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In recognition of Labour Day, Unifor members took action in support of Dominion grocery store workers, on strike at Newfoundland locations against parent company Loblaw Companies Limited.
“My message to you Loblaw is that you should be damned ashamed of yourself,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias outside Loblaws flagship grocery store in downtown Toronto. “Galen Westin’s net worth is 8.7 billion dollars. This is an employer that is eliminating full-time jobs so that they don’t have to provide benefits to their workers.”
Unifor members held information pickets at Loblaw owned locations across the country, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Windsor, Kitchener, Port Elgin, Toronto, Sydney, Saint John, Antigonish and multiple locations across Newfoundland including Grand Falls, Gander and St. John’s.
The 1,400 Newfoundland Dominion workers have been striking for fair wages and full-time jobs since Saturday August 22, 2020. At the 11 Newfoundland stores, more than 80% of the workers are classified as part-time with Dominion paying 75% of workers less than $15 an hour.
On day 17 on the picket line Atlantic Regional Director Linda MacNeil warned that billionaire Galen Westin better start listening to his workers.
“They’re here because enough is enough. Workers are telling the employer this has to stop. Loblaw has to stop eliminating full-time jobs. They have to stop manipulating part-time hours to avoid paying pension and benefits,” MacNeil said.
Despite record profits during COVID-19 Loblaw chose to claw back pandemic pay from the frontline workers in June, in unison with competitors Metro and Empire Company.
“These are the same workers who got them through the pandemic, who came into work every single day, made sure there was food on the table, and they are the same workers who had pandemic pay snatched away by the big bosses at Loblaw,” said Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi. “We’re leafleting Loblaw’s customers from coast-to-coast-to-coast. We want customers to be part of a national dialogue on the struggle of retail workers.”
Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle also called out the grocery giant on its treatment of workers.
“We’ve heard a lot during this pandemic about COVID heroes and that we’re all in this together but when push comes to shove the billionaires want to make sure that they get even richer. They want to rip away the pandemic pay and they want to make sure that they continue these part-time jobs,” said McGarrigle. “Let’s make sure that we don’t just talk about respecting these COVID heroes and that we treat them with the respect and the pay they deserve.”
Chris MacDonald, Assistant to the Unifor National President, pointed out that the reality of poor wages and precarious work in retail extends across the country.
“Fairness isn’t so simple with Loblaw, and many other union and non-union retailers, with their failed strategy of part-time work and low wages. What we’re seeing in Newfoundland is not unique and a business model reliant on part-time work tied to poor wages is not acceptable,” MacDonald said.
MacDonald encouraged retail workers and others to call on Canada’s largest grocers to compensate employees fairly by signing the petition at unifor.org/fairpayforever.
“We’re making sure we get Loblaw’s attention right across this country,” concluded Dias. “We’re with you out there in Newfoundland we’re standing with you right here.”
The virtual rally in support of the striking workers was live streamed on Unifor’s Facebook page. Watch here.
September 10, 2020
VANCOUVER – Unifor is relieved that the B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a constitutional challenge by a private health clinic attempting to make for profit, private health care legal.
“Today public health care won and this is a victory for everyone who uses health care in Canada,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Even though this attack was launched by a greedy doctor in British Columbia, it took aim at the very heart of the Canada Health Act. Justice Steeves decision ensures our health care system will continue to be based on need not on ability to pay.”
Cambie Surgery Clinic CEO Brian Day launched a decade long constitutional challenge after he learned his private for-profit surgical centres were going to be audited by the B.C. Government. The Cambie clinic sought to make health care more profitable by striking down the key sections of the British Columbia Medicare Protection Act. In particular, Day wanted the ability to charge patients beyond the public plan, allow paying patients to jump the queue and allow doctors to give preferential treatment to wealthy patients with private insurance or those willing to pay out-of-pocket.
“Today’s ruling sends a strong message to those wanting to privatize our health care system – Canada’s public health care is here to stay,” said Katha Fortier, Assistant to Unifor National President. “Canadians want improvements to their health care system and that starts with all levels of government providing adequate funding and support.”
In the court’s ruling, the Honourable Mr. Justice Steeves dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims that the B.C. Medicare Protection Act violate their rights under ss. 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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.
Canada’s telecommunications workers build and maintain critical infrastructure for families and workers. On Thursday August 27, telecom workers at BellMTS in Manitoba ratified a three-year collective agreement to build upon a strong foundation and improve working conditions.
“Congratulations to the bargaining committee and the members for securing this contract,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director. “At the start of bargaining the members identified a goal of improving working conditions and job security and this contract achieves those goals.”
The new agreement includes wage increases in every year of the contract, improvements to Performance Management, and the conversion of casual and part-time jobs into more secure and predictable regular part time and full-time jobs.
Workers who raised work-induced stress as a critical issue will benefit from a negotiated review of mental health initiatives in the workplace.
The new contract also secured paid leave for survivors of domestic violence and two women’s advocates in the workplace. Unifor helped to spearhead the now global movement to negotiate these programs at the bargaining table. Information on the ground-breaking women’s advocate program can be found here.
“This contract shows the strength that telecom workers have when we unite and organize through our unions,” said Patty Deschamps, Unifor Local 7 President. “I’m grateful for the support from members across the province during this round of negotiations. My hope is that this new contract will deliver the stability and peace of mind that our members and their families need today.”
As back-to-school season begins, Unifor continues to press for safe conditions for children, teachers, education workers, janitorial staff and bus drivers. A recent webinar hosted by the union’s Education Department about the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women, highlighted school and child care closures as a key component of the dramatic drop in women’s workforce participation since March.
Members shared their experiences including fears for their children with special needs, and concern for education assistants and school bus drivers who cannot socially distance in their work. Many members spoke of their own mental health deterioration trying to juggle working from home and home-schooling their children.
Atlantic Regional Director Linda MacNeil highlighted the impact on essential workers.
”Our members are between a rock and a hard place,” said MacNeil. “So many of them are essential services workers with exposure to the public. We need them to go to work and yet we are increasing their risk if we aren’t putting enough resources towards a safe re-opening of schools and child care facilities. This is hitting women particularly hard, both at work and at home.”
The process of developing a plan for school re-opening has varied across the country. Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle contrasted the approaches of governments in the West.
“B.C. has involved unions, parents, child care advocates and health professionals to work towards a safe re-opening,” said McGarrigle. “This can be contrasted with provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba where their austerity-led autocracy undermines the public school system and endangers workers and children.”
Unifor education locals in Alberta have been active in mobilizing against lay offs and lack of appropriate protections to return to the classroom.
Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi kept up the pressure with the Premier by underscoring September’s pivot point for parents, workers, children and the economy. Unifor bus driving members have increased their engagement, concerned about having as many as three classrooms-worth of students on each bus every day. While alterations for classrooms are underway, children will still be crammed into busses with, in some cases, three to a seat.
“The biggest test of Premier Ford’s leadership so far in this pandemic will be as our children go back to school,” said Rizvi. “As a parent of school-aged children and as a labour activist I am startled and deeply concerned by the lack of appropriate education funding and protocols in place and have urged Doug Ford to urgently invest in education and child care for the sake of all Ontarians’ health and safety.”
Unifor encourages members to contact their local provincial representatives to advocate for a #SafeSeptember.