February 9, 2021

TORONTO – As details continue to emerge about the cuts announced by CTV Bell Media last week, it is becoming increasingly clear that we are witnessing a severe reduction in the news media that Canadians rely on every day, by a company still making good profits.

“This is a company that has been doing very well throughout this pandemic and now seems to be trying to boost its share price on the backs of its workers,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.

“Bell Media’s parent company has boosted its dividends and still has almost $4 billion in the bank, and yet they’re cutting jobs right across the country.”

Despite the pandemic, BCE continues to be profitable and forecasts a profitable 2021. Dividends to shareholders have gone up by 5.1%. The company has received at least $122 million in federal wage subsidies, and at the end of 2020 had $3.8 billion of available liquidity.

BCE has forecasted it will see revenue and earnings growth of 2% to 5% in 2021, and free a cash flow of $2.85 billion to $3.2 billion.

“There is barely a region in this country that has not been hit by the CTV Bell Media cuts over the past week,” said Unifor National Media Director Howard Law.

“From Vancouver Island to the Atlantic, we are hearing reports of facilities closed, shows cancelled and beloved on-air hosts being shown the door without even being given a chance to sign off with listeners.”

Unifor is focused on working with members in affected locations and to monitor the scope of the cuts across Canada, which so far have hit 133 Unifor members.

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.

Information about the union’s response to the pandemic, as well as resources for members can be found at unifor.org/covid19.

WINDSOR – As the pandemic continues to claim more lives, long-term care workers continue to face disrespect by private long-term care employers.

“The pandemic has exposed the chronic and dangerous situations in our nursing homes,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Long term care staff are exhausted. They go to work every day hoping they won’t contract COVID-19 and that they and their residents will be safe. They trust that the employer will have proper personal protective equipment to keep them safe.”

Long-term Care employers have received government funding to ensure employees’ and residents safety. The Ministry mandates that all employees must wear, at a minimum, medical masks when at work. However, Fairfield Park in Wallaceburg, purchased non-medical grade masks for its employees and only removed them after the union did their own research to disprove the employer’s claims that the masks were government approved.

“Fairfield Park is in a terrible outbreak, and this owner put their own workers at risk while the virus spread through the building infecting residents and staff,” said Tullio DiPonti, President of Unifor Local 2458. “Premier Ford should pull their license for contributing to the spread of this terrible virus.”

This employer was awarded approximately $80 million of taxpayer money to either build or expand the Brouillette Manor in Windsor, another home operated by this same owner, even though they already have trouble retaining staff. Unifor has called attention to the staffing crisis in long term care in the province. Though the government has created dedicated funding for recruiting new staff, employers must be held accountable for their inactions.

“How do we attract workers to this sector when they are not certain their employer is doing everything in their power to keep them safe and provide them with appropriate PPE,” continued DiPonti. “These same workers go to the bargaining table and face pages of concessions, even after working through a pandemic.”

Many private long-term care providers contract services to bargain a collective agreement to Bass Associates and most owners rarely show up to bargaining.  Once a pattern has been established, employers will not to stray from that. Employers typically table concessions to sick leave and benefits to force a settlement, hoping bargaining committees are unwilling to have these concessions go before an arbitrator.

“This is exactly the trap that our members at Brouillette Manor and Fairfield Park are stuck in,” said Tullio DiPonti, President of Unifor Local 2458. “Imagine after working the front-lines of this pandemic in a nursing home, and then you go to the bargaining and our committee feels a complete lack of respect for the work that they do by a Toronto based lawyer. The employer doesn’t seem to have learned anything from the tragedy that has unfolded in this sector.”

Attracting workers, and in particular personal support workers, has been next to impossible over the last few years. This crisis has been confirmed by independent sources, including the MOLTC staffing committee, the LTC Commission and the report of the Ontario Health Coalition “Caring in Crisis, Ontario’s PSW shortage” commissioned by Unifor and released more than a year ago.”

“One of the factors leading to this crisis has been a decade of below-inflation wage increases,” said Dias. “LTC workers are not allowed to strike. They are mandated to go to arbitration, and arbitration awards have not been generous. They have fallen behind their counterparts who work in Municipal LTC homes by at least $3.00 per hour.”

Contract negotiations opened with Brouillette Manor and Fairfield Park in October 2020. The union was disappointed that the employer rejected the union’s modest changes to the collective agreement and even more disappointed that they are not taking their obligation to protect workers and residents seriously.

For more information and to sign the Better Care, Safe Work, Fair Pay petition please visit www.caretakestime.ca

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.

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Bell Media recently cut over 200 jobs in Toronto (including Dan O’Toole from popular sports show SC with Jay and Dan, while yesterday suddenly yanking three sports radio stations off the air in mid-broadcast in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton.

 

A new campaign is exposing the disastrous track record of new Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and the Conservative Party on health care and labour issues.

“As Canadians face a possible early federal election this year, it’s important to know the facts about Erin O’Toole,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “O’Toole presents himself as a fresh alternative who wants to change the political system to benefit working Canadians, but in truth he’s a Harper-era Minister with a history of supporting cuts to heath care.”

The ‘Worst Time O’Toole’ campaign features a series of videos broadcast on national television and social media channels sponsored by Protecting Canada, a new organization working to protect Canadians from the threat of Conservative cuts to health care and public services.

The hard-hitting ads illustrate the devastating result that health care cuts would have on patients, stressing that Canadians can’t afford Erin O’Toole and that he is the wrong leader at the worst possible time.

As health care workers struggle to provide COVID care, the consequences of reckless actions by Conservative Premiers across the country are worsening under the pressures of the pandemic.

In Alberta, Premier Jason Kenney is laying off thousands of health care workers. In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford laid off health care workers and cut health research funding. In Manitoba, Premier Brian Pallister fired nurses and closed Emergency Rooms. All with the tacit approval of Erin O’Toole.

“We can’t risk electing a federal government that would cut health care, not in a pandemic, not ever,” said Dias.

For more information or to join the Protecting Canada campaign visit WorstTimeOToole.ca

February 8, 2021

TORONTO – Unifor is calling for enhanced safety precautions for school bus drivers as schools reopen across Ontario in the midst of a second wave of the pandemic that is still not under control and as more infectious new variants take hold.

“Keeping school bus drivers safe means keeping students safe. They are all crammed into the same confined space for the ride to school,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.

“Much has been said about the risks in schools, and the measures taken to address that. We need to talk about the risks on buses, as well.”

While COVID-19 numbers are down from recent highs, they are still much higher than at the beginning of the school year. As well, new highly infectious variants of the virus are spreading.

“Many of our drivers come from high-risk groups, including seniors. Many others go home to large families,” said Debbie Montgomery, President of Unifor Local 4268, which represents school bus drivers across much of Ontario.

While Education Minister Stephen Lecce has talked about enhanced protocols in schools, no mention has been made about heightened measures on buses, Montgomery said.

“We clean the buses thoroughly, but that doesn’t protect us against someone getting on the bus and spreading the virus,” she said. “With these new variants spreading, more needs to be done.”

Montgomery said she would like to see school bus drivers declared priority workers for vaccination, for provincial restrictions to be lifted that prevent shields from being installed on buses, improved PPE and sanitizing equipment and contact tracing.

“We’d love to have shields or barriers, just like on public transit, but provincial law prevents any alterations being made to school buses. That includes shields, and that has to change,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery pointed out that several U.S. jurisdictions have installed shields in school buses for the safety of both drivers and students.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy, and is the only union in Ontario actively advocating for school bus driver safety. 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