Members,

Last week, I asked if you were willing to act to defend the $15 minimum wage and workers’ rights.

Since then, I’ve heard from members across the province. From workplace actions, to petition collections, you’re ready to make some noise on Monday, October 15.

On Monday, Unifor members are participating in a province-wide day of action. Together, we’ll show that workers from all sectors, in communities right across the province, are united in our defense of a strengthened Employment Standards Act and the $15 minimum wage.

If you’re not sure about how to take action, here’s one idea that is easy to implement.

Wear red to work! Take photos of yourself and your fellow Unifor members with the posters that I’ve attached to this email. Post those pictures online with the hashtag #15andFairness and #Unifor.

It’s important that every single MPP understands that workers will not allow our rights to be rolled back.

To participate in events that are already organized across the province, check out the list compiled by the Worker’s Action Centre: https://www.15andfairness.org/events

 

Dear Unifor members,

Unifor-MWF Local 1 members at the Halifax Shipyard need your help!

Indications are the federal government may transfer repair work on Halifax-class navy ships from the Halifax Shipyard to the Davie Shipyard in Quebec. This work has been done by our Local 1 members in Halifax since the 1990’s and supports nearly 300 jobs. This work is critical to the Nova Scotian economy and the east coast shipbuilding industry.

This transfer of work will also impact the growing young workforce at the shipyard.

Logistically and economically, it makes perfect sense to keep the work in Halifax. With a skilled workforce familiar with the Halifax-Class ships, supplier relationships firmly established in the region, an ice-free harbour, the Royal Canadian Navy’s Atlantic Fleet based right next door, and decades of experience, our members at the Irving Shipyard are best positioned to continue this work.

This is why we must act now. We are asking that you send a message to all Nova Scotia Members of Parliament, to the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement that they must uphold the intent of the National Shipbuilding Strategy to support our domestic shipbuilding industry and avoid boom-bust cycles and precarious work.

Visit shipsstayhere.ca to sign our petition. Ask your friends and family to sign, too.

Unifor has proven that when our sisters and brothers are in need, we show up. Support Unifor-MWF Local 1 and help us keep the Halifax-class work in Halifax.

 

In solidarity,

Lana Payne

Atlantic Regional Director

Economist Mike Moffatt from Western University has tallied up what Doug Ford has proposed to cut. The total is a whopping $22 billion that Doug Ford in cuts from provincial revenues over three years. At the same time, Mr. Ford promised to end hallway medicine. These two sets of promises are contradictory.

Mr. Ford has no mandate whatsoever to cut and privatize health care. But given the pro-private anti-public health care people he is surrounded with, there is widespread concern that they will try to foment a fiscal crisis and use it to justify pushing through cuts and privatization that would devastate our public health care.

We all know that we cannot take any more cuts. What we urgently need in our province is to reinvest, to rebuild our health care — not cuts and privatization. The best way to protect public health care is to push for what we know we need and to ensure that this government is afraid to cut and privatize health care. We need to set the agenda and make them respond to us.

We know that the people of Ontario are with us. No one wants more cuts. The overwhelming majority of Ontarians oppose health care privatization. We need to mobilize, to make visible the public demand to improve our public health care. We need to inspire people to stand up and make cuts and privatization impossible. We can do this. We have done it before. But we need your help.

Please join this rally – a show of strength is vitally important now.

A Message from Jerry Dias and Lana Payne

Sisters and Brothers,

We are writing to share that once again our union has proven that when united we are unstoppable. D-J Composites has agreed to our proposal for binding arbitration after our 8-day solidarity action at the Gander aerospace facility.

Two weeks ago, we put out the call for volunteers and hundreds of you dropped everything to stand with 30 members who have been on a picket line for 654 shameful days. Members from every province in Canada stood with us against a union-busting American employer.

Together we stopped the scabs and have ensured there will be an end to this incredibly long dispute and our members will soon be returning to work.

After eight days and an intervention from N.L. Premier Dwight Ball, D-J Composites accepted the fact that binding arbitration is the only solution to end this dispute.

D-J Composites is now a scab free workplace.

We are incredibly proud of our union and those of you who stood on this picket line, 24 – 7 in Gander. A reporter who came to the picket line asked why Unifor would put so much time and resources into a lockout of just 30 members? Our answer is we always defend our members, whether we represent 30 or 3000 in a workplace. When you attack one of us, you attack all of us.

Thank you to all who went to Gander and thank you to those who fiercely supported our efforts on social media.

We particularly want to thank the members of Local 597 for their courage and unwavering resolve over the past 21 months. They could have easily walked away. Instead, they stared down their American employer and refused to allow our union to be broken for 92 long weeks. We have Unit Chair Iggy Oram to thank for leading the members through these difficult times.

Our 30 members have shown the labour movement what solidarity really means. We also want to thank the incredible work by our staff, in particular Scott Doherty and Shane Wark, who lead bargaining with one of the worst employers Unifor has ever encountered.

In recent months we have set a new standard for how we deal with scabs who dare cross our picket lines, months in Goderich, Thunder Bay and now Gander. Together with our solidarity, Unifor has sent a powerful message to all employers that scabs will not be tolerated at any of our workplaces. We have started a national conversation about this and the need for anti-scab legislation across Canada.

Trust us when we tell you our union is just getting started on this front.

In Solidarity,

 

Jerry Dias and Lana Payne

 

Watch the video – 10 Days in Gander