EDMONTON –Unifor will not participate in a meeting hosted by Alberta’s deputy labour minster tomorrow, calling it a disingenuous attempt at consultation.
“If Jason Kenney thinks Unifor will legitimize this sham process, he is out of touch. His intentions are clear and we will not stand for any attempt to silence the independent voice of workers,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
HALIFAX – Unifor leadership is expressing its continued support for the Northern Pulp effluent treatment facility (ETF) project currently under review with Nova Scotia Environment (NSE).
VANCOUVER—Unifor Local 111 and 2200 have reached a tentative agreement with Coast Mountain Bus Company, ending a 26-day strike by nearly 5,000 transit workers.
“Transit workers stood up for one another and fought hard to get a fair contract,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Total service disruption was a last resort, so our members are relieved that they can return to serving the public.”
TORONTO- Unifor offers its congratulations to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference upon reaching a tentative agreement with CN, ending an eight-day strike.
“This strike was about what matters most, ensuring that workers come home safely at the end of their shift,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Workers have a right to bargain collectively to defend our interests. I am proud to see that process respected not only by the parties involved, but also by the federal government.”
TORONTO—Unifor stood in solidarity with elected student leaders from the Canadian Federation of Students and the York Federation of Students at a media conference this morning to announce the successful legal challenge of the Doug Ford government’s Student Choice Initiative.
As Federated Co-op Limited (FCL) continues to demand concessions and digs in for a fight against its own workforce, Unifor is ramping up its campaign by taking the bold move of debuting a new television commercial during the broadcast of the Grey Cup this Sunday.
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.
TORONTO - The union representing Canadian journalists and media workers is calling on the federal Parliament to act quickly to save local news in the wake of dramatic financial losses and over 120 layoffs at Torstar, Canada’s second largest news chain.
“This is a stunning number of layoffs,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “The financial situation for local news is going from bad to worse. Less journalists means less news coverage.”
TORONTO - On World Toilet Day, November 19 2019, Unifor and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) are launching a Transport Workers’ Sanitation Charter, because toilet rights are human rights.
NEW WESTMINSTER—A failure by the employer to make new offers at the bargaining table will push Unifor into the next phase of job action, to be announced on Wednesday morning.
Following the announcement, dozens of Unifor members from Coast Mountain Bus Company will receive strike training.
Members of the media are welcome to take footage of the training and speak with designated Unifor representatives about escalated job action.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
VANCOUVER—As negotiations continue, transit workers have announced that, should a tentative agreement not be reached by 8 a.m. on Friday, November 1, strike action will begin with a uniform ban by transit operators and an overtime ban by maintenance workers.
Following months of difficult negotiations, Unifor finally secured Closure Agreements with Inteva Products, Lear Corporation Whitby, Auto Warehousing Canada (AWC), and Robinson Solutions.
VANCOUVER—The failure of Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) to meaningfully address workers’ concerns about working conditions, wages, and benefits during this round of negotiations has led Unifor Local 111 and 2200 to serve 72-hour notice of job action.
“It’s not hard to understand what is happening here. The company is showing little respect for the difficult working conditions that our members must face every day,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
Unifor is renewing its call for new product allocation at the Oakville Assembly Plant following today’s restructuring announcement by Ford Motor Company.
MONTREAL- Unifor’s VIA Rail locals open bargaining in Montreal as contracts near expiration for more than 2,000 members. “Unifor members are looking forward to delivering the highest quality service for passengers today, and through the next generation of rail infrastructure,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “These bargaining teams are experienced, and ready to represent workers in the fight for a fair contract.” Unifor represents maintenance workers, on-board service personnel, chefs, sales agents and customer service staff at VIA Rail.
EDMONTON—Premier Jason Kenney’s cuts to provincial services are totally unwarranted and will only deepen the issues with Alberta’s economy, says Unifor.
“Austerity has been widely discredited but that won’t stop Jason Kenney from his old habits,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “He cannot cut his way to prosperity.”
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