Unifor Local 1996-O

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Public health care needs to be universal, with “everybody in and nobody out”

Dominic Harris recalls his cousin cutting his hand open.

“He took Superglue and glued it because he didn’t want to go to the hospital,” he said.

“My other cousin tore his ACL and he’s now looking at a $6,000 bill to get an MRI, not including surgery. He has no insurance. If we had a universal health care system, everyone would be on the same level – whether you’re a judge or janitor.”

Harris, a member of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, was among five panelists in the Everybody In, Nobody Out: Public Health Care For All webinar Wednesday evening, who all described wide gaps in health care systems in North America, exacerbated by COVID-19.

Working people across North America experience vastly different access to health care and for those who do not have privileged access; it could be the fine line between life and death.

“We really saw a humanitarian crisis in nursing homes. It really is tragic and for us in Canada, it’s pointed out the glaring differences between a for-profit system and a not-for-profit system,” said moderator Katha Fortier, Executive Assistant to Unifor National President Jerry Dias.

Rob Moquin, Unifor Local 39-11 Unit Chair, City Paramedics, said the public, politicians and unions need to advocate on behalf of those who don’t have access to family physicians via walk-in clinics as a pressing health care issue in his Thunder Bay, Ont. community.

“There’s a community culture we need to change – that health care is for all, regardless of where you fall in status,” he said.

Melvin MacKay, an international executive board member for International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 10, offers a grim perspective for those facing insecure housing in the U.S.

“Here, in San Francisco, if you don’t have insurance, they don’t open the door,” he said. “We have a lot of homeless here that need medical attention. Some people get fired for assisting. It’s repulsive.”

Zenei Cortez, the president of the National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association, said she’s haunted by the more than 400 nurses who died during COVID-19 due to a lack of PPE at their workplaces.

She’s fighting for Medicare for all so every nurse is provided with adequate staffing levels, equipment and training they need to take care of patients. She often sees GoFundMe fundraisers launched just to pay for medical treatment.

“Despite the gains met by the Affordable Care Act in 2010 under President (Barack) Obama, there’s since 29 million people who have no health insurance and on top of that, we have 44 million who are underinsured, which means they can’t afford to use it because of expensive co-pays,” she said.

The path forward may be forged by replicating the U.K. system of Medicare, gaining a critical mass movement of working-class people who demand it and getting more politicians on board to openly say they are for Medicare for all, the panel said.

“I find a lot of people are afraid to access health care, knowing it may cost them money for medications after,” said Moquin.

“Unifor has a great stance on universal Pharmacare and I think that’s our next step in Ontario and Canada.”

Act now to support the call for universal Pharmacare. Add your name to a petition to the House of Commons today

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Bell Craft Bargaining – Update #15, #16

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Campaign Update

Information Bulletin #16

5/14/2021 -Sisters and Brothers,

The bargaining committee will return to the table next week via zoom. We remain committed to addressing the top priorities as voted upon by membership, which is securing work, job security, addressing wages, and mental health concerns. We will not bargain with ourselves, nor accept concessionary changes to our collective agreement designed to pit worker against worker.

That being said, we will continue to provide you with status updates. We encourage all membership to engage with their local delegates and leadership if there are any questions related to bargaining or essential services. The committee will continue to work with all Locals to answer any queries given to the committee to the best of our ability.

Thank you for your continued patience and support!

In Solidarity,

Your Bargaining Committee

 

 

Information Bulletin #15

4/30/2021 -Sisters and Brothers,

As we near the deadline for conciliation today at 5pm, the Company has reached out to the Union with a request to extend the process to May 31st 2021. To be clear, we have stood firm on our position since the beginning. We have indicated to the Employer on numerous occasions that until there was significant changes made to their proposals, we were not willing to continue with conciliation and until that happened, our focus would be strictly on the essential service application, which is in front of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.

That being said, the Company has agreed to provide the Union with a new proposal, pending the Committee agree and accept their request to extend the Conciliation process. As such, the parties have mutually agreed to these terms and will return to the bargaining table via zoom, the week of May 17th.

We will continue to provide updates as we work through this process and we thank you for your continued support during bargaining.

In Solidarity,

Your Bargaining Committee

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Anti-scab legislation restores balance of power during labour disputes

Message from the President Jerry Dias

Wed, 05/19/2021

This column originally appeared in the Toronto star.

There’s a reason why they’re called scabs.

“Just as a scab is a physical lesion, the strikebreaking scab disfigures the social body of labour,” writes Stephanie Ann Smith in Household Words.

I could not have said it better myself. Scabs tear apart communities, pull down workers and prolong disputes – something, we at Unifor, know all too well.

Since Unifor formed in 2013, our three longest labour disputes in terms of overall days lost involved the use of scabs. Labour disputes that involved scabs lasted on average six times longer than those without scabs.

Scabs remove any incentive for the boss to bargain fairly and they tip the balance of power away from workers trying to exercise their right to withdraw services when an employer is unreasonable.

Quebec and British Columbia are the only two provinces who have anti-scab legislation to prevent bosses from undermining the entire collective bargaining process.

Quebec’s Labour Code forbids employers from using scabs to do the work of unionized employees, except for managers.

In B.C., employers can’t use new hires, contract workers or employees from another location  as scabs.

But even in these jurisdictions, employers have found ways to work around existing laws, and we still see scabs in our workplaces.

The federal and provincial governments must pass anti-scab legislation now, to stop employers from using replacement workers to try and bust unions, and BC and Quebec need to tighten their own anti-scab laws to give them real teeth.

In Regina, we saw the Co-op Refinery spend millions in 2019 building a scab camp that it filled with out of province scabs airlifted across our picket line by helicopter, hoping locked out union members would give up their pensions.

This deep-pocketed employer did that because it could, and the dispute dragged on 200 days.

Think about the detrimental effect scabs have on physical and mental health of workers. They defeat morale, fracture workplace relationships, create tension and sometimes outright violence, as outlined in a new Unifor study. This research paper, called Fairness on the line: The case for anti-scab legislation in Canada, makes a clear case for the urgent need for anti-scab laws nationwide.

We have witnessed the long and shameful history of scabs in Canada. Who could forget the 2002 Canadian Auto Workers strike at Navistar International’s truck plant in Chatham, Ont., where a scab employed by a professional strikebreaking company drove his van through the picket line, injuring three CAW members, one of them critically.

We’ve seen the consequences of unskilled replacement workers. Two years ago, when nearly 300 workers at a salt mine went on strike in Goderich, Ont., their employer bused in scabs, who for 10 weeks crossed the picket line of legally striking Unifor members.

The scabs posted videos all over social media mocking our members.

Their kids had to watch buses full of scabs roll into town knowing what it means. It was a kick in the face to their parents and to their community. It was heartbreaking.

I walked the scabs out of that mine. Lo and behold, without scabs, the company got serious about negotiating and we were back at the table to hammer out a deal within days.

The mine was in complete disarray when our members returned.

A 2009 study  found that once Canadian workers’ bargaining power is restored through anti-scab legislation, there may be a slight uptick in work stoppages in the first two years, but the length of disputes are cut so significantly that there is no overall rise on days lost.

That means more Canadians at work, doing their jobs.

This is about respect for Canadian workers. Using scabs drags out disputes, undermines workplace safety, creates division in communities, and animosity between workers and employers, destabilizing labour relations.

We’ve seen how Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has been courting union members lately. Perhaps he should consider putting his party’s support behind a nation-wide push for anti-scab legislation, to demonstrate his commitment to making a better future for Canadian workers and their families.

It’s time for Canadian provinces and the federal government to step up. And it’s time for friends of Canadian workers to get behind new anti-scab rules that will make a real difference.

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Unifor 1996-O 2021 Scholarship – Deadline approaching, Submissions due June 04 2021

The deadline is fast approaching to get your application submitted.

We in Local 1996-O are concerned about the lives of our members’ families and their education.  Due to high tuition fees we recognize that post-secondary education is out of reach for many working-class. To assist, we’ve established 2 scholarships worth $1,000.00 each. One in memory of the late Brother, Milos Petrasinovic and Brother, Alwa Marcelle.

The scholarships are awarded to sons/daughters of Unifor 1996-O members in good standing.  Students must be entering their first year of full-time post-secondary education (university, community college, technological institute, trade school, etc.) in a public Canadian institution. 

These are entrance Scholarships only and are not renewable for students entering subsequent years of study.

Deadline for submitting an application is June 04 2021

The selection of candidates will be chosen no later than July 09, 2021 and will be final.

Click the link to download the 2020 application

2021-Unifor-Local-1996-O-Scholarship

 

 

In Solidarity,

1996-O Executive,

 

Lee, Sanjay, Brian, Chris

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Local 252 reaches tentative agreement with Nestlé Canada

Unifor National President Jerry Dias addresses Nestle Toronto workers on May 20, 2021, after Local 252 reached a tentative agreement with the employer the evening before.

May 20, 2021

TORONTO – After nearly three weeks on the picket line, more than 470 workers who went on strike at a Nestlé Canada manufacturing plant in Toronto, have reached a three-year tentative agreement with the chocolate giant.

“Over the term of this agreement, our 80 junior members in the P0 (contract) classification who are currently making $17.30 an hour will be making over $25 an hour by the end of this agreement and they will be made permanent,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias, during an announcement outside the plant Thursday morning.

Unifor Local 252 workers, who manufacture Kit Kat, Aero, Coffee Crisp and Smarties, have been on strike since just after midnight May 1, fighting for full-time status for its contract employees and improved pension benefits.

“If you’re at a P0 classification, from the date of hire and at the end of three years, you will be at the top rate. This is what solidarity is all about it. Today is an incredible day,” added Dias.

The company also agreed to give a $1 increase contribution into the defined benefit pension plan each year over the three-year agreement.

Among the other gains are wage increases, the consolidation of jobs and many benefit improvements, including eyeglasses and dental increases.

“This means security for workers going forward,” said Eamonn Clarke, the President of Local 252.

Clarke said the tentative deal was reached around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night. On the picket line this morning, he thanked Dias for intervening to expedite the bargaining process for Local 252 members.

“Our members now know the company’s investing in them, which means they’re investing in the plant and investing in everybody’s future. The community came out and supported them,” said Clarke.

The tentative agreement will be voted on over the next two days

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