DELTA, B.C.—Workers at the Cascades casino in Delta became Unifor’s newest members after the B.C. Labour Board certified the unit on January 24, 2023.

“Unifor is very proud to welcome a new group of hospitality and gaming workers into our union, joining thousands of Unifor members in the sector. We thank the Cascades workers for choosing Unifor and I know they are eager to get started on having a say in improving their working conditions,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

More than 200 workers employed as dealers, slot attendants, guest services workers, food and beverage servers, cashiers, and security guards have joined Unifor Local 114 and will now begin the process of bargaining their first collective agreement.

“We look forward to negotiating a first contract for workers at Cascades,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director. “Unifor has been aggressive in achieving industry-leading agreements across the gaming and hospitality sectors.”

Unifor Local 3000 members at the Parq Casino and Resort are currently in bargaining to adjust wages to reflect Metro Vancouver’s high cost of living.

Unifor represents more than 22,000 workers in gaming and hospitality across the country. Gaming sector workers suffered some of the longest lay-offs during closures resulting from pandemic safety regulations.

“We will do everything in our power to protect our members working in the media sector,” said Unifor’s National President Lana Payne. “Journalists and media workers often put their lives on the line to provide fact-based reporting to the public and they deserve respect, not constantly worrying when the next axe in the newsroom will drop.”

Workers became aware of Postmedia’s new measures from an internal memo sent hours before a town hall meeting on Zoom Wednesday afternoon. The memo outlined the cost-cutting over the coming months as a part of its overall debt-reduction plan.

In October, Postmedia stopped printing Monday editions of nine major dailies – Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Sun, Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun, The Province Edmonton Sun, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun and Montreal Gazette – citing news consumption habits of readers, needs of advertisers and rising costs of producing and delivering a printed product.

“This is a massive hit to local news,” said Randy Kitt, Director of Unifor’s Media Sector. “The media sector – with barebones newsrooms and constant cost-cutting – needs more stability, not less. We need more support and legislation from the federal government to support journalists and news organizations, so they can keep telling quality, fact-based stories of Canadians.”

Earlier this month, Postmedia unveiled its latest revenue report, which stated a net loss of $15.9 million during the quarter ending in Nov. 30, 2022, compared to $4.4 million in the same period the year before.

The media chain also bought Brunswick News Inc. from J.D. Irving in late March 2022 for $7.5 million, which included BNI’s daily and weekly newspapers, digital properties and parcel delivery business.

Unifor represents more than 10,000 media workers, including journalists in the broadcast and print news industry.

TORONTO – Unifor celebrates today’s decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which ruled that Premier Ford’s Bill 124 unduly infringes on workers’ rights.

“Today’s decision is a victory for not only public sector workers and unions across Ontario, but also for every Ontarian who relies on our public services,” Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “For the past four years, workers fought back against this wage suppression bill through direct action, lobbying, and sharing personal experiences. When workers organize for justice, we can win.”

The union urges Premier Ford to respect this decision and the Charter and make up for the wrongs of Bill 124, instead of choosing to appeal the decision of the Superior Court of Justice.

“This decisive ruling needs to be a learning lesson for the Ford government. Even majority governments need to respect workers’ rights and listen to people,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director. “Public sector workers risked their lives for us during the pandemic and this wage suppression law made their lives harder and drove many from the sector. With this ruling I want to assure workers that we are shifting of focus on seeking remedies from the Ontario government.”

Unifor, alongside 40+ other unions and associations (including the OFL, OSSTF, ETFO, OECTA, ONA, OPSEU, the Society and PWU) filed a Notice of Application on August 28, 2020 with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The unions argued that Bill 124 breaches the right to free collective bargaining under the freedom of association guarantee in s. 2(d) and the right to strike under the freedom of expression guarantee in s. 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court held hearings from September 12-21, 2022.

Unifor represents approximately 18,155 members’ working in health care, education and social services sectors across Ontario who are affected by Bill 124.