Unifor Local 1996-O

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National Day of Mourning – April 28th

Source

https://www.ccohs.ca/events/mourning/

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

 

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Day of Mourning postcard with ducks

Day of Mourning postcard with ducks

Pause. Reflect. Remember.

At 11 a.m., I will honour workers who have died, were injured, or became ill from their job.

Day of Mourning postcard with dandelions and seeds

Day of Mourning postcard with dandelions and seeds

Pause. Reflect. Remember. Renew.

At 11 a.m., we will honour workers who have died, were injured, or became ill from their job, and will renew our commitment to health and safety in the workplace.

Day of Mourning postcard with candles

Day of Mourning postcard with candles

We remember workers who have died, were injured, or became ill from their job. We commit to protecting workers and preventing further workplace tragedies.

Day of Mourning postcard with worker wearing a mask

Day of Mourning postcard with worker wearing a mask

We honour the workers who have risked their health and safety to serve others, especially during these uncertain times.

 

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Unifor demands pandemic pay and vaccine access for grocery workers

Paid sick days; less sick people.

April 21, 2021

TORONTO – Unifor is demanding pandemic pay and priority vaccine access for workers at grocery stores and warehouses, as COVID-19 case numbers skyrocket and cases of the more contagious variants of concern increase.

“It’s shameless that grocery giants like Loblaws and Metro refuse to reinstate pandemic pay for these frontline workers, who continue to face the risk of going to work when many are at home in lockdown in various regions of the country,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “How in good conscience can billionaire Galen Weston and the boards of these companies deny the fairness of pandemic pay as they rake in massive profits on the backs of predominantly part-time, low-wage essential workers?”

Unifor members are presently experiencing COVID-19 workplace transmission in grocery stores, with multiple confirmed cases among workers, but are still denied danger pay or accelerated access to vaccination.

While Unifor recognizes Empire Company Ltd. for reinstating pandemic pay to workers at its Sobeys, Longos, Foodland, FreshCo, Farm Boy, Voila by Sobeys, some IGA locations, and warehouses in regions with stay-at-home orders, the move fails to recognize the genuine risk to all of its frontline retail workers.

Metro has also fallen short, opting instead to provide employees with store gift cards. Both Metro and Loblaw Companies Ltd. have repeatedly refused to reinstate pandemic pay, provided for 12 weeks at the start of the first wave of COVID-19 by most major grocery chains.

In June 2020, Unifor opposed the decision by Canada’s largest grocers to end pandemic pay of $2 an hour for employees. The union launched the Fair Pay Forever campaign to call for historic inequities in the sector to be corrected.

“To add insult to injury, these are corporations that refuse sick pay for the vast majority of employees while they rely on a part-time workforce tied to a minimum wage strategy to avoid committing to decent full-time jobs,” said Dias. “Loblaw likes to point the finger at Walmart and others to justify their race to the bottom strategy, yet Galen Weston still finds a way to pay himself, his executives and his shareholders vast amounts of money.”

Unifor is calling on provincial governments to expedite the vaccination of all essential workers, including grocery store and warehouse, to reduce the risk to these frontline COVID-heroes and to the communities they serve.

“These workers have to go to work so we can eat. Full stop. Period. They are the definition of essential yet they are not being prioritized for vaccination,” Dias said.

The union urgently seeks the expansion of frontline and essential workers eligible to receive the vaccine and for paid time off for workers to receive their shots.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector and represents 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.

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Ford fumbles again as COVID-19 rages across Ontario workplaces

Text reads Paid Sick Days Now

April 22, 2021

TORONTO – Unifor continues to demand the immediate introduction of permanent, employer-paid sick leave as Premier Doug Ford delays action, shifts the blame and abandons essential workers, as ICU’s fill to capacity.

“I’m not the only Ontarian left stunned by the Premier’s lack of action, empathy or understanding of this public health crisis,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Apologizing for ignoring the advice of scientists, doctors and frontline workers does not erase the mounting pain and suffering of this pandemic. Ford has the power to protect workers, and still, he refuses to enact paid sick days and prioritize essential workers.”

On Thursday, April 22, the province reported 40 new deaths, more than 800 COVID-19 patients in ICU, and nearly 3,700 new cases. As ICUs fill, Ornge paramedics airlift vulnerable patients out of Toronto to seek care in other regions of the province.

In a news conference this morning, Ford failed again to announce any new public health measures, instead hinting at an upcoming announcement for a band-aid solution to supplement the insufficient Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit.

“Paid sick leave is a provincial responsibility, it’s Doug Ford’s responsibility. Hundreds more will die and become infected before he chooses to enact even the smallest measure of provincial paid sick leave,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director. “The anger is swelling in this province, and it is rightfully directed at the Premier’s own lack of leadership and refusal to face facts.”

The province’s own Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table recommended paid sick days as one of the six things that will work to reduce transmission, protect our health care system, and allow us to re-open safely as soon as possible.

A new poll, commissioned by Unifor, reveals that the vast majority of Ontarians support the implementation of legislated sick days.

The Union continues to advocate for universal paid sick days to be enshrined in labour law in Ontario. Unifor advocates for a provincial sick leave policy that includes:

  • 7 permanent paid sick days;
  • 14 additional paid sick days during a declared public health emergency;
  • Universality (i.e. it applies to all workers, regardless of status);
  • A prohibition on sick notes;
  • Flexible (i.e. not just for short-term illness; more akin to “personal emergency” days);
  • Employer-paid;
  • No administrative burden.

 To support this demand, visit the Paid Sick Days campaign.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector and represents 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.

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Federal budget charts a path to recovery for workers across the country

I beleive Canada can #BuildBackBetter.

April 19, 2021 – 12:00 AM

OTTAWA – Unifor applauds the federal government for staying the course on COVID-19 supports and recovery in 2021 budget.

“Workers across the country are living through a frightening third wave, and have not recovered from the economic destruction of the past year, so it’s especially important that the federal government continues to support working families and good jobs in critical industries,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The only proven way to lead Canada out of the COVID-19 recession is through investments, and it’s clear that Minister Freeland understands that reality.”

In summer 2020, as the devastation of the COVID-19 recession was becoming clear, Unifor charted its vision for a fair, inclusive and resilient economic recovery through its Build Back Better plan.

The Union supports the government’s plan to continue COVID-19 supports including flexible access to EI and CEWS for the months to come. The announcement of a new federal child care program shows a commitment to correct the unequal effects of the pandemic on mothers.

Unifor encourages provinces to work cooperatively with the federal government to ensure the $3 billion in new funding for long-term care results in better care, safer work, and fair pay for workers in the sector.

Unifor also supports plans to invest in Canada’s industrial capacity through dedicated funding in the automotive, aerospace, and domestic life sciences industries.

“When the world economy ground to a halt last year, people across the country realized just how important it was to have made-in-Canada products and services. Improving our domestic capacity includes building vehicles, airplanes, street cars and buses. In addition, Canada needs critical infrastructure such as child care, education, and social services that working families rely on to succeed,” continued Dias. “It’s encouraging to see this budget aim to extend the emergency supports, but there is no reason to go back to the way things were before. We need to build back better, for good, and for everyone.”

Unifor members in the federal sector have campaigned for a $15 minimum wage for many years, and the union encourages the federal government to commit to a timeline for this commitment, which was first announced in Budget 2019.

The Union is disappointed by the budget’s silence on implementation of a national, universal pharmacare program, which is an essential addition to the country’s health care system.

Unifor supports the government’s efforts to invest today to prevent further hardship tomorrow. Federal spending in times of economic downturn helps ensure a faster, stronger recovery

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Vimy Ridge Day in Canada

Vimy Ridge Day is an annual observance on April 9 to remember Canadians who victoriously fought in the battle of Vimy Ridge in northern France during the First World War. The day is also known as the National Day of Remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/canada/vimy-ridge-day

The Battle of Vimy Ridge – Fast Facts

  • The assault on Vimy Ridge, the northern part of the wider battle of Arras, began at 5:30 am on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917.
  • It was the first occasion on which all four divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked as a composite formation.
  • The Canadian achievement in capturing Vimy Ridge owed its success to a range of technical and tactical innovations, very powerful artillery preparation, sound and meticulous planning and thorough preparation.
  • At Vimy, the Canadian Corps and the British XVII Corps on their immediate southern flank had captured more ground, more prisoners and more guns than any previous British Expeditionary Force offensive.
  • Vimy Ridge was a particularly important tactical feature. Its capture by the Canadians was essential to the advances by the British Third Army to the south and of exceptional importance to checking the German attacks in the area in 1918.
  • The Canadians had demonstrated they were one of the outstanding formations on the Western Front and masters of offensive warfare.
  • Four Victoria Crosses (VC) were awarded for bravery. Of these, three were earned on the opening day of the battle:
    • Private William Milne of the 16th Battalion.
    • Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton of the 18th Battalion.
    • Private John Pattison of the 50th Battalion (April 10).
    • Captain Thain MacDowell of the 38th Battalion. MacDowell had also earned the Distinguished Service Order on the Somme. Of the four Vimy VCs, only Captain MacDowell survived the War.
  • The Canadian success at Vimy demonstrated that no position was invulnerable to a meticulously planned and conducted assault. This success had a profound effect on Allied planning.
  • Though the victory at Vimy came swiftly, it did not come without cost. There were 3,598 dead out of 10,602 Canadian casualties.
  • After Vimy, the Canadian Corps went from one success to another, to be crowned by their achievements in the 1918 “advance to victory”. This record won for Canada a separate signature on the Versailles Peace Treaty ending the War.

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