Workers at the Sonoco paper mill in Quinte West are spending their last day on the job today after the company decided earlier this year to shutter the mill and focus operations in South Carolina.
VANCOUVER— Unifor is warning of dire consequences for Mackenzie, B.C., as the Paper Excellence mill in the forestry town goes into indefinite curtailment. “The federal and provincial governments have failed forestry workers in Mackenzie and all across B.C.,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “This shutdown comes after a lengthy battle from both the workers and the owner to address fibre access issues and develop a sustainable plan for the province’s forestry sector.
WINNIPEG—A Manitoba court has ruled that the so-called Public Services Sustainability Act violates the right to collective bargaining protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Free and fair collective bargaining is a right that workers have fought for,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “That right is a threat to the conservative forces that seek to undermine public services. Today’s court victory is a victory for both workers and the Manitobans that rely on our excellent social programs.”
TORONTO – Unifor opposes the decision by Loblaw Companies Ltd. to end pandemic pay for workers at its retail outlets across Canada.
“The pandemic is not over. The danger has not passed. These workers are no less at risk and are no less essential today than they were yesterday. There is no justification for ending pandemic pay now, or ever,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias said.
Bargaining with Bell resumes virtually on June 16 and 17
Your bargaining committee is returning to the negotiating “table” using technology and web meetings after a three-month delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union, with 315,000 members working in a diverse range of workplaces across the country. Our members work in every major sector of the Canadian economy, including retail, health and long-term care, passenger transit, food and beverage processing, and many other sectors that have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Food and beverage processing workers across Canada have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases thus far. Meat processing plants have been hit particularly hard, with a number of outbreaks occurring in Alberta and Quebec that have led to numerous deaths. Governments must use the reopening of the economy as an opportunity to ensure that food and beverage processing plants are safe and that workers are protected from COVID-19 through rigorous health and safety protocols.
More than 300,000 manufacturing workers lost their jobs or were put on temporary leave between February and April 2020. Most of these workers were put on leave due to pandemic related restrictions and many expect to return to their jobs once the pandemic subsides.
WINNIPEG—Despite pledging to protect front-line workers, Premier Brian Pallister’s Manitoba Hydro layoffs threaten to impact services for Manitobans.
“Brian Pallister has demonstrated time and again that he can’t be trusted to strengthen Manitoba Hydro,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Manitobans deserve to know why the premier is jeopardizing hydro service.”
Unifor says the cuts will come during a time when Manitoba Hydro is working at full capacity to keep up with the unique demands of COVID-19.
The forestry sector faced a number of significant challenges before the COVID-19 crisis struck, including the ongoing softwood lumber dispute, sagging pulp prices, and damage caused by insect infestations. The economic collapse that followed the pandemic has stalled construction, and many forestry companies (especially small and mid-sized ones) are struggling with liquidity as demand for their products has fallen off.
Across the country, road passenger transport and urban transit services have taken a significant hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. School closures have all but suspended school transportation services; domestic and international travel restrictions have decreased airport limousine services and intercity and provincial bus service; and wide-scale business closures and calls to stay home have resulted in significant drops in taxi and public transit ridership.
If anyone should have a guilty conscience, it’s Randy Hillier.
Guilty of intolerance.
Guilty of shooting his mouth off.
Guilty of making a complete fool of himself.
And, just this week, guilty of casually, and apparently for the sake of cheap humour, questioned the integrity of an upstanding federal cabinet minister with his flippant comments.
Unifor applauds the Ontario government's decision to appoint St. Mary's General Hospital to temporarily manage Forest Heights long-term care home due to an uncontained outbreak of COVID-19.
Unifor applauds the decision of the Ontario Ombudsman to investigate the provincial government’s oversight of long-term care homes during the COVOD-19 pandemic.
In previous correspondences to you, Unifor recognized the importance of the $4 per hour “pandemic pay premium” that is being provided for front-line workers during this crisis.
Unifor, Canada’s largest media union, condemns violence against media crews across the U.S. Journalists reporting on the street protests against the abhorrent, racist murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer are being physically attacked, mostly by police but also by citizens.
In previous correspondences to you, Unifor recognized the importance of the $4 per hour “pandemic pay premium” that is being provided for front-line workers during this crisis. We certainly agree that these workers deserve the extra compensation given their roles in this crisis, their hard work, the health risks that they face while on the job and the need to self-isolate from their families to protect them. Unifor demands that pandemic pay be extended to these critical workers
Since Pandemic pay was announced on April 25, 2020, there has been confusion about who is actually covered. Unifor was the first union in Ontario to make a public demand for Pandemic Pay on April 17, launching a video and an online petition. Our position has clearly been that any worker who is subject to the Emergency Orders should receive this pay.
Unifor emphatically condemns the most recent blatant acts of racism and racially-motivated police violence in the United States of America.
But we also know racism is not just a problem in the United States. It is also the daily reality faced by Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities here in Canada as well.
Racism continues to govern the lives of Black, Indigenous and racialized peoples, and as we have seen in the case of George Floyd, racism is taking lives.
We must call the killing of George Floyd exactly what it is: anti-Black racism.
REGINA—Unifor Local 594 is extremely disappointed, but not surprised, to learn of the major loss of containment from the Co-op Refinery Complex that occurred on May 22, 2020, that resulted in the contamination of the City of Regina’s sewer system.
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