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.
On January 18, 2019, Ontario Northland formalized and issued a new Drug and Alcohol Policy to ONTC employees. A draft policy was sent to Unifor on November 7, 2018, but we had no formal discussions on this draft as we had not yet received all the documents that formed this new policy (Appendices A and B). Consequently, we were surprised to see the policy issued before we had the opportunity, as the certified bargaining agent, to review the full context of the policy and meet to discuss our concerns and propose amendments.
Unifor Local 103 continued negotiations with the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) from January 28 to February 1 in North Bay. Bargaining focused largely on work rule demands for Agreement 1. On Friday afternoon, discussions turned to Agreement 4. Talks were productive. The Company still has some proposals on the table that concern us, but we will continue to address theses in the best interests of our membership in mind as we continue bargaining.
From February 5-8 your bargaining committee for 5.1 and Supplemental agreements met in Montreal to commence bargaining with CN Rail.
Many discussions took place on key issues throughout the week. The bargaining committee raised may significant issues that affect the members on a daily basis, and are working diligently towards achieving an agreement.
We will be meeting again on February 25-28, 2019.
The committee remains determined to bargain the best agreement possible and are working hard to secure gains for you.
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.”
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements of Black community members within Canada and abroad. Communities across the country hold festivals and events to focus our collective attention on the role that Black individuals and communities have played in building a stronger, better, more diversified Canada.
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).
