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Unifor National President Jerry Dias delivered an energizing speech at the union’s founding Canadian Council reaffirming the union’s values and goals as an organization.
“This Canadian Council meeting is another important step forward for Unifor,” said Dias. “Another big step in building our new union, and in our fight to build a better Canada.”
Dias urged delegates to reflect on our successes in the past year, and how far Unifor has come in just one year. Unifor has grown stronger and left its mark on the movement and on Canadian politics.
“When we started to build this new union, we knew we were in for a challenge,” Dias said.
“We knew that politicians like Christy Clark, Brad Wall, Tim Hudak and Stephen Harper had their sights on the labour movement and that we needed to be a force for change in this country,” said Dias.
“We needed to make it clear: no piece of legislation is going to deny our right to fair collective bargaining.”
The speech followed a video featuring members telling the stories of some of Unifor’s biggest successes in its first year: Stevedores in Cape Breton; forestry workers in New Brunswick; workers at Resolute and Silicium in Quebec; truckers from the Port of Vancouver; and freelancers, journalists and health care workers in Ontario.
“It’s amazing to see just how many successes we have had in just one year,” said Carly Sonier, Local 1101.
“I got goosebumps just watching! Coming from a small local in Ontario, it’s hard to get a sense of everything that the union is doing. I really felt that both the video and Jerry’s speech really showed that we are a determined union and that we are standing our ground,” added Sonier.
“Hearing about the brothers and sisters at Bombardier and Cascade who went out on strike to defend pensions and benefits for young workers made me so proud to be a part of this union,” she said.
To see the video, go to unifor.org.
