Anti-Indigenous racism has profound negative impacts on the health and wellness of Indigenous people, their families, and their communities in Canada. Deep-seated racism within our health care systems have made it unsafe for many Indigenous peoples to access the services and care they need.

On January 13, 2021 at 6 p.m. Eastern, Unifor Education will host a webinar to hear from Indigenous leaders about identifying the systemic racism and barriers to proper care.

“Non-Indigenous and non-racialized Canadians take our quality of public health care for granted,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The fact is that the right to health care is not enjoyed equally by all. Our union’s anti-racism work must also extend into the systemic racism inside public services such as health care.”

Panelists for the webinar include Dr. Alika Lafontaine, and Indigenous physician of Cree and Anishinaabe heritage from Southern Saskatchewan/Treaty 4 territory and Cheryl Ward, the Interim Director of Indigenous Health and the Provincial Lead for the San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training program at the BC Provincial Health Services Authority. The webinar will be moderated by Unifor’s Indigenous Liaison Gina Smoke. To register, email onlineeducation@unifor.org. Registration is required.

A group of Unifor members marked Human Rights Day 2020 with the first online bystander intervention training offered by the union.

The group training went beyond intervention in conflict, to craft a discussion about building more caring communities in the face of structural oppression and inequality.

Trainer Rajean Hoilett took the participants through real life scenarios and provided practical advice on how to not be a bystander to any injustices towards people, but instead to understand ones active role and place in their communities.

BTS Information Bulletin -WHI

UPDATE ON WIRELESS HOME INTERNET (WHI) MARKET WORK

Brothers and Sisters,

Our Committee is pleased to inform you that Bell has confirmed with Unifor that they will be REPATRIATING their WIRELESS HOME INTERNET (WHI) market work. Bell Technical Solutions in  Ontario and Quebec will receive a significant amount of that work in the coming months as Bell releases their current contractor base moving forward.

This is great news for the Union and our bargaining unit as it represents a significant increase to our work load which will ultimately provide more hours of work for employees, both part-time and full-time and will hopefully drive further growth though hiring in the workplace which will lead to more upgrades and workforce stability in general.

As you know Unifor has been fighting for this work since the day Bell announced and executed their initial plans to roll this product line to a projected 1.2 million customers, utilizing non-unionized contractors across the board. Unifor, over the past two years working behind the scenes, as well as with our Committee and members across Canada have fought to bring this work back home where it belongs with unionized workers of the Bell Family. This announcement from Bell and Unifor is tremendously positive news for our bargaining unit in a year that has been fraught with issues and unrest, in addition to the current world Covid-19 Pandemic.

We have been informed that training on the WIRELESS HOME INTERNET (WHI) will commence relatively quickly as contractors in Ontario are phased out. The work is expected to officially transfer to Bell Technical Solutions in the month of March 2021 but we will likely assume some of the work before. We will advise locals as more information becomes available to us. Watch for similar announcements from the employer as well to stay informed .

This is fantastic news for us as the end of the year approaches, and without a doubt will signify a great start for 2021. In closing we would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a safe and happy 2020 /2021 holiday season.

In Solidarity

Your Bargaining Committee