In an Online Event on March 8, 2022, women members of Unifor from across Canada gathered virtually to celebrate the union’s work toward equality over the past year.
“Today we celebrate the activists, the agitators, the negotiators, the believers, the challengers, the leaders – because together, we are unstoppable,” said Lana Payne, National Secretary-Treasurer in her welcoming address to the nearly 200 participants.
This morning, the federal transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced that the government is seeking private proposals to cover service for the VIA rail high-frequency corridor. The union believes this is the first of many steps to privatize VIA Rail.
Our members are not fooled by today's government announcement.
Unifor Local 555/BDCEIU members at Black Diamond Cheese in Belleville, Ontario, have ratified a new collective agreement.
“Our members are proud to be a part of this Belleville institution that has produced well-known name brand products for nearly a century,” said Lee Lessard, Unifor Local 555/BDCEIU President. “We set out to get a collective agreement that protects everything we have built and moves our members forward in key areas, and that’s what we’ve done.”
VANCOUVER—Wage increases are a key component of the new contract ratified late on March 7, 2022 by transit operators and maintenance staff working at Coast Mountain Bus Company/Translink.
“Transit workers have been serving communities on the front lines of a pandemic for two years,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director. “We will revisit this collective agreement next year with an eye to securing additional gains going forward.”
International Women’s Day 2022 is an opportunity for working-class women to celebrate and reflect on our accomplishments as well as gather strength for the fights that lay ahead.
For more than 100 years, women in the labour movement across the globe have marked March 8 by celebrating collective achievements and recommitting to the fight for gender equality.
On behalf of 220,000 union members in the health care system, and more than 18,000 nursing students, we are once again cautioning you against further demoralizing the workforce by providing one-time payments to some, but not all, health care workers. While retaining nurses is vitally important, there are shortages in many health care occupations and professions, and it is appropriate to extend any retention bonus to all health care workers.
Unions representing 220,000 workers demand the repeal of Bill 124 and a real plan to fix the worsening health human resource crisis in Ontario
TORONTO, ON – Today, SEIU Healthcare, OCHU/CUPE, Unifor, and Ontario Nurses’ Association, unions representing 220,000 healthcare workers across Ontario, including 85,000 nurses, issued an open letter to Premier Ford to fix the worsening health human resource crisis in Ontario and move past the band aid pay-as-you-vote gimmicks.
WHITBY– Unifor school bus drivers have voted overwhelmingly in support of a new collective agreement with First Student, with 91% in favour.
“Several of the drivers’ concerns were addressed in this new collective agreement, including wages, paid sick days and improvements to personal leave,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi. “School bus drivers bear tremendous responsibility and Unifor will continue to work to raise standards in this industry to reflect that.”
When Unifor’s Independent Parts Supplier Council gathered for an online meeting on March 3, 2022 the mood was optimistic despite the number of significant challenges affecting workers in the industry.
Last week, the UACL team engaged in contract negotiations with Bell, covering a lot of ground. Unifor and the Company reached agreement on many housekeeping items.
Our primary focus remains securing a strong collective agreement that will protect jobs in our region for the next generation of telecom workers. In order to reach that goal, we will continue to mobilize in our workplaces and show a united front to the Company.
Health care workers represented by Unifor have launched a video appeal to Premier Doug Ford that shares the struggles they have faced during the pandemic, while being subjected to Ontario’s Bill 124.
“Despite all of the sacrifices that all workers in hospitals, non-profit long-term care homes, and ORNGE Air Ambulance paramedics have made throughout the pandemic, the Ontario government has refused to repeal Bill 124,” said Katha Fortier, Unifor’s lead health care negotiator. “This legislation is an insult to health care workers and has created a greater disparity in the system.”
OAKVILLE—Wage increases and job security are the highlights of the new collective agreement ratified today by Unifor Local 1256 members, ending their two-week strike at Oakville Transit.
“My congratulations to Oakville transit workers for standing up to the employer to win gains that will improve working conditions and benefits,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer.
Transit service in the region will resume on Friday, March 4, 2022.
OAKVILLE—Unifor Local 1256 members working at Oakville Transit will vote March 3, 2022 on ratification of a new collective agreement.
“It was important to these transit workers to stand up for a better deal than was being offered,” said Alice Kelly, President of Unifor Local 1256. “Their solidarity and resolve has resulted in a fair tentative agreement.”
Should the agreement be ratified, transit service in the region will resume on Friday, March 4.
Details of the agreement will be released following Thursday’s vote.
On March 1, Unifor began a countdown to the end of the month when the Ontario government must sign an agreement with the federal government to provide affordable, accessible, quality child care throughout the province, or forfeit the first year of funding.
TORONTO – Unifor welcomes today’s WestJet announcement of its purchase of Sunwing and Sunwing Vacations.
“Congratulations to WestJet and Sunwing for reaching a deal,” said Scott Doherty, the Executive Assistant to the Unifor’s National President. “With the federal government lifting travel restrictions and more Canadians travelling more for business and pleasure, we look forward to fostering good relationships between WestJet and Sunwing in their new capacity.”
TORONTO – Unifor is donating a total of $150,000 to the Red Cross to assist with its efforts to help the people of Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
“The people of Ukraine have shown incredible strength and determination in the face of this invasion,” said Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer Lana Payne. “The grace and resolve of the Ukrainian people have been an inspiration to the world, and we must respond to that. The world must come together and show solidarity and support.”
OAKVILLE—Negotiations between Unifor Local 1256 and Oakville Transit will resume Wednesday March 2, 2022, in the hope of ending ongoing strike action by transit operators and maintenance workers.
“Unifor welcomes a return to the bargaining table so that we can reach a fair deal for these frontline workers and get the buses back on the road for the riders,” said Alice Kelly, President of Unifor Local 1256.
Local 973 has ratified a new three-year contract with Coca-Cola in Brampton, Ont.
“The bargaining committee stayed focused on the members priority’s during these talks and were very pleased to bring back a tentative agreement that has increases across the board in wages, pension, health care improvements and many language improvements,” said Deb Tveit, Assistant to Unifor’s National President.
The three-year deal was ratified by members on Feb. 27 and 28, 2022 through Zoom meetings. The new agreement begins June 11, 2022 and expires June 13, 2025.
The newest unit to join Unifor, Local 673, is celebrating its first deal with group health and benefits insurance company, Benecaid, in Toronto, Ont.
“Congratulations to the members of Local 673 and the bargaining committee who was so determined to make reasonable gains and fought for an agreement that represented members’ values and priorities,” said Deb Tveit, the Assistant to Unifor’s National President. “
The three-year deal was ratified by 82% of members on Feb. 22, 2022. The new agreement expires on Feb. 28, 2025.
Lyudmyla Perelygina, Chair
Cultural Workers Union of Ukraine
25, Shota Rustaveli Street, Office. 309
01019 Kiev, Ukraine
Dear Lyudmyla,
Colleagues and friends, on behalf of Unifor and Unifor’s Media Sector we write to extend our support, solidarity and deepest sympathies with our colleagues in the Cultural Workers Union of Ukraine and all journalists during these difficult times.
Our future is worth the fight. But so is our present day.
That’s a key message young workers took away from a Unifor webinar held Feb. 24, 2022, which encouraged union workers under 35 in Ontario to take action and make positive change with not only within workplaces, but in government.
“Young workers are fighting back,” said Naureen Rizvi, Unifor’s Ontario Regional Director during the Zoom meeting.
They are the ones sent into battle. Their neighborhoods in war zones are left in ruins. Families are devastated, even far from the frontlines, as sons, fathers, daughters and mothers are sent into battle, never to return. Or returning broken.
With the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, working people will pay that price once again.
Unifor condemns this invasion, and we express our deep concern that further escalation of military conflicts will bring the world to the brink of war with enormous humanitarian consequences.
