Government and Democracy

REGINA—Unifor has re-issued its call for the Saskatchewan government to immediately increase minimum wage to at least $15 per hour to match neighbouring Alberta.

“Premier Scott Moe has kept Saskatchewan’s minimum wage artificially low,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director. “Something is wrong when working full-time for the minimum wage in Saskatchewan doesn’t get you above the poverty line.”

Journalism is under attack - literally and figuratively, and that makes freedom of the press more relevant and important today than it ever has been.

Totalitarian regimes and terrorists are attacking and even killing journalists. Right-wing politicians and online harassers are abusing and harassing journalists, police forces are arresting journalists for just doing their jobs and social media platforms are implicit in inciting harassment and spreading misinformation to make it harder to discern the truth.

TORONTO-  Premier Ford’s faux provincial budget, tabled today in the Legislature, missed the mark for workers, forming a weak foundation to the Progressive Conservatives’ election platform.

Unifor members from across Ontario met in Toronto April 25 and 26 to train and plan for the upcoming provincial election.

Members are booked off from work to canvass members in target ridings in the provincial election to support the union’s goal of preventing a second Doug Ford majority government.

Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi kicked off the day by highlighting the importance of this election, especially in order to represent the workers who have been targeted and let down by Ford over the last several years.

Premier Andrew Furey’s new budget is titled “Change is in the Air,” but it’s still unclear if his government is blowing towards implementing additional damaging PERT report recommendations or towards a fair and inclusive economic recovery for all.

Budget 2022 indicates the government is ready to make some significant transformations, but not yet ready to decide which direction that change will lead. I’m left with more questions than answers about which path they will choose or if they will opt to do the bare minimum on both – essentially sticking with the status quo.

This opinion piece first appeared in Saltwire Media on April 1, 2022

In 2014, then-Premier Stephen McNeil’s throne speech set the tone for what would be his eight-year term as leader of the province — and the tone was decidedly aggressive, anti-worker and specifically anti-union.

The Liberal leader was no friend of public sector unions, delivered a knockout blow to the province’s film sector, and eliminated the Graduate Retention Rebate, making it harder for young workers to remain in the province. 

OSHAWA—Unifor welcomes today’s announcement that federal and provincial investments for General Motors have been finalized and will help secure a third shift at the Oshawa plant and Canada’s first full assembly line retool to build electric commercial vehicles in Ingersoll.

 “This is a proud moment for Unifor members at General Motors,” said Shane Wark Unifor Assistant to the National President. “Today’s funding announcement was years in the making and shows how much we can accomplish when autoworkers, automakers, and governments work together.”