidiaries has been brought up via multiple channels in the past days.

 

Naturally, Unifor is favourable to the announcement of Bell to allow our workers to obtain time during work hours to receive a vaccination for Covid-19.

 

One common issue that has been raised relates to the demonstration of proof of vaccination. The matter has been reviewed with our legal counsel and we recommend sharing the following comments with our various local leaders:

 

• When dealing with medical information, all the employer may request is what is reasonably

 

• This information is only being sought from those claiming the benefit of obtaining time to get vaccinated during work hours (which is a reasonable limitation), we recommend redacting anything beyond the name, date and proof of vaccination (for the purpose of securing the benefit)”.

 

• Additionally, we are further commenting that the employer does not need to know about any information such as the kind of vaccine, dosage, date of expiry of the vaccine, health card number or any other information contained on the respective proof of vaccination provided by the various health authorities across our

 

Please feel free to share this message.

 

 

In solidarity;

 

Roch Leblanc

Telecommunication Director Directeur des Téléc

https://www.unifor.org/en/education/scholarships

*2021 Scholarship Application period is OPEN!*

Unifor recognizes that the costs associated with post-secondary education is a challenge for many working-class families.  To assist in making education more accessible, we have established 28 scholarships of $2,000.00 each.  Five of these scholarships are administered by the Quebec Council with a separate application form (see www.uniforquebec.org).  Residents of Quebec must apply using that application process.

The scholarships are awarded to children of Unifor members in good standing.  Students must be entering their first year of full-time post-secondary education (university, community college, technological institute, trade school, etc.) in a public Canadian institution.  One of these scholarships will also be available to a Unifor member with at least one year seniority.  These are entrance Scholarships only and are not renewable for students entering subsequent years of study.

Scholarship applications are evaluated by a selection committee composed of Unifor National Education Department staff and Local Union Discussion Leaders. The selection committee reviews hundreds of applications annually and considers many factors when evaluating applications including academic achievement, responses to essay questions, and a demonstrated commitment to social justice through extracurricular activities and volunteerism. In addition, the selection committee ensures that scholarship awards are distributed to best reflect the regional, sectoral, and membership diversity of Unifor.

2021 Scholarship Application Important Dates

March 22: Online scholarship application period opens

June 7: Application period closed

After July 6: Scholarship recipients notified

Using the Online Application

Your application must be submitted using the online application form NO LATER THAN MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2021.

All applicants will be notified by email after July 6 of the status of their application.

Click on the appropriate link below to complete your online application.  Please ensure that you have READ THE INSTRUCTIONS carefully, and have the following documents ready on your device for upload with your application.

1. Current high school transcript (children of Unifor members only)
2. Reference letter
3. Local Union Officer signature form
4. Essay Answers

PLEASE NOTE:  Any partially completed applications, or applications missing any of the required documents, will result in an error message and cannot be submitted.  Please ensure you have all documents available before submitting.

CLICK HERE to apply as the child of a Unifor member.

CLICK HERE to apply as a Unifor Member.

Questions?   Email scholarships@unifor.org

The 7 day Chief Steward Nomination period is now open as of April 22 2021, nominations must be received by Fax (416-538-1997) no later than      April 30 2021 at 10:00am EST.

Please follow the instructions on the nomination form itself to correctly indicate your current division and location as well as information and times etc….       see sample nomination attached below

 

• Chief Steward Eligibility: Nominees must have been elected in the March 2021 Steward Elections for Local 1996-O

 

• Due to Covid-19 restrictions if you are unable to obtain signatures from nominators, indicate in the signature field the nominator’s contact phone number which will be confirmed

 

Sample Nomination Form (This is a sample only)

Sample – Nomination Form Chief Stewards 2021

 

Download 2021 Chief Steward Nomination Form here

Nomination Form Chief Steward 2021

 

 

The deadline is fast approaching to get your application submitted.

We in Local 1996-O are concerned about the lives of our members’ families and their education.  Due to high tuition fees we recognize that post-secondary education is out of reach for many working-class. To assist, we’ve established 2 scholarships worth $1,000.00 each. One in memory of the late Brother, Milos Petrasinovic and Brother, Alwa Marcelle.

The scholarships are awarded to sons/daughters of Unifor 1996-O members in good standing.  Students must be entering their first year of full-time post-secondary education (university, community college, technological institute, trade school, etc.) in a public Canadian institution. 

These are entrance Scholarships only and are not renewable for students entering subsequent years of study.

Deadline for submitting an application is June 04 2021

The selection of candidates will be chosen no later than July 09, 2021 and will be final.

Click the link to download the 2020 application

2021-Unifor-Local-1996-O-Scholarship

 

 

In Solidarity,

 

1996-O Executive,

Lee, Sanjay, Brian, Chris