TORONTO– Unifor’s Ontario Regional Director and Human Rights Director wrote to Ontario Premier to demand the province immediately adopt the ONDP’s Bill-86, Our London Family Act.

“By refusing to support Bill 86 in the legislature last week, Ford revealed that his party and government does not consider the safety and well-being of Muslims in Ontario to be an imminent priority,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor Ontario Regional Director.

Unifor strongly supports and encourages members to support the proposals and amendments proposed in Bill-86. The union believes the Bill takes meaningful and concrete steps towards tackling hate and Islamophobia in key policy areas.

These key areas include greater restrictions against any political party or public rallies/demonstrations promoting hate against identifiable groups, new tools and strategies to combat racism in the public education system, annual anti-racism training for frontline workers in public organizations, establishing an Ontario Anti-Racism Advisory and Advocacy Council and creating safe zones around religious institutions.

“The Premier still has time to show Ontarians that racism and Islamophobia have no place in the province. Ontarians of all religious beliefs are urging the Premier to immediately pass Bill-86 before the dissolution of the legislature and the upcoming provincial election, said Christine Maclin, Unifor Director of Human Rights.

In a letter to the Premier, Rizvi and Maclin asked the Premier to change course and adopt this life-saving piece of legislation.

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.

In Windsor, Unifor Local 444 members at the Caesars casino ratified a new three-year collective agreement by 93% on March 20, 2022. The contract is filled with improvements, including wage increases each year, a pension enhancement of 1%, and a signing bonus of up to $1,600 per member.

President Dave Cassidy said the agreement sets a new standard for the gaming sector, noting that the agreement’s entire compensation package makes Local 444 members at Caesars the “highest-paid gaming members in Canada.”

The contract also features multiple benefits enhancements across life insurance, vision, eye exams, physiotherapy, massage, medical health practitioner, chiro/naturopath/speech, psychologist, and personal emergency leave.

Unifor has also been successful in 2022 at making breakthroughs for first agreements. Local 103 members at Cascades Casino North Bay negotiated wages, pensions, and job security language that nearly matches mature collective agreements at other Gateway casino properties. The contract was ratified on March 22.

More recently, Unifor Local 1090 members at Casino Rama near Orillia, Ontario also ratified a new three-year collective agreement on April 14.

The contract secures significant wage increases for workers: 3% in both years one and two and 3.5% in year three. The gains for members working in the skilled trades are even higher at 5% each year.

“Since joining Unifor in 2015, workers at Casino Rama have seen massive wage increases and new benefits that would have been impossible in a non-union environment,” said Corey Dalton, president of Unifor Local 1090.

Ambitious negotiating goals are also on the horizon for Unifor members at Great Canadian Gaming Corporation sites. Bargaining committees for Locals 1090 and 504 will meet in May to discuss company-wide bargaining strategies.

“The gaming industry is constantly changing and we have to ensure our contracts continue to lead the way for workers and their families,” said Chris Macdonald, assistant to the Unifor National President.

On the prairies, Unifor members at Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries are set to begin bargaining this summer when their contract expires in June. Local 144 expects a difficult round under the province’s conservative government, which sets the parameters of bargaining for the Crown corporation. Unifor’s 800 members in the sector will prioritize wages and job security now that Manitoba’s casinos are operating at full capacity.

In British Columbia, Local 3000 is preparing for bargaining at the Parq Vancouver Casino Resort. It also promises to be a challenge as Unifor members fight to keep compensation and benefits above rising inflation.

The recent gains made by Unifor casino workers in Ontario establish new benchmarks for employers to live up to. After facing years of difficult circumstances, Canada’s gaming sector workers deserve contracts that respect these standards and undo the pandemic’s worst economic effects.

On the heels of the $5 billion Stellantis-LG battery plant announced for Windsor, Unifor auto workers gathered in London to discuss both the opportunities and challenges of transforming Canada’s auto sector.

“So much of where we are today is because of what we bargained in 2020, and because of the leadership in this room and the relationships we have with government,” said John D’Agnolo, Unifor Auto Council Chairperson at the council meeting April 20, 2022.

The Windsor joint venture is the largest single automotive investment in Canadian history and brings 2,500 new direct jobs. It is the latest in a wave of large-scale battery electric vehicle (BEV) investments after Unifor bargained new products for Oakville, Windsor and Ingersoll in 2020 and 2021.

In addition to $590 million in federal and Ontario funding for Ford’s Oakville and Windsor plants, earlier this month, both governments finalized $259 million each as part of the General Motors $2 billion investment in CAMI and Oshawa, delivering on promises made in bargaining.

“Oshawa is growing and its incredible to see a third shift being added. We can’t build enough of these trucks and the biggest issue we have is transport. We have 11,000 trucks sitting around and no rail transport,” reported Jason Gale, Unifor Local 222 Chairperson. “We have told GM that we will not be left behind in their move to electrification. Our trucks are paying for that move.”

Workers at CAMI are expected to assemble Canada’s first electric vehicles, the new line of BrightDrop delivery trucks, by the end of the year.

Local presidents reported on many challenges in each workplace as some are experiencing growth while others are facing temporary layoffs due to retooling or parts supply issues, specifically chip shortages.

“We still have a lot of supplier issues and I don’t see that going away anytime soon, but

the future is incredibly bright and I think we are going to see more investment. I just hope it is in the communities we are most worried about,” said D’Agnolo referring to the Brampton Assembly Plant (BAP), where no product is currently allocated beyond 2023.

“We are currently lobbying our federal, provincial and municipal government with a lot of help of the national union and all governments are on board, supporting us and we believe there is movement and are hoping for peace of mind for our members,” said Danny Price, President of Unifor Local 1285 which represents production and skilled trades workers at the BAP.

“This is a top priority of our organization and we will continue to push companies, with support from government, to make additional investments to keep Canada at the forefront of the electric vehicle transition. Job security of our members working at the Detroit Three and in the independent parts sector is always top of mind for Unifor. This is why we will be relentless in our efforts to lobby for auto investment and new product allocations” said Shane Wark, Assistant to Unifor National President.

Unifor’s Director of Research, Angelo Dicaro presented a draft of the union’s new comprehensive auto sector policy, which makes several recommendations on how to build on the recent successes of the union’s bargaining strategies, rebuild Canada’s auto sector, and ensure no autoworker is left behind.

The policy is among the union’s most ambitious projects to date and will be released once it is finalized, after approval by Unifor’s IPS Council next month