I am writing to you today to draw your attention to the plight of public transit systems across the country. As you know, precautionary social distancing measures recommended by your government have led millions of Canadians to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Gavin McGarrigle, Western Regional Director and Linda MacNeil, Atlantic Regional Director
The speed and depth of the economic downturn inflicted by the COVID-19 crisis has been unprecedented. The Canadian economy took a 9% hit to its gross domestic product in March 2020 and the labour market shed over a million jobs. The numbers for April and May are likely to be even worse.
UE & Unifor call for urgent action for workers and the planet
As working people and representatives of trade unions, we join environmental activists in marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with alarm and concern for the future of our planet. The time to fight for immediate and bold climate action is now, but the needed economic transition will not take place without strong guarantees for worker rights and good jobs for all.
On April 28, Unifor joins workers across Canada to commemorate those injured or killed on the job. Collectively we are solemnly reminded that more needs to be done to protect the health and safety of workers – a particularly significant message during the crisis we face during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Translink has moved ahead with issuing notice of hundreds of layoffs of front-line transit worker, potentially interfering in the ability of tens of thousands of essential service workers to get to their jobs, says Unifor.
Memo to Unifor members working in agencies providing violence against women residential services
This week, the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services issued a temporary order in the fight against COVID-19 that affects staff at Women’s Shelters and working in Crisis Line services.
The temporary order allows agencies in this sector to take steps to respond to, prevent and alleviate the outbreak of coronavirus and COVID-19 by carrying out measures such as:
VANCOUVER—Translink’s threats to cut to transit operator staffing levels, and therefore transit service, is an irresponsible move that would do more harm than good during the COVID-19 pandemic, says Unifor.
“Tens of thousands of essential services workers rely on transit to get to work,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Cutting transit service would make life even more difficult for working COVID-19 heroes, and ultimately the people they have been dutifully serving.”
A revised directive from the Ford government has employers forcing long-term care workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 but who aren’t yet showing symptoms to return to work, putting healthy workers and residents at great risk.
A coalition of unions representing more than 40,000 health care workers is launching a new campaign today, asking Nova Scotians to call on government to sign an important protocol to provide proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to our province’s frontline healthcare workers.
Unifor calls expanded access to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) a positive step but says that additional support measures are needed for essential workers.
Across Canada, long term care facilities are emerging as epicentres of the COVID-19 pandemic, with half the country’s pandemic deaths occurring in such facilities.
We’ve all heard the horrific stories coming out of Bobcaygen and Dorval of long term care facilities overrun with COVID-19, and patients and grandparents dying alone and separated from their family in time of need. Police are investigating the situation in Dorval.
Unifor members at Sonoco paper mill in Quinte West, Ontario, have been told their mill will close in June of this year due to ‘market conditions’ despite the parent company making a massive $83 million investment in its South Carolina operation.
TORONTO —Unifor is calling on Chartwell Retirement Homes to immediately rescind the creation of a new job classification in their Long Term Care Homes that requires a minimum public school education to work in their facilities.
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