December  3, 2018

GANDER – Workers at D-J Composites in Gander have a new collective agreement after nearly two years locked out on a picket line after an arbitrator issued a final and binding decision.

“This shameful lockout is finally over because hundreds of Unifor members gathered in Gander to show solidarity with Local 597 to push for binding arbitration,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.

The new three-year agreement for members of Unifor Local 597 comes after arbitrator John McEvoy released his decision, effectively ending the longest lockout in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

McEvoy selected the employer’s final offer.  However, this is one of those rare occasions where a loss is actually still a win.

In the face of arbitration, D-J Composites removed its most egregious demands, such as merit based pay, from its final offer and D-J composites accepted some of the union’s most important demands, including annual step increases for wages.

“After two years on a picket line, defending their rights, and fighting for a collective agreement, our members can hold their heads high. The solidarity we saw from across Canada made all the difference in bringing this dispute to a conclusion,” said Lana Payne, Unifor’s Atlantic Regional Director.

“Government intervention also helped when Premier Ball helped facilitate our call for binding arbitration,” said Payne.

The challenge now is to ensure a smooth return-to-work process. Unifor will continue to pressure the employer, and its potential customers, to expand efforts to bring more production into the plant.=

Watch new video of Gander solidarity here.

Unifor Statement on International day of Persons with Disabilities

December 3, 2018

Around the world more than a billion people are living with disabilities and far too many of them face economic, political and social exclusion. Barriers to participation in political, social, economic and cultural life are both real and attitudinal. December 3 marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities where Unifor joins a growing movement that is challenging the prevailing and discriminatory views that disempower the disabled community.

The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Unions have a unique leadership role to play in building and promoting employment opportunities for all members of equity-seeking groups because of their unparalleled access to workplaces. Trade unions that embrace principles of social movement unionism understand that such inequity disadvantages all.

Unifor recognizes that the negative social and economic costs that results from labour market exclusion impact individuals with disabilities, families and communities.  Unifor’s creation of equity committees, to address both historical and current exclusion, arose as an expression of the union’s commitment to equality and the goal of building a workers’ organization that better reflected the community.

The Union supports the work of the Workers’ with DisAbilities Committee but the committee is driven by workers who self-identify as members of this equity-seeking group. Together, we can create systemic and lasting change that recognizes the dignity and worth of differently abled persons.