Jerry Dias and Unifor Atlantic Council march in Halifax to protest anti-worker legislation

Share

At noon on Friday, April 4, Unifor National President Jerry Dias led a crowd of over 100 Unifor members down the streets of Halifax to protest an anti-worker bill that was passed by the Nova Scotia government earlier that morning. Legislators convened at 12:01 a.m. to push through Bill 37, which will remove collective bargaining rights for some 40,000 health care workers in the province.

“Unifor is here today to tell Premier MacNeil that we will not be silent,” said Dias. “We will begin collective bargaining soon and he can be sure that we will fight with everything we’ve got to support our health care workers.”

The crowd made its way to the Nova Scotia Legislature and back up to Grand Parade where they gathered and heard from Dias as well as Atlantic Regional Director Lana Payne, CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh and Unifor Local 4600 President Susan Gill.

Gill is a health care worker in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and spoke about the dedication of her fellow health care workers.

“We want to be there at work, helping people, at all times,” said Gill. “But don’t forget that we are workers, too. We have rights and we can’t stand by while the government takes those rights away.”

Unifor members from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador are gathered in Halifax for the inaugural Atlantic Regional Council from April 3 to 6.

To read Unifor's letter to Premier Stephen MacNeil please click here