Unifor Local 1996-O would like to congratulate and thank our Brothers, James and Justin who have been working with the “UNIFORVOTES” Campaign with the National Union for the past 2 plus months. This incredible team of activists from across the country knocked on over 80,000 doors to get the voters out on Election day! We are so proud of you both!
Great work!
Lee, Sanjay, Brian, Chris
Dear members,
There is less than one week until Election Day. Unifor members across Canada are busy talking to their co-workers about the issues that matter most to our union: affordability, worker’s rights, pharmacare, and many others. An informed vote by Unifor members can make all the difference in electing a progressive, government that will stand with Canada’s workers.
Although it has not made headlines, or been a topic in the recent federal leaders’ debates, the outcome of this election could have a dramatic affect on employment standards – specifically for workers in the Federally Regulated Private Sector (FRPS).
Over the past year, the federal government has undertaken an ambitious modernization of the Canada Labour Code – perhaps the most progressive overhaul of labour standards in all of Canada. Unifor is proud to have played an advocacy role in winning these reforms, workplace protections that our union has long bargained for.
New rules introduced by the Trudeau Government, such as paid personal days, flexible work arrangements, gender pay equity, accessible leaves, protections against contract flipping, guaranteed rest periods and improved scheduling notice are just a few of the long-overdue improvements to work standards for workers in the FRPS.
Additional changes, including fair pay laws for part-time and contract workers, will soon come into force… but only if we have a federal government willing to fight for them.
Here is what we know: corporations are not happy. Many large employers have successfully pushed to have entire categories of workers temporarily exempted from specific rules, including new rest periods.
In some cases, new standards still lack supporting regulations – clear, practical instructions that outline how new rules should be applied. This leaves workers vulnerable. It can result in a denial of benefits, especially in non-union workplaces.
We also know that provincially, conservative governments have irresponsibly torn up progressive labour laws. In Ontario, the Doug Ford conservatives ripped up landmark labour legislation within months of taking office. In Alberta, Jason Kenney weakened provincial labour standards within days.
Unifor believes that, if elected, Andrew Scheer will follow the lead of both Ford and Kenney and these federal labour gains, while not perfect, will be lost. We can’t take that risk.
This election matters to Unifor members working in the Federally-Regulated Private Sector – workers in Canada’s airlines, railways, roadways, waterways; in elecommunications and broadcasting; in banking and financial services; in grain handling and others.
We need you to step up, speak out and STAND STRONG for Canada’s workers. On October 21, we need all Unifor members to cast their ballot to Stop Scheer.
In solidarity,
Jerry Dias
National President
The public support for the My Crowns continues to win the hearts and minds of the people of Saskatchewan.
In a recent online poll by the Regina Leader-Post, more than 80% of respondents said they support striking Crown workers (more than 3,700 people voted).
This result comes on the heels of a more scientific poll conducted for Unifor by AngusReid that showed 89% of respondents in Saskatchewan believe workers should get wage increases of at least inflation.
These figures should be no surprise: Crown workers are extremely valuable to the Saskatchewan economy and make important contributions in every community across the province. The crowns generated over 400 million dollars to the Government of Saskatchewan.
This has been our message from day one. Crown workers deserve better than zeros and good crown jobs should remain in the province not be shipped elsewhere. We have taken this message to the people of Saskatchewan, and it is paying off.
We made every attempt at the bargaining table with a callous government, so now Unifor is all in on a strike to demonstrate our commitment to fairness.
Here’s what “all in” has looked like so far, with much more to come:
It is clear that we are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of our communities. We cannot and will not rest on our accomplishments. Unifor will continue to organize mass actions until an agreement is reached.
There is no predicting when this dispute will be over, but the pressure we’re putting on the Moe Government is increasing and the polling above shows that our message is sinking in.
For more information, visit www.myCrowns.ca
October 16, 2019
TORONTO—Today labour activists from across Ontario occupied Doug Ford’s office to demand action from the provincial government to prevent workplace death and injuries at Fiera Foods.
“Desperate times call for extreme measures and the situation at Fiera Foods is certainly desperate,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “We are calling on the Doug Ford government to protect precarious workers like those at Fiera Foods and we won’t take silence as an answer.”
Unifor is joining an occupation of the Doug Ford’s constituency office led by the Workers’ Action Centre and Jane Finch Action Against Poverty. The action comes after the tragic deaths of Amina Diaby in 2017 and Enrico Miranda last month at Fiera Foods in Toronto. A solidarity rally was also held on October 2 where community organizations and labour unions expressed outrage at the lack of government response to the conditions at the factory.
“Two workers have died on Premier Doug Ford’s watch at Fiera Foods and they may very well still be alive today if his government had acted to prevent their deaths,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Director. “We have no choice but to escalate the situation to draw out the Premier from wherever he is currently hiding.”
In 2018, the previous Liberal government amended the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act to allow regulations to be introduced that would make employers such as Fiera Foods responsible for workplace injuries and deaths when employing temporary employment agency workers. To date no regulations have been introduced since Doug Ford came to power. The organizations occupying Doug Ford’s constituency office are jointly calling on the government to enact such a regulation.
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.
Each October 18, Canada celebrates Persons Day. This year marks 70 years since women were declared persons under the constitution and some women gained the right to be appointed to public office including the Senate of Canada.
Although women’s participation in political life has grown since then, Canada continues to lag behind most OECD countries for number of women in parliament. This exclusion of women in decision-making positions has an impact on women’s equality.
We must continue to campaign for the rights of women in society and reject the attacks on longstanding wins that women and other equity-seeking groups have gained in this country. Critical issues such as reproductive rights, child care programs, pay equity and paid domestic violence leave risk being rolled back through the rise of conservative governments. Using the lens of intersectionality, we can see that loss of these rights can compound barriers for women of colour, indigenous women, trans women and women with disabilities.
Unifor is hard at work mobilizing our members to ensure that we continue to see progress for women and other equity-seeking groups and continue to build on the gains of the last 70 years.
The legal inclusion of women as persons is an empty victory if it does not come with the structural framework needed to achieve equity. Electing progressive governments is key to this goal.