TORONTO - Unifor Local 4268 has reached a tentative agreement with Campeau Bus Lines on February 14. If accepted by the membership strike action will be averted.
“I am proud of the hard work of our bargaining committee in reaching a fair settlement for our members driving Campeau school buses”, said Jerry Dias Unifor National President. “School bus drivers are tasked with ensuring the safety of our children, but are often not compensated for all the work performed.”
TORONTO – Sting and the cast of his musical THE LAST SHIP will travel from Toronto, where the musical is playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre, to Oshawa to perform in solidarity with GM workers at the city’s Tribute Communities Centre on Thursday, February 14, 2019. The performance will include songs from THE LAST SHIP, which features music and lyrics written by Sting.
This new musical tells a similar story to what is threatening to happen in Oshawa, with the potential demise of the GM plants that employ thousands of people.
HALIFAX – Unifor MWF-Local 1 members at the Halifax Shipyard celebrated today as the federal government announced the official signing of the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) design contract with Irving Shipbuilding and its partners. It is the single largest government purchase in Canadian history.
After securing solid contract gains last spring, about 140 Unifor members at Norbord in Barwick are now seeing big profit sharing cheques to kick off 2019.
TORONTO- General Motors (GM) has announced that it earned a whopping US $8.1 billion profit in 2018, this as the company plans to sacrifice tens of thousands of Canadian jobs with the closure of the Oshawa Assembly Plant.
“General Motors is raking in money. Executives and shareholders continue to do incredibly well while they callously plan to take away the very livelihood of Canadian workers in Oshawa,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
TORONTO - Campeau Bus Lines’ demand for unpaid work time from school bus drivers and other violations of the Canada Labour Code must be stopped, says Unifor.
“Campeau is getting away with not paying workers, and that’s going to end,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “These bus drivers deserve equal treatment and a fair contract.”
TORONTO- General Motors (GM) has attempted to stop the broadcast of Unifor’s “GM leaves Canadians Out In the Cold” commercial from airing during tonight’s Super Bowl and on all other platforms, including social media.
“Clearly General Motors doesn’t want Canadians to see this ad. To see its actions and the damage that GM plans to inflict on workers, communities and our national economy if it closes Oshawa,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
ST. JOHN’S – Unifor is donating $22,500 to the Community Food Sharing Association in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador after a fire wiped out its entire stock at the warehouse that supplies many area food banks.
“We have been a strong supporter of the Food Sharing Association and, like so many, we wanted to assist during this most difficult time. As a social union we understand the importance of social justice first and foremost, but also in supporting each other during times like these,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
Toronto- Unifor believes plans to privatize and consolidate health care services included in a leaked Ontario PC draft government bill will devastate communities across the province.
TORONTO - Unifor will launch an unforgettable Super Bowl ad on Sunday as part of its campaign calling for consumers to boycott Mexican-made General Motors (GM) vehicles.
“Canadian consumers have the power to choose which products they buy,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “We will do everything we can to show people how to tell GM they will not purchase vehicles made in Mexico from a company that is putting thousands of Canadians out of work.”
TORONTO- Canada’s largest union in the private sector supports the rights of all people to access public mental health care free from barriers.
“To mark Bell Let’s Talk Day, I encourage all people in Canada to demand strengthened access to mental health services through our public health care systems,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Across the country, health care is in crisis. We must unite to protect this public good.”
TORONTO- Unifor members at a Loblaws warehouse in Ajax, Ontario voted 98% in favour of strike action during ongoing negotiations with the company.
“Members at the Loblaws warehouse work under high-stress, time-sensitive conditions to deliver goods to customers and stores across the province,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “This strike mandate is a united show of support for the bargaining committee in their negotiations with this corporate Goliath.”
TORONTO - Unifor has launched a boycott of Mexican-made General Motors (GM) vehicles to protest the automaker’s plans to slash Canadian and American manufacturing while expanding production in Mexico.
“GM is arrogant enough to think it can rob Canada of jobs without repercussions,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “GM is making a choice to increase manufacturing in Mexico while it abandons communities that have supported it for generations, but make no mistake Canadian and American consumers also have a choice.”
TORONTO – Unifor National President Jerry Dias will make a major announcement on the next action in the union’s #SaveOshawaGM campaign.
WHAT: News Conference
WHEN: Friday January 25, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Dominion Ballroom, Sheraton Centre, 123 Queen St W, Toronto
WHO: Jerry Dias, Unifor National President
The news conference will be streamed live on Unifor Canada’s Facebook page. A dial-in number will also be available, interested media should contact Kathleen O’Keefe for details (info below).
MONTREAL—Bargaining for five new collective agreements began this morning in Montreal between Unifor National Council 4000 and CN and CN Transportation Ltd.
“Our hard working rail workers have made CN the profitable company that it is today and we will be seeking their fair share in wages and benefits in these negotiations,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
The council represents 3300 rail workers across Canada including workers at CNTL, Intermodal, and CN Savage Alberta Railway.
OSHAWA- Unifor members are currently engaged in an action at General Motors headquarters in Oshawa in response to the company’s continued resistance to upholding the commitments of the 2016 collective agreement.
TORONTO- Thoughtless cuts to post-secondary education by Ford’s PC government threaten workers on campus and attack students’ access to education.
In an announcement on Thursday, January 17, the provincial government shared a plan of cuts to funding for colleges and universities. The announcement included:
WASHINGTON D.C.—Unifor is showing international solidarity with U.S. Indigenous peoples by sending a delegation of Canadian activists to the January 18 march in Washington D.C.
“Unifor activists are passionate about human rights,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “We’re proud to stand with Indigenous peoples everywhere in their struggle for justice and respect.”
TORONTO – A growing number of Canadian consumers support an outright boycott of General Motors (GM) vehicles if the automaker does not reverse its plan to close the Oshawa assembly plant, according to an Ekos Research poll commissioned by Unifor.
DETROIT- As auto parts supply workers staged a walk-out to protest General Motors’ (GM) plan to close the Oshawa Assembly Plant, Unifor warned GM that action will continue in the fight to stop the closure.
“GM just hopes we will be quiet and go away, the chances of that are zero,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “We will get General Motors’ attention today, tomorrow and the next day.”
Unifor can confirm workers at Inteva Products in Whitby walked off the job today at 8:30am today in protest of GM’s plan to end production at Oshawa Assembly after December 2019.
The plant supplies car program components to 2 GM assembly plants – Oshawa and Detroit-Hamtramck. Both plants are targeted for closure as part of GM's November 26, 2018 restructuring announcement.
HALIFAX – Recommendations from the Nova Scotia Expert Panel on Long-Term Care highlight the need for a serious investment in the province’s long-term care system, including a call to increase staffing and deal with troubling recruitment and retention issues.
Unifor, which represents over 2,000 workers in long-term care facilities across Nova Scotia, said while the panel did not address funding specifically, it is clear that many of its recommendations can not be achieved without an increase in provincial long-term care budgets.
ORILLIA—Casino Rama’s refusal to meet provincial norms has forced members of Unifor Local 1090 to vote overwhelmingly in favour of a strike if a fair collective agreement cannot be negotiated by the end of the month.
“Unifor members are pivotal to the success of Casino Rama,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “They deserve a fair collective agreement and are prepared to escalate job action to get it.”
DETROIT – Unifor National President Jerry Dias to provide an update on the Save Oshawa GM campaign, which calls on General Motors (GM) to reverse its decision to close the Oshawa Assembly Plant.
“Maintaining this course of action will hurt workers, the economy and the company itself,” said Dias. “It is not too late for GM to keep building vehicles in Canada, so Canadians will want to keep buying its products.”
DETROIT – Unifor National President Jerry Dias to provide an update on the Save Oshawa GM campaign, which calls on General Motors (GM) to reverse its decision to close the Oshawa Assembly Plant.
“Maintaining this course of action will hurt workers, the economy and the company itself,” said Dias. “It is not too late for GM to keep building vehicles in Canada, so Canadians will want to keep buying its products.”
DETROIT – Unifor National President Jerry Dias will be available to media following today’s discussions with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and with Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains on the future of the General Motors Oshawa Assembly Plant.
Dias is in Detroit to participate in the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council’s annual meeting, held during the North American International Auto Show’s media preview.
January 11, 2019 WINDSOR – Thousands rallied against General Motors (GM) blatant corporate greed today as the automaker held an investor event on its future plans, which include abandoning workers at the Oshawa Assembly Plant.
TORONTO –A new independent study verifies a closure of the General Motors (GM) Oshawa Assembly Plant would create an economic shock, resulting in 24,000 lost jobs and a loss of $1 billion per year in government revenue.
“We’re looking at tens of thousands of jobs and a direct hit to the GDP,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “Should GM proceed with plans to close Oshawa, the economic impact would be substantial, both in the short and long term.”
