TORONTO –Transport Canada and the Competition Bureau must consider that WestJet’s acquisition of Sunwing may have a deep and negative effect on Canadian jobs, says Unifor, after filing a public interest submission to Transport Canada on Friday, July 22, 2022.
“Unifor is concerned that, despite the promises made to create jobs, this acquisition will actually lead to more sub-contracted work with lower wages and precarious conditions,” said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor’s National President. “Not only that, the number of jobs may also decline.”
CALGARY – WestJet workers in Calgary and Vancouver have reached a tentative first collective agreement, avoiding any service interruptions in advance of Tuesday’s strike deadline.
“This bargaining committee has worked very hard over the last nine months to negotiate this first agreement that brings long overdue wage increases and improvements to working conditions,” said Scott Doherty, lead negotiator and Assistant to the National President.
TORONTO—The bargaining committees for Unifor members at six Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC) casinos in Ontario have signed a tentative agreement.
“Gaming sector workers were pivotal to ensuring GCGC casinos rebounded following the COVID-19 shut-downs,” said Chris MacDonald, Assistant to the Unifor National President. “It has been a very difficult period for casino workers and these tentative agreements are a step in the right direction.”
TORONTO—Most secondary issues have been resolved in productive discussions with Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC) on Thursday, but the most challenging negotiations are underway today, says Unifor.
“Unifor bargaining committees for eight casinos worked hard on Thursday to finalize many outstanding issues, paving the way for today’s heavy-lifting on monetary matters,” said Lana Payne, Unifor Secretary-Treasurer. “The momentum is a positive sign but we’re not out of the woods. We anticipate talks will go down to the wire tonight.”
In our previous update to members, we informed you that on Wednesday May 17, 2022 the Health Support Bargaining Unit (Unifor, NSGEU and CUPE) reached an impasse in bargaining a new collective agreement with Nova Scotia Health and the IWK. As a result, two days of Conciliation were scheduled. This means both the Unions and The Employers are using an outside mediation officer to attempt to finalize bargaining.
CALGARY – WestJet workers in Calgary and Vancouver have voted overwhelmingly to support the bargaining committee and take strike action if a deal cannot be reached, as early as July 27, 2022, says Unifor.
“The union is fighting for better wages,” said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor’s National President.
Unifor members at six Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC) casinos have voted to strike if new agreements cannot be negotiated by Friday, July 22 at midnight.
Unifor is calling on the Canadian government to prepare for expected extreme weather events this fall in the Global South with changes to Canada’s immigration and refugee policies.
Scientists tell us the time to act on climate change is now. Meteorological agencies are warning us that 2022 will see higher than average incidence of hurricanes, flooding and wildfires affecting Latin America, Africa and other regions of the Global South.
The Climate Crisis is a human crisis; it is driving population displacement and making life harder for those already forced to flee.
TORONTO – Following a recent bad faith bargaining complaint by Sunwing pilots at the Canada Industrial Relations Board, Sunwing announced that it plans on revoking the company’s Pilot Loss of License insurance as of July 31, 2022, as a cost-cutting measure.
WINNIPEG—Unifor Local 681 and other Unifor members from across the region will rally at the legislature on Day #30 of the ongoing natural gas workers’ strike.
“Premier Heather Stefanson doesn’t get it: front line gas workers deserve fairness,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director. “The government could end the strike today with a new collective agreement with the same wage increases already signed off for other Crown workers.”
What: News conference and rally for Manitoba Hydro workers
JOLIETTE, QC – Yesterday afternoon, Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier was present on the picket line alongside locked-out workers of the Ash Grove cement plant, accompanied by Pierre-Luc Bellerose, mayor of Joliette, and André Champagne, mayor of St-Thomas, who came out to show their support for the group.
Health care workers held a rally outside Riverview Gardens in Chatham, Ontario on July 7,2022 to draw attention to major issues facing workers at the municipally-run home for the aged after bargaining talks broke down in the days before.
MONTREAL – A tentative deal has been reached with VIA Rail and Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 just hours before members were prepared to initiate job actions.
“From the beginning our bargaining committees felt the weight of their responsibility - to fight for the best deal for their members,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer. “They have done incredible work. They were tough and principled and they have proven that when we fight we can win for working people.”
MONTREAL – A strike deadline for VIA Rail workers, set for July 11 at 12:01 a.m. has been extended to July 11 at 4:00 p.m. eastern.
“We remain hopeful that a deal can be reached,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer. “Our bargaining committees have been steadfast in wanting to achieve a deal that respects and values their work.”
A strike deadline for July 11, 2022 was announced last Thursday, in an effort to give the public ample notice and an opportunity to make alternative arrangements for travel. Rail services will continue Monday.
Tonight both Council 4000 and Local 100 bargaining committees have decided to extend the bargaining deadline to July 11 at 16:00 hours ET.
The bargaining committees have been working throughout the weekend pushing back against the employers concessions. As of now we have removed all concessions and will be spending the remaining time to discuss remaining monetary items.
Though talks with the employer are progressing, we must still be ready to take job action should an agreement not be reached.
TORONTO- Talks ended between Bell and Unifor’s 6,000 members in the Bell Clerical and Aliant groups following a week of simultaneous negotiations, pushing Unifor ACL to declare an impasse.
Negotiations ended today without coming to an agreement with the company for the Unifor ACL and Clerical groups, during the week’s historic, simultaneous negotiations.
The employer was made aware well in advance of the union’s top priorities and did not come prepared to have meaningful discussion on those issues.
Members in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario united this week in our negotiations. Your committees, including national staff, brought fair proposals to the company and were met with stubborn refusals.
As mentioned earlier this week both Council 4000 and Local 100 resumed negotiations with the employer this week in Montreal. Unfortunately, talks have not progressed in the way we had hoped. In consultation with the National Union, both Council 4000 and Local 100 issued strike notice to VIA Rail this evening.
MONTREAL – Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 announced the union’s 72 hours’ strike notice to VIA Rail after talks failed to progress.
“VIA Rail workers are frustrated that the employer continues to push concessions and not work towards a fair and equitable collective agreement for our members,” said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor’s National President and lead negotiator. “Unifor members at VIA are highly skilled and contributed to the success of the company. We will do whatever it takes to get members the collective agreement that they deserve.”
TORONTO— Unifor sees the Paper Excellence Groups’ acquisition of Resolute Forest Products as a signal the company intends to maintain and grow its presence in Canadian forestry, which is a good sign for Canadian forestry workers.
Unifor’s Family Education Centre was able to make a little boy’s wish come true over the Canada Day weekend, providing him and his family with a beachfront cottage vacation in partnership with the Make a Wish Foundation.
“I have been around our union for many years but the sense of pride I felt in our union helping to make Ben's wish come true is something I won't soon forget," said Rolly Kiehne, Unifor's Director of Education.
MONTREAL – Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 members issue a strong strike mandate ahead of July 11 deadline, as negotiations continue in Montreal.
“The strike vote result sends a clear message to the employer: The membership supports the bargaining committee, is firm in their demands, and is prepared to take action if needed,” said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor’s National President and lead negotiator. “At this critical time, VIA Rail members deserve the best possible agreement, and that can only be won by working together, in solidarity.”
From June 20 to July 1, 2022 both Council 4000 and Local 100 conducted strike votes with VIA Rail members across Canada. The results for the vote were 99.4% in favour of strike action at Local 100 and 99.3 % in favour of strike action from Council 4000 members.
This is the strong mandate Council 4000 and Local 100 bargaining committees need as we continue to meet with the employer this week in Montreal. Your bargaining committees are committed to meet with VIA Rail right up to the strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Monday July 11, 2022.
TORONTO – Sunwing pilots filed a complaint at the Canada Industrial Relations Board Monday, July 4, 2022, alleging their employer bargained in bad faith during a recent round of negotiations because the employer already knew the company was being sold to WestJet.
“Despite management reassurances that the company was not a candidate for a sale or merger, Sunwing was sold to WestJet shortly after the collective agreement was signed – a huge slap in the face,” said Scott Doherty, Unifor’s Executive Assistant to the National President.
Bell Clerical and Bell Aliant commenced bargaining in February. From the start, it was the desire of our bargaining committees to utilize the collective power we have in numbers at some point in bargaining. Both groups have bargained separately thus far.
Our bargaining agendas include common themes of better wages, work from home policy and job security. Both bargaining tables also share a common denominator: Bell’s lead negotiator is the same at both tables.
AJAX—Wage increases and sweeping improvements to benefits are features of a new collective agreement for Unifor members working at the Hilton hotel in Ajax.
“Protecting wages from inflation was a top priority in this round of bargaining,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer. “I congratulate the team at Local 1090 for negotiating gains in the new contract.”
TORONTO- Unifor will seek judicial review of an arbitration award that set the new terms of collective agreements covering hundreds of long-term care workers that continues a trend of failing workers in the sector.
TORONTO–E-commerce warehouse workers at HBC Logistics have voted overwhelming at 80% to accept a new tentative agreement, ending a nine-day strike action.
“These workers stood firm with the full weight of Unifor behind them to successfully fight for retroactive pay to cover the time that they worked during the pandemic without a contract,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi.
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