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NEB Statement on Comprehensive Workplace Immunization Programs and Mandatory Vaccinations

August 2021

Despite significant progress made in Canada’s campaign to stop the spread of COVID-19 over recent months, including nearly three-quarters of eligible people being fully vaccinated, the country is staring down a fourth wave of the virus.

Sadly, this comes as little surprise. Epidemiologists the world over continue to warn that until vaccines reach a critical mass of people, globally, variants will spread – evolving into more highly transmissible and potentially deadlier strains.

In low-income countries across the Global South, just over one percent of people received a vaccine. Distribution challenges, in part due to restrictive intellectual property rules that benefit wealthy pharmaceutical firms, are to blame.  Meanwhile, in the Global North, quick re-starts to regional economies, despite modest vaccination levels, are resulting in case spikes (almost entirely among those not vaccinated), increased hospitalizations and the re-introduction of business restrictions.

Despite its promising start to vaccination, Canada is far from ending the COVID-19 crisis.  National case counts and death tolls continue to climb. Our union will never forget those members we have lost to this terrible virus – beautiful lives taken, and families left reeling. If, through our collective actions, we can prevent even one more tragedy from befalling a member of our union, then those actions will have been worth the effort.  A halfway approach to protecting public health and the health of working people is simply not good enough. More needs doing.

Higher vaccination rates needed for a sustained, resilient recovery

In May of this year, Unifor’s National Executive Board unanimously endorsed a statement entitled Vaccine Certificates and Considerations to Guide the Re-Opening of Canada’s Economy.

In that statement, the Board articulated its support for additional measures to ensure a safe and fair reopening of the economy. This included the introduction of proof of vaccination certifications, where appropriate, guided by science, in compliance with human rights statutes and governed within a national framework. Such certificate programs must also include strict pre-screening and diagnostic testing.  Unifor continues to support this position.

In this statement, the Board also identified “critical mass” vaccination as the union’s stated goal. Only through large-scale vaccination, can governments and employers move forward with reopening and return-to-work plans, while protecting public health. This is the guidance provided by leading public health officials both in Canada, and internationally. Unfortunately, Canada has not yet achieved this goal.

Helpful campaigns to encourage vaccinations, and eliminate barriers to access, in recent months appear to have run their course. Vaccination rates are plateauing. The risks to public health of future waves of this pandemic is too high. This includes risks to public-facing, front-line workers and those who, by necessity, work in close quarters and have a right to a healthy and safe workplace.

It is incumbent on governments to take the necessary steps to protect all people in Canada from further spread of the virus, including children and those who are immunocompromised, enabling us all to move forward into recovery. People in Canada have a responsibility, too, to protect one another.

Mandatory workplace vaccinations, one of many tools to keep workers safe

Organizations must utilize all of the tools at their disposal to stop the spread of COVID-19. For employers, this includes mandatory vaccination of workers, especially for those in public-facing or congregate work-settings where risk of transmission is high.  This also includes regular testing, pre-screening, greater availability of personal protective equipment, and other reasonable safety measures.

To be clear, the Board believes such requirements are necessary to protect the health and safety of workers. Unifor members have a right to be safe at work, and it is our union’s duty to uphold that right. This is of paramount importance to our union. Of course, any such mandate must accommodate for legitimate health exemptions, address personal privacy and data protection issues and uphold relevant human rights statutes – not unlike existing mandatory vaccine measures employed in Canada.

Across workplaces, employers must also ensure that any mandatory vaccine policies, advanced screening, testing and other measures have input from Unifor.  Our union expects employers to adhere to and uphold collective agreement language, where applicable, and collaborate with us on establishing appropriate processes as well as organizing mandatory information sessions for workers. Our union will continue working to ensure members have clearly defined safety protocols and sufficient access to PPE.

This pandemic will not be over for anyone until it is over for everyone.

Unifor commits to relentlessly championing progressive, practical, principled and science-based policies to get Canada through this pandemic and facilitate a safe return to work in the spirit of building a fair, resilient and inclusive economy.

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Bell Media cuts show need for level playing field

August 17, 2021

TORONTO – The layoffs being announced at Bell Media at its Queen Street location today, resulting in 27 jobs lost and another 22 jobs being reclassified, shows the need to level the playing field as foreign Internet broadcasters operate outside existing regulations.

“The tremendous financial pressure placed on Canadian broadcasters because of Internet giants getting a free ride in this country leads to these kinds of so-called efficiencies,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias said.

“We need legislation to stop this tremendous pressure. The previous Bill C-10 was aimed at leveling the playing field between Canadian broadcasters and behemoth foreign counterparts Netflix, Amazon and others.”

Bill C-10, which died on the order paper with the election call, would have given the CRTC the power to dedicate a stream of industry funding for local TV news with strict conditions to tie it to a headcount of journalists and media workers.

Unifor is calling on all parties in the current federal election to commit to making companies such as Netflix and Amazon to pay their fair share to ensure television and news content is created in Canada, just as Canadian broadcasters must do.

“These layoffs are a result of downsizing and tech change. We’re told no programming will be lost with these cuts, but there’s no way the quality of that programming can be the same and the pressure for more cuts will only continue until action is taken.”

Unifor continues to meet with Bell Media to mitigate the job loss and the impact on our members.

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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Prime minister, premier called out to support De Havilland strikers

Unifor National President Jerry Dias speaks at De Havilland rally.

August 24, 2021

TORONTO – Unifor National President Jerry Dias is calling on the prime minister and the Ontario premier to state publicly that there will be no government money for De Havilland if Unifor members are not building the Dash-8 airplane.

“I’m reaching out to Justin Trudeau today and saying Justin you better come out today to say that not one nickel of federal government money will ever see the pockets of Longview if they try to screw the 700 families in Downsview,” Dias told a rally of striking De Havilland workers and supporters today.

Members of Unifor Locals 112 and 673 have been on strike since July 27. Parent company Longview Aviation Capital announced earlier this year it would no longer build the new Dash 8-400 aircraft at the Downsview plant. Dias said the Dash-8 program has long relied on government support, and that both levels of government need to make it clear those days are over without a fair deal.

“The province didn’t put hundreds of millions of dollars into this program so the jobs could go to Alberta,” Dias said.

In Thunder Bay, Premier Doug Ford called moving the Dash-8 out of Ontario “disgusting” and vowed to fight any such move.

Speakers at the rally pointed to the 700 families who rely on the plant to support their families, and called on Longview to return to the bargaining table.

“You might have bought the De Havilland name, but it was the workers who built that name,” said Local 673 President Maryellen McIlmoyle. Local 112 President Scott McIlmoyle said these have been “by far the most frustrating” negotiations he has ever encountered. “Longview has folks at the table who can’t make decisions,” he said.

Despite a court injunction limiting picketing last week, Dias said no one will be allowed into the plant until a deal is reached.

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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Unifor discusses crisis in long-term care with Ontario Minister

Unifor discussed the crisis in long-term care in a meeting with Ontario Long-term Care Minister Rod Phillips on August 9, 2021.

“I extended my challenge to spend a shift in a long-term care home to Minister Phillips,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “We need to fix the crisis in long-term care and hopefully spending a shift with me will help push the government to make progressive changes for residents and workers.”

Unifor secured the meeting to raise important issues facing Ontario health care workers, outline key concerns and share the union’s recommendations after sending a letter to Minister Phillips.

Dias was joined at the meeting by Assistant to National President Katha Fortier, President of Local 302 Nancy McMurphy and Unifor Director of Health Care Andy Savela. The Unifor delegation raised the following issues to the Minister:

  • The failure of for-profit care.
  • The need to move immediately to four hours of daily care per resident.
  • Lack of any action from most operators, including creating full-time work or any meaningful effort to increase staffing or address the staffing crisis.
  • The trauma experienced by many of our members working in long-term care and the immediate need to focus on retention.
  • The need to require operators to provide 70% full-time work.
  • Growing use of the sub-classification of PSW’s that have been created by many employers.
  • Lack of transparency from operators in reporting hours of care as well as percentage of full-time workers, use and cost of agency workers and reliance and cost of overtime.
  • No plan to attract the thousands of PSW’s who have left the sector to return with decent working conditions.
  • Emergency orders that still override our members’ collective agreement rights and are simply used to compensate for lack of staff.
  • Fair pay for ALL LTC workers.
  • For-profit operators fight to deny employees maintenance of proxy pay equity as well as the efforts from Bass and Associates to supress wages over the last decade.
  • Concerns with OPSWA as a legitimate representative for PSW’s.
  • General concerns on pandemic pay, leaving other workers behind and issues raised in this letter to Premier Ford
  • Retirement home challenges. (while this falls under the MOH, many residents in retirement homes are actually waiting for LTC)

“The crisis in long-term care existed long before COVID-19 in terms of proper staffing levels, the number of full-time jobs, the ability to earn a living wage and the ability to provide residents with the amount of daily care that they require,” said Dias. “We stressed to Minister Philips that residents and workers cannot wait years for policies, including four hours of daily care, to be implemented. Clear action is needed and it’s needed now,” said Dias.

The Minister noted that he has been attending surprise inspections with compliance officers regularly in nursing homes, speaking directly with the inspectors and the staff.

The Minister and his staff indicated that their immediate priorities include enforcement and transparency, but also said that they anticipate significant issues with timing and still envision a multi-year process. They did clearly state that the four hours of care will only include direct care from nurses and PSW’s. They also stated they are working on a plan to extricate the sector from the emergency orders but did not give a firm timeline.  The government indicated legislation on the four hours of care could be expected mid-fall and that Unifor is welcome to participate in that process. They do have plans to include transparency on several items including resident and family satisfaction, hours of care and fulltime work.

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Unifor’s Bell Craft and Services members ratify deal that protects jobs and improves wages

Bell members marching at a rally dressed in red Unifor shirts holding flags

August 13, 2021 – 12:00 AM

TORONTO – Unifor members in Bell’s craft units vote to ratify a collective agreement that protects full time jobs, increases wages, and expands the company’s diversity and inclusion.

“Unifor members in telecommunications continue to set industry standards with this contract. Canada’s telecom workers provide an indispensable service to communities, families and businesses, and the commitment of union members and the bargaining committee helped ensure that their contributions are fully recognised in this contract,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.

Throughout the pandemic, Unifor members in telecom stepped up to meet unprecedented demand and keep Canadians connected, while ensuring customers had safe and reliable services.

The four-year collective agreement was ratified on Friday, August 13, following regional virtual meetings and an online vote. The agreement was unanimously endorsed by the bargaining committee, and 79% of members voted in favour.

“Far too often, Bell members are on the defense, fighting back against job erosion. But in this round of negotiations, craft workers pushed ahead, made significant gains for members. Canada’s telecom industry supports good jobs, and Unifor helps ensure that will remain true tomorrow,” said Renaud Gagne, Unifor Quebec Director.

The contract includes a 7.5% increase in wages, including an additional 0.5% lump sum payment in the first year. Union members’ work is protected through new job security protections for current members, commitments for new regular jobs, and reclassification of part time workers to full time jobs.

Unifor’s Bell Craft and Services membership unites 3520 workers and their 32 local unions in Ontario and Quebec, who together showed significant solidarity in these negotiations and achieved the workers’ shared goals.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 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.