Government and Democracy

KITCHENER, ON – Front-line hospital workers marched to the office of St. Mary’s General Hospital president Mark Fam on Monday afternoon and delivered a petition calling on management to take a stand against the provincial government’s plan to privatize hospital services.

Bill 124 is back in the courts. The Government’s appeal will be heard by three judges of the Ontario Court of Appeal from June 20-23.

The Government will go first because they are bringing the appeal. That will take most of the first day. The unions will then respond on Wednesday and Thursday.

Unifor’s team is confident and prepared to defend members’ constitutional rights once again. We expect that we will have our turn on Thursday morning.

HAMILTON, ON – Hundreds of hospital staff including nurses, personal support workers and lab technologists rallied today at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton against the Ford government’s plan to contract out hospital services to private, for-profit clinics.

TORONTO-Health care workers, activists, and community organizers rallied at Queen's Park today to deliver the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) Citizens Referendum results, which revealed an overwhelmingly strong opposition to the privatization of healthcare in Ontario. The referendum saw an impressive turnout of more than 400,000 Ontarians, with an astounding 98.4% of voters expressing their disapproval of privatization.

EDMONTON—Losing 11 seats in the Alberta legislature shows a growing number of workers are rejecting the extreme policies of the United Conservative Party (UCP), says Unifor.

“There is one clear trend in tonight’s results: the UCP’s mandate has been significantly reduced,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “While we would have preferred a different outcome it doesn’t change our commitment to standing up for the rights of working people in Alberta.”

WINDSOR—Urgent action is required by the federal government so that construction can resume on the five billion Stellantis EV battery plant in Windsor, Ontario.

“It’s outrageous that tens of thousands of jobs are in jeopardy due to a failure to come to terms on government investment,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “The situation is as serious as it gets. This needs to be resolved immediately to preserve workers’ livelihoods and construction of the EV plant can resume.”  

Unifor Local 707-A member Tanika Chaisson has a passion for social and economic justice.

“There’s so much important work the government has to do to improve public services for the people of Alberta,” said Chaisson. “The Danielle Smith government simply isn’t doing it. In fact, it’s doing the opposite: it is starving health care and attacking our basic rights at work. We need to change the government.”

Ottawa – Bill C-228, a private members’ bill that gives pension plan members super-priority during plan windups and bankruptcy proceedings received royal assent.

“This change has been many years in the making. I’m glad to see lawmakers in both chambers say ‘enough is enough’ and put workers first by adopting this legislation,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “Pensions are deferred wages and they cannot be allowed to be stripped away and put to the back of the line if the company closes up shop.”