Food and beverage processing workers across Canada have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases thus far. Meat processing plants have been hit particularly hard, with a number of outbreaks occurring in Alberta and Quebec that have led to numerous deaths. Governments must use the reopening of the economy as an opportunity to ensure that food and beverage processing plants are safe and that workers are protected from COVID-19 through rigorous health and safety protocols.
More than 300,000 manufacturing workers lost their jobs or were put on temporary leave between February and April 2020. Most of these workers were put on leave due to pandemic related restrictions and many expect to return to their jobs once the pandemic subsides.
WINNIPEG—Despite pledging to protect front-line workers, Premier Brian Pallister’s Manitoba Hydro layoffs threaten to impact services for Manitobans.
“Brian Pallister has demonstrated time and again that he can’t be trusted to strengthen Manitoba Hydro,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Manitobans deserve to know why the premier is jeopardizing hydro service.”
Unifor says the cuts will come during a time when Manitoba Hydro is working at full capacity to keep up with the unique demands of COVID-19.
The forestry sector faced a number of significant challenges before the COVID-19 crisis struck, including the ongoing softwood lumber dispute, sagging pulp prices, and damage caused by insect infestations. The economic collapse that followed the pandemic has stalled construction, and many forestry companies (especially small and mid-sized ones) are struggling with liquidity as demand for their products has fallen off.
Across the country, road passenger transport and urban transit services have taken a significant hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. School closures have all but suspended school transportation services; domestic and international travel restrictions have decreased airport limousine services and intercity and provincial bus service; and wide-scale business closures and calls to stay home have resulted in significant drops in taxi and public transit ridership.
If anyone should have a guilty conscience, it’s Randy Hillier.
Guilty of intolerance.
Guilty of shooting his mouth off.
Guilty of making a complete fool of himself.
And, just this week, guilty of casually, and apparently for the sake of cheap humour, questioned the integrity of an upstanding federal cabinet minister with his flippant comments.
Unifor applauds the Ontario government's decision to appoint St. Mary's General Hospital to temporarily manage Forest Heights long-term care home due to an uncontained outbreak of COVID-19.
Unifor applauds the decision of the Ontario Ombudsman to investigate the provincial government’s oversight of long-term care homes during the COVOD-19 pandemic.
In previous correspondences to you, Unifor recognized the importance of the $4 per hour “pandemic pay premium” that is being provided for front-line workers during this crisis.
Unifor, Canada’s largest media union, condemns violence against media crews across the U.S. Journalists reporting on the street protests against the abhorrent, racist murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer are being physically attacked, mostly by police but also by citizens.
In previous correspondences to you, Unifor recognized the importance of the $4 per hour “pandemic pay premium” that is being provided for front-line workers during this crisis. We certainly agree that these workers deserve the extra compensation given their roles in this crisis, their hard work, the health risks that they face while on the job and the need to self-isolate from their families to protect them. Unifor demands that pandemic pay be extended to these critical workers
Since Pandemic pay was announced on April 25, 2020, there has been confusion about who is actually covered. Unifor was the first union in Ontario to make a public demand for Pandemic Pay on April 17, launching a video and an online petition. Our position has clearly been that any worker who is subject to the Emergency Orders should receive this pay.
Unifor emphatically condemns the most recent blatant acts of racism and racially-motivated police violence in the United States of America.
But we also know racism is not just a problem in the United States. It is also the daily reality faced by Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities here in Canada as well.
Racism continues to govern the lives of Black, Indigenous and racialized peoples, and as we have seen in the case of George Floyd, racism is taking lives.
We must call the killing of George Floyd exactly what it is: anti-Black racism.
REGINA—Unifor Local 594 is extremely disappointed, but not surprised, to learn of the major loss of containment from the Co-op Refinery Complex that occurred on May 22, 2020, that resulted in the contamination of the City of Regina’s sewer system.
Premier Jason Kenney’s heavy-handed attempt to criminalize peaceful protest is an authoritarian over-reach, but will ultimately fail to silence his many critics and opponents, says Unifor.
Community members and workers at the AV Group Nackawic pulp mill in Nackawic, NB, are deeply concerned about the company’s use of 60 out-of-province contractors and the lack of health and safety controls to protect local workers.
Unifor’s National President and local union leaders will be speaking out tomorrow to highlight an unfair gap in the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) that is hurting thousands of workers in the auto, rail, marine, steel, aerospace, health care and other sectors.
Canada’s conservatives must be popping champagne corks today after the sale of Canada’s largest newspaper to two of its avid supporters.
The Toronto Star has been a consistent voice for working class Canadians for more than 100 years, leading the debate on issues Conservatives can’t stand to talk about – decent wages and working conditions, the rights of marginalized Canadians, reasonable immigration policies, and more.
TORONTO – The troubling reports from Canadian Armed Forces serving in long-term care homes in Ontario reinforces the systemic crisis in the provinces long-term care system.
SOUTHEY— Premier Scott Moe’s endless dithering on whether or not to impose a settlement from the mediators in the Co-op Refinery lockout has prompted workers to establish information pickets at five rural Co-op properties.
“It boggles the mind why Scott Moe can’t finish the job he started,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Why did he appoint the nation’s best mediators if he was just going to sit on their recommendations? It doesn’t make any sense.”
TORONTO—Unifor is proud to partner with the Hospitality Workers Training Centre to support laid off workers in hospitality and food service across the Greater Toronto Area.
“Hotel and food service workers are among the hardest hit by the pandemic,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “That’s why our union acted immediately to ensure workers could access vital services from the Centre for job training, food and housing security, and mental health supports.”
Introduction Unifor represents 315,000 workers in workplaces across Canada. Our membership includes over 160,000 Ontario workers. Tens of thousands of Unifor members have been laid off or placed on leave because of COVID-19. Our members in the hospitality and gaming, manufacturing, and road transport sectors in Ontario have been badly affected.
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