CHARLOTTETOWN-The decisive Progressive Conservative win in the Prince Edward Island provincial election shows the need for coordination between progressive organizations and the labour movement to amplify workers voices, says Unifor.
REGINA—The Sask Party government must stop shielding information about where outsourced SaskTel jobs are heading and come clean about why Crown corporation jobs are leaving Saskatchewan, says Unifor.
“The people of Saskatchewan deserve answers about why Minister Don Morgan is so eager to send good jobs to Alberta and overseas,” said Len Poirier, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer.
“SaskTel is owned by the people of Saskatchewan. Let’s make it do better to employ the people of Saskatchewan.”
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Natural Resources
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Dear Minister Wilkinson,
Re: Windsor Salt Labour Dispute
On behalf of Unifor, Canada’s largest union in the private sector, I am writing to you about a labour dispute that is impacting one of the largest salt producers in Canada. More than 250 members of Unifor Locals 240 and 1959 working at the Windsor salt mine and evaporation plant have been on strike for nearly six weeks now, since February 17.
Unifor Media Council Chair Julie Kotsis shone a spotlight on challenges newsrooms and media workers face across the country at the Canadian Hillman Prize Celebration on March 30 in Toronto.
In her speech, Kotsis – a journalist at the Windsor Star with more than three decades of experience under her belt – said the news industry is at a crossroads with shrinking newsrooms and cost-cutting, combined with the harassment and abuse journalists and media workers face in the field and online.
SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA—The joint bargaining committee for Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 have achieved a tentative agreement with Coast Mountain Bus Company.
“Transit workers kept Metro Vancouver moving throughout the pandemic. They have clearly demonstrated their value to the Lower Mainland economy and they deserve fair wages and benefits,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.
In a keynote address to delegates at the United Auto Workers Special Bargaining Convention, Unifor National President Lana Payne speaks on the need to plan for the transition to a green future to ensure that workers are not left behind, workers bearing the cost of interest rate hikes and inflation, and the unique moment of opportunity for working people to change the future.
Unifor National President Lana Payne brought a message of solidarity, union building and worker power in a keynote address at the United Auto Workers (UAW) Special Bargaining Convention, held in Detroit March 27-29, 2023.
“Our unions are about building worker power. They have always been about building worker power,” Payne told UAW delegates. “We are experiencing a special moment across the working class in North America. And that if we organize enough to seize it, we can profoundly change the future for working people in both our countries".
Unifor recognizes and invites all members to celebrate the International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. This annual day celebrates the value and resilience of transgender people both within the union and around the world.
Transphobia and anti-trans discrimination is on a dangerous and violent rise in Canada and around the world and is closely associated with growing far-right movements and political parties.
This makes workers’ commitments to equity and justice more urgent at every bargaining table, kitchen table, workplace and community space.
Wage increases and improved benefits are highlights of a newly ratified collective agreement between Unifor Local 1999 and Mr. Furnace in St. Catharines.
“My congratulations to Local 1999 members for their commitment to resisting concessions and bargaining a fair contract,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.
The three-year agreement includes wage increases of 8.5% over the term plus a $300 signing bonus. Task rates were increased, paid bereavement leave improved, and the recall period was doubled.
TORONTO –Unifor is demanding an update on the Competition Bureau’s civil investigation into whether Google has engaged in certain practices that harm competition in the online display advertising industry in Canada.
“Every day that Google is allowed to monopolize ad revenue, more harm is inflicted on the Canadian news industry, which has a negative impact on democracy as a whole,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
TORONTO- Unifor commends the 2023 federal budget’s focus on new industrial manufacturing investments but condemns inaction to fix an Employment Insurance system that fails workers.
“Significant new incentives to attract critical manufacturing and build the necessary value chains here in Canada is very welcome news. But these incentives must include strong labour conditions. Unifor will continue to push for good union jobs and fair wages,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.
Members of Unifor Local 510 working for Autobus Longueuil in Longueil, Que. went on strike beginning March 21.
The Centre de Services Scolaires Marie-Victorin is the main client of the school bus company Autobus Longueuil inc. The South Shore of Montreal, in particular Longueuil, is impacted by this ongoing strike.
"It's really sad because about 5,000 students are deprived of school transportation," said Jean-Yves Filion, National Representative for Unifor Quebec.
Unifor National President Lana Payne brought a message of solidarity, union building and worker power in a keynote address at the United Auto Workers (UAW) Special Bargaining Convention, held in Detroit, Michigan March 27-29, 2023.
The bargaining committee for Unifor Locals 1959 and 240 will meet again with the employer at Windsor Salt for four days the week of April 3, 2023.
The parties met during March 22 and 23 to seek a resolution to the dispute, which began on February 17, 2023 when the two locals began legal job action. Unifor Assistant to the National Officers Tim Mitchell reports that there has been some progress but contracting out and job security remain a major concern.
Kelly-Anne Orr, Unifor’s Assistant to the National Officers, warns the proposed Bill 60 legislation from the Ontario government will further push the health care system into crisis, rather than heal it.
Orr made her submission to the Ontario government’s Standing Committee on Social Policy on March 20, focusing on the province’s proposed “Your Health Act,” which aims to expand the privatization of hospital services to for-profit entities.
VICTORIA—A lack of progress from the employer at the bargaining table has forced members of Unifor Local 4276 to give their bargaining committee a strike mandate.
“The Fairmont Empress is a top-tier hotel and its workers deserve respect and fair compensation. It is a leader in the industry and we expect the collective agreement to lead the way,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “The employer must come to the table prepared to bargain a fair contract that reflects the critical contribution of hotel workers.”
Several months into each calendar year we reach a date known as Equal Pay Day. This is the average date women have to work into the year to catch up to the wages men made the year prior.
This year Equal Pay Day will be marked on April 4, meaning that women will have worked an extra quarter of a year just to earn what their male counterparts made last year.
TORONTO- Infrastructure, industry and health care investments are welcome in the Ontario budget, but government needs to take the next step and translate spending into good jobs and a stronger public health care system, including workforce development strategies.
"The Ontario government has put much needed money on the table - now they have to finish the job by ensuring that the work is done here in Ontario by Ontario workers. If we are going to build the transit of the future, let’s build it in Ontario,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.
Members at Unifor MWF-Local 1 at Marine Fabricators in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, ratified a new collective agreement that mirrors wage increases won by their counterparts at the Irving Shipyard on the other side of the Halifax harbour, securing nearly 25% in wage increases over the term of the contract.
TORONTO—The Ontario government’s 2023 budget must reinvest in public health care and support workers and critical industries to make better use of recent windfalls, says Unifor.
REGINA—Key public services that working people rely on every day will see little to no increase in service levels from the 2023 provincial budget that earmarks a massive surplus for the Sask Party government’s re-election bid in 2024.
The Honourable Doug Ford Premier of Ontario @email
The Honourable Monte McNaughton
Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development @email
The Honourable Stephen Lecce Minister of Education @email
Dear Premier Ford, Minister McNaughton and Minister Lecce,
More than 1,000 people gathered on March 18, 2023, in Saint-Félicien, Que., for a rally organized by Unifor to raise questions to the provincial government on the upcoming strategy to stop the decline of woodland and mountain caribou populations.
"We are marching today because there is a lot of uncertainty about the plan that the government wants to put in place,” said Daniel Cloutier, Unifor Quebec Director.
The Unifor Local 100 and Council 4000 Bargaining Committees have achieved tentative collective agreements with CN Rail, averting strike action.
Following a round of deadline bargaining, the tentative agreements were reached the afternoon of March 20.
Details of the tentative agreements will be provided during a series of ratification meetings, which will be held at locations across the country in the coming days. Information on the ratification meetings will be communicated once details are finalized.
MONTREAL- Unifor has reached tentative collective agreements with CN Rail, averting strike action.
“These negotiations were fraught with challenges, including demands for concessions by CN,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “With the solid support of the membership, the bargaining committees were able to stand up to this large profitable company and persevere to secure the tentative agreements.”
VANCOUVER—Unifor is reaching out to members and supporters this week to sign a petition to stop the displacement of local fish harvesters on the Pacific coast.
“Canadian natural resources, such as the Pacific fishery, should provide good jobs and benefit working families,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “The federal government is failing coastal communities and the rest of Canada by allowing massive multinational corporations to plunder our communal wealth.”
LONDON—More than 150 auto parts workers at Sodecia Automotive hot stamping facilities in London, Ontario voted to join Unifor last month after a year-long union drive.
“Auto parts workers understand that joining Unifor means driving higher standards of living for workers across the industry,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “Momentum is growing across the sector to join our union as workers look to secure a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.”
The International Day of La Francophonie is a unique opportunity to celebrate our language and its invaluable contribution to the rich diversity of our world. In Quebec and Canada, we cannot mark this event without reflecting on the great responsibility we bear to ensure the promotion and vitality of the French language in an environment that presents many challenges.
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