VANCOUVER—Unless progress can be made in contract talks between TransLink’s Coast Mountain Bus Company and Unifor, a three-day system-wide work stoppage will commence at Wednesday, November 27, 2019.
Last week, Unifor representatives met with executives at Irving Shipbuilding to discuss the company’s recently-announced plan to outsource work currently done by Unifor members at the Marine Fabricators facility in Dartmouth.
Negotiations between Unifor and Loblaw Companies Limited reached an impasse, as the company refused to revisit its aggressive plan to cut full-time jobs at Dominion stores.
TORONTO- Unifor condemns CN’s layoff speculation at a time of high revenue.
“What we have here is a massively profitable corporation causing anxiety through public layoff announcements that, if realized, could seriously threaten working conditions and health and safety of rail workers,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
Members of Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 have received layoff notices over the past two months that add up to the reduction of just over 200 jobs.
REGINA— After several weeks of voting in communities across Saskatchewan, Unifor members working at SaskTel, SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SaskWater, DirectWest, and SecureTek have ratified the new collective agreements.
“Unifor members took historic direct action to get a contract they deserve,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Solidarity was key to their success and they should be proud of what they accomplished together.”
SURREY—Translink’s refusal to deal with the key bargaining issues has resulted in the mutual agreement to discontinue contract talks that began again this morning, and a continuation of service disruption for passengers.
“Translink seems content to play games while tens of thousands of transit passengers’ lives are impacted daily,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Transit workers want to sign a new contract, but Translink isn’t interested in anything remotely fair.”
Part-time work is nothing new to Canadians because employers have long exploited a gap in our employment standards that allows them to discriminate against them. It’s no secret that part-time workers earn below average pay, have no guaranteed schedule of hours, and are often denied benefits that their full-time counterparts enjoy.
More than 3.6 million working people (or about 20 per cent of the workforce) earn their living as part-time workers in Canada.
REGINA—Nearly 800 workers at the Co-op Refinery are disappointed that mandatory mediation made little to no progress with the employer and they are still without a fair deal that doesn’t include concessions.
"We are disappointed Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) continues to come to the bargaining table demanding roll backs in our pensions and other concessions, despite the fact that this employer continues to rake in billions of dollars in profits,” said Kevin Bittman, President of Unifor Local 594, the union representing Co-op Refinery workers.
Every era must come to an end, and thankfully the end has come for Don Cherry’s.
In a long overdue move, Sportsnet finally cut ties with the host of Coach’s Corner this week.
It should have happened a long time ago.
Years of racist and misogynist comments, uninformed opinions on issues such as climate change and advocating a hard-hitting style of hockey that, frankly, put the health of players at risk, finally made his continued employment untenable.
Steps toward a transfer of ministerial oversight of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission to the Ministry of Transportation is a positive change for residents in Northern Ontario, but the key component of Northlander rail line service remains missing.
VANCOUVER—Unifor will return to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith with Coast Mountain Bus Company, but warns that more inaction from the employer will cause further transit disruptions by the end of the week.
Jerry Dias, National President of Unifor and Daniel Bernhard, Executive Director of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
Today, the Disney+ streaming service becomes available in Canada, hot on the heels of Apple+, which launched on November 1st. Many are celebrating their arrival as a boon for Canadian viewers: hundreds of new programs, available anytime, anywhere, for less than $9 per month.
Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 met with VIA Rail in Montreal this week to continue bargaining.
Both committees continued to resolve outstanding grievances.
We then proceeded to exchange proposals with the Company and discussed work rules. We will continue to work diligently to secure a fair contract for all members.
We reiterate that members identified a number of key issues in this contract negotiation, including a strengthened pension plan, an end to contracting out, made-in-Canada fleet sourcing, part time and work/rest rules.
Unifor will return to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith with Coast Mountain Bus Company, but warns that more inaction from the employer will cause further transit disruptions by the end of the week.
“We’ve been bargaining for months. Transit workers in Metro Vancouver have been very patient with the employer,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “But ultimately our members have a legal right to withdraw their services if the disrespect from Translink and CMBC continues and a contract cannot be achieved through bargaining alone.”
Yesterday’s fall economic update solidified plans to maintain reckless funding cuts to public services and further gutting of legislation that protects workers’ rights through Bill 124.
Creating and preserving a safe harassment-free environment at all union activities, events and meetings is our collective responsibility, members, elected representatives and staff. When we challenge all forms of harassment and oppression we accept our collective responsibility to each other, and we accept it is a necessary part of building our union and a strong labour movement. All locals, members and retirees are encouraged to read out the Unifor anti-harassment statement at the beginning of each meeting, union activity, event or conference.
UE’s national officers, the presidents of the Eastern and Western regions, and several senior staff met in Chicago the weekend of November 1-3 with leaders from other unions participating in the North American Solidarity Project: UE’s Canadian partner Unifor, National Nurses United, and the Inland Boatmens’ Union/ILWU.
November 5, 2019 HALIFAX – Unifor is reminding Irving Shipbuilding, Inc. that creating and maintaining Canadian jobs is a key component of the Canadian Shipbuilding Strategy and should remain the top priority.
We aren’t a shy bunch at Unifor - and that was certainly proved true during last month’s federal election.
In fact, we did exactly what we said we’d do - play an active role in ensuring that Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives never form government and never get the chance to turn the clock back on progressive policies this country needs.
We reached out to our members in key ridings across Canada, making sure they were aware of what was at stake in the election if the Conservatives won.
TORONTO - Unifor strongly condemns the arrest and detention of 57 members of labour and civil society organizations in the Philippines.
“I call upon the Filipino government to immediately drop the trumped-up charges against Anne Krueger and all detained labour organizers. The sudden, widespread arrest of nearly 60 activists is a reprehensible fear tactic, clearly aimed at suppressing a growing movement for workers’ rights,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
VANCOUVER—Coast Mountain Bus Company’s refusal to make any significant offers over the last 48 hours have forced Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 negotiators to call off talks.
“We have not had a serious offer from the company since we served strike notice,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “In other words, the company feels very comfortable with system-wide job action.”
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