WASHINGTON – Unifor National President Jerry Dias and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross have agreed that addressing the core issue of low Mexican wages is the key to breaking the impasse at NAFTA renegotiations.
“There is a clear understanding that Canadian and American workers have both been injured by the siphoning off of manufacturing jobs to Mexico,” said Dias. “We agreed that Canada and the U.S. must work together to pressure Mexico to drive up wages significantly or face joint retaliatory measures.”
October 29, 2017 TORONTO – Brink’s Canada Ltd. workers in two Unifor bargaining groups, one in Ottawa region and the other covering the remainder of Ontario, have ratified new four-year contracts. “These were very difficult negotiations,” said Unifor Assistant to the National Secretary-Treasurer Jenny Ahn.
October 25, 2017 REGINA—Unifor says that the repeal of Bill 40 is a good start to rebuilding the government’s commitment to the province’s popular Crown corporations. “The people of this province value affordable, high-quality public services,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Repealing the privatization law is just the start.
October 20, 2017 WINDSOR – Medical Laboratory Assistants and Medical Laboratory Technicians, represented by Unifor Local 2458, have ratified a tentative agreement with Medical Laboratories of Windsor, bringing a three week strike to an end. “We’re pleased to have a deal that recognizes the value of the members work,” said Tullio DiPonti, Local 2458 Secretary-Treasurer. “We appreciate the support that we received from the public during this job action.
Ottawa—Unifor rail workers from across Canada are in Ottawa this week to urge the federal government to re-think authorizing workplace surveillance in Bill C-49.
“Recording workers on the job is not a safety tool, it is a surveillance tool,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “It is a dangerous precedent and the government has not made the case that these extreme measures are warranted.”
October 16, 2017 TORONTO – While the plan for Airbus to take a majority stake in the Bombardier C Series airliner could help build a strong future for the program, and the aerospace industry as a whole, it is too early to celebrate, Unifor says. “It is a sad day that a high-tech Canadian treasure is ending up in European control, but we can take some satisfaction that the C Series is getting some needed stability,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. Over the past few weeks, the U.S Department of Commerce has imposed duties of nearly 300 per cent on sales of the C Series.
October 12, 2017 Windsor – Unifor will hold a media conference tomorrow to update media and the public on the strike against Medical Laboratories of Windsor. “It’s disappointing that patients continue to lack access to key medical tests because Medical Laboratories of Windsor refuses to come to a reasonable settlement with its employees,” said Tullio DiPonti, Local 2458 Secretary-Treasurer. Political representatives for the riding of Windsor West will also be in attendance to lend their support to striking workers on the picket line.
October 5, 2017 Toronto—Unifor was disappointed to learn that the Energy East pipeline proposal has been withdrawn and says that a national energy strategy is needed more than ever. “Unlike most other pipeline proposals being discussed today, Energy East had significant benefit for Canadians,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The National Energy Board’s inability to secure this project only underscores how ineffective it has become.” Unifor has supported TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline from Hardisty to Saint John.
September 30, 2017 INGERSOLL – Unifor National President Jerry Dias will join the picket line at the General Motors CAMI plant on Sunday to update members of Local 88 on contract negotiations. Media are welcome to attend. "The successful conclusion of these talks is vital to the future of the entire community," Dias said.
September 26, 2017 Toronto – The U.S. decision to impose massive preliminary countervailing duties against Bombardier’s C-Series plane is a short-sighted move that puts the continent’s aerospace industry at risk, Unifor says. “The simple fact is that no country can have a viable aerospace industry without the involvement of government,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “Boeing knows this as well as anyone else. The U.S. government invests $50 billion a year in aerospace, and Boeing gets a big chunk of that.” The U.S.
September 25, 2017 Kamloops— Members of Unifor Local 10-B voted 80 per cent in favour of a new four-year contract that helps secure the future of the pulp mill with significant investments over the next two years. “Our new collective agreement is good for workers and good for the community,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
September 23, 2017 Burlington – A Unifor team, led by Unifor National President Jerry Dias, raised $90,000 for Halton Women’s Place at today’s “Hope in High Heels” fundraiser in Burlington, Ontario. “Unifor is proud to support Halton Women’s Place in their work to end violence against women and their children,” said Dias.
September 22, 2017 Ottawa – In a rally outside the Mexican Embassy in Ottawa today, Unifor members, including two busloads of striking workers from the General Motors Ingersoll plant, expressed solidarity with Mexican workers on NAFTA failures. “When the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, we were told that it would lift up wages and bring Mexican workers out of poverty and that hasn’t happened,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
TORONTO – Workers at Toronto’s Bombardier aerospace plant will walk out of the facility Wednesday morning to call on Boeing to drop its trade complaint against the company. "The workers at Bombardier are well aware that Boeing has no case, and that workers will end up paying the price as corporations fight this out," said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
September 15, 2017 Toronto – Unifor members at Brink’s Canada Limited in British Columbia and Ontario have voted to deliver overwhelming strike mandates. “The physical safety of our members is at the core of these negotiations so there is no question that Unifor is prepared to take any and all necessary action,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. In Ontario, a total of 800 members at Unifor Local’s 27, 103, 112, 195, 229, 504, 598, 599, 1359, 1106 and 4266 voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike mandate.
Vancouver—An arbitrator has upheld the Container Trucking Act’s wage floor, resulting in $90k in combined damages assessed to trucking companies Aheer Ltd and Sunlover Ltd.
“Yet again, the greediest trucking companies have failed to suppress wages by looking for loopholes in the Container Trucking Act,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The companies that think they are above the law should be banned from the industry.”
September 13, 2017 Toronto – Reports that the proposed $15 minimum wage will result in the loss of 50,000 jobs in Ontario are misleading says Unifor. “The reality is that 50,000 workers are not expected to lose their jobs,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “This figure is not a projection of actual lost jobs but rather a combination of estimates that includes potential, but not actual, future job creation and jobs lost to increased automation.”
Victoria—The B.C. budget update formalizes commitments to important gains for working people, says Unifor, Canada’s largest union in the private sector.
“British Columbians are getting the change that they voted for,” said Joie Warnock, Unifor Western Regional Director. “It is already clear that Premier John Horgan can deliver on policy proposals that will make life more affordable for British Columbians.”
September 11, 2017 Ottawa—Canada’s largest union in the rail sector says that Bill C-49’s amendments to the Canada Transportation Act constitute a landmark privacy violation and will not improve safety.
“Recording workers on the job is not a safety tool, it is a surveillance tool,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Managerial digital surveillance in the transportation industry is a dangerous precedent that will eventually spread to other sectors. This cannot become the government standard.”
September 7, 2017 MILTON - For the second day in a row, Unifor brought the call for Northstar Aerospace to fully fund the pension plan right to the company’s doorsteps, with a rally outside its Milton plant. “There are no fences and no security firms big enough to keep us from fighting for justice for these workers,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias told more than 200 people outside the Northstar plant in Milton this afternoon. The company erected two seven-foot fences around the plant and installed 24-hour security guards.
September 6, 2017 TORONTO - The union representing Chinese speaking journalists and media workers at Rogers' OMNI TV is taking legal action in response to the broadcaster's unprecedented subcontracting of its daily news coverage to its only competitor, Fairchild TV. "This $20-billion broadcaster is in violation of its CRTC licence to produce its own news coverage," said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. "Rogers promised the CRTC it would cover the news with its in-house staff.
TORONTO – Unifor is planning another action to demand that Northstar Aerospace fund a dramatic 24 per cent pension deficit for its retirees and members of the Milton plant, represented by Local 112.
“There is no financial reason for Northstar Aerospace to refuse to fund the pension plan. The only excuse is corporate greed,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “If Northstar won’t meet with us we will take our message to the corporate board to demand action.”
September 5, 2017 Vancouver—Edgewater Casino food service workers received a notice this week that the company is reneging on a job security promise involved with its move this month. “Paragon Gaming’s word isn’t worth a quarter for slot machines,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Food service workers deserve to be treated fairly. Contracting out is a new low for Paragon Gaming and will hurt both patrons and workers.” Paragon Gaming is relocating Edgewater Casino to a new $600 million facility in late September.
September 5, 2017 Mexico City – Unifor put a spotlight on labour rights by bringing workers issues to the forefront during the second round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement in Mexico City. “During this round of talks Unifor brought labour rights into discussion with Mexican workers, with NAFTA negotiating teams, and with international media,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
September 4, 2017 Mexico City – Unifor National President Jerry Dias has called on the Mexican government for the safe return of the President of the Los Mineros union, who has been living in exile in Canada. “Los Mineros is a leader in the fight for the rights of Mexican workers, but while I have the privilege of standing before you today your President is forced to live in exile in Canada,” Dias told the 500 conference delegates. “Unifor calls on the Mexican government to publicly state that Napoleón Gómez Urrutia can return to home to Mexico with a guarantee of his safety”.
MEDIA ADVISORY September 3, 2017 Mexico City – On Labour Day, Unifor National President Jerry Dias will open the Conference of the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Similar Workers of the Mexican Republic, known as “Los Mineros”. “Los Mineros is a leader in the fight for the rights of Mexican workers, but its President is forced to live in exile in Canada,” said Dias.
September 1, 2017 Mexico City – Unifor joined thousands of Mexican workers at a labour rights rally, as the second round of meetings to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement began in Mexico City. “Donald Trump talks of building a wall. We do not need a wall, we need a bridge,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias told the cheering crowd.
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