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The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a devastating toll on the Canadian economy, workers and families.

Governments shut down businesses in order to curb the spread of the virus and save lives, leaving millions of laid off workers without income.

In March and April of last year alone, Canada lost nearly three (3) million jobs. Naturally, these workers turned to the one government program that was meant to help them during times of economic hardship—Employment Insurance (EI).

However, it soon became evident that Canada’s EI system, characterized by its restrictive eligibility criteria, low benefit rates and significant gaps in coverage, would not provide the safety net that unemployed workers needed.

EI only works when unemployed people can access it, but before COVID, only 40% of unemployed people were eligible.

This fact comes to no surprise for labour and community advocates – those championing fixes to restore EI benefits to protect workers, while modernizing it to reflect the realities of today’s increasingly precarious labour market.

Rebuilding Canada’s social safety net is a key component of building back better.

Campaign Update

In advance of the reopening of the General Motors assembly line in Oshawa, employers in the Durham region teamed up with Unifor’s Independent Parts Supplier (IPS) Action Centre for a virtual job fair on June 10.

After Unifor launched its fiercest campaign to date, fighting for and winning the preservation of the plant’s footprint, the union successfully negotiated the return of vehicle production to ‘Canada’s motor city’ back in September 2020. With the plant set to resume building light and heavy-duty trucks this summer, Unifor’s IPS Action Centre has been extremely busy connecting workers with employers across the region, giving them the support and resources needed to navigate the process.

The virtual job fair focused on connecting former Unifor members with regional unionised employers including Sobey’s retail support centre in Whitby, parts manufacturers Android Industries and Lear Corporation in Oshawa, auto sector logistics provider TFT Global, and facilities management service provider Robinson Solutions.

“So many of the job opportunities opening up in Oshawa directly related to the return of the GM Oshawa truck assembly line,” said Trisha Judges, one of the IPS Action Centre’s two Coordinators and former Chairperson of the CEVA Logistics clerical unit. “The job fair gave our unemployed workers the best opportunity to get their questions answered and find out specific information including timelines and expectations directly from employers during the ongoing pandemic.”

The IPS Action Centre supports a broad range of unemployed workers previously working in a variety of auto-related jobs including security services, logistics, parts manufacturing, and facilities management affected by the closure of the GM Oshawa assembly line. Both the region’s IPS employers and the Government of Ontario provide funding and Unifor locals 222, 1090, and 414 help support the Centre.

Since it first opened its doors in January 2020, the Centre’s peer-led staff have provided hundreds of unemployed workers with hands-on advice, tools, and information to navigate the complex and rapidly changing financial assistance measures and job market in a familiar space located at the Unifor Local 222 hall. With the arrival of the pandemic, the Centre’s staff were forced to adapt, moving many of its services online. Despite these limitations, the Centre’s community-based approach and dedicated staff have proved how vital the Centre’s services are to former Unifor members.

“Holding the job fair online was an unfortunate necessity. But our staff worked incredibly hard and made it a resounding success,” said Eva Guta, IPS Action Centre Coordinator and former Women’s Advocate at Lear Corporation Whitby. “The past two years were incredibly hard for so many of our former members in Oshawa and throughout the Durham region. Now, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.”

Unifor’s Communications Department won seven awards from the Canadian Association of Labour Media on June 10, 2021, including best member mobilization for the #CovidHeroes video series featuring front line workers sharing their experiences during the first wave of the pandemic.

Unifor also won best national campaign, best short video, best photo, best writing in both French and English, and the “Stroke of Genius Award” for the most innovative communications project, setting a new record for the union.

“For Unifor to sweep seven of 23 categories, more than any other union, shows just how hard our team worked this year to be innovative and not let lockdowns and restrictions stop us from connecting with and informing our members,” said Katha Fortier, Assistant to the National President, responsible for the Communications Department. You can watch the entire playlist featuring all 36 #CovidHeroes videos on Unifor’s Facebook page here.

Unifor won the Best Short Video made for broadcast or online distribution category for the mini documentary on “How we saved Oshawa GM”, which follows the union’s three-year historic campaign to bring truck assembly back to Oshawa, Ontario.

A photo taken by National Communications Representative Kathleen O’Keefe at a secondary picket in Ajax Ontario, in support of Dominion workers in N.L. won the Best Photo category.

O’Keefe also won the Ed Finn Award for best writing by staff for her story about Ontario school bus drivers calling for Standardized Safety Protocols.

Unifor shared the top prize in the writing category in French for a story about how Jerry Dias and dozens of Unifor brothers walked in the union’s Hope in High Heels walk and raised a record $137,000 to aid domestic violence victims.

The Dominion/Loblaw Strike Campaign demanding #FairPayForever won best National Campaign.

Unifor’s Communications team also won the coveted Dennis McGann Stroke-of-Genius Award for the most unusual, innovative, novel communications project for our “Stage Ten Virtual Rally for Dominion Workers.” Early on in the pandemic, the department pioneered Stage Ten streaming technology to allow live broadcasts on Facebook from multiple locations with custom on-screen graphics to engage members across the country.

On Labour Day, when Chris MacDonald, Assistant to the National President, and lead Dominion negotiator requested solidarity events at Loblaws across the country, we were able to deliver and bring together actions from five cities to support workers in NL.

“This technology changed the way we build solidarity on many campaigns but especially as we united to fight the billionaire bosses at Loblaw from coast to coast to coast,” said Natalie Clancy, Unifor Communications Director and lead Stage Ten producer at Unifor. You can watch the virtual rally here.

Unifor’s National Secretary – Treasurer Lana Payne received an honourable mention for the best editorial opinion piece for her outstanding OpEd published in the Toronto Star: “How to restore Canada’s Employment Insurance program.”

Unifor-FFAW also received an honourable mention for this video about fish harvesters playing a critical role in science and conservation of the lobster fishery.