TORONTO – Unifor Local 4268 representing school bus drivers in Ontario has served First Student Canada with a strike notice effective as of 12:01 a.m. on Thursday March 1, 2018.
“Negotiations are continuing and it is our hope that a fair settlement can still be reached as we are fully aware of the key service that drivers provide to school communities,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi. “It’s clear however that low wages and the resulting driver shortages are chronic problems that must be addressed in the Ontario system.”
The Unifor ACL bargaining committee is pleased to report that a tentative agreement has been reached with Bell Aliant, after eight tough sessions of bargaining in Halifax.
ESPANOLA, ONTARIO—Unifor is working with Domtar to find solutions to the staffing levels that have resulted in the pulp mill’s temporary shutdown.
“We’re disappointed with Domtar’s actions but we are doing everything we can to ensure that the mill is re-activated with safety in mind,” said Scott Doherty, Unifor Assistant to the National President.
After steam plant staffing levels reached a critical low, some operations could no longer continue. The company later initiated a shutdown, forcing dozens of workers to stop working.
MONTREAL—Over 120 Unifor delegates kicked off bargaining preparation for the pattern agreement in the pulp and paper industry in Eastern Canada by selecting Resolute Forestry Products as the target company.
“I’m eager to get forestry workers what they deserve: a fair collective agreement that reflects their contributions to the industry,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The forestry industry in Canada is well-positioned for a pattern agreement that reflects workers’ priorities.”
TORONTO – Workers at the landmark Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Toronto have voted to join Unifor, the fifth location where workers decided to leave the American parent union that placed their local in trusteeship.
The Nova Scotia Council of Health Care Unions just completed six days of conciliation in January with the employers, the Nova Scotia Health Authority and IWK Hospital, and another 12 days of bargaining are scheduled for this spring.
Bargaining has produced some steady progress but the employers have also tabled several significant concessions. The employer is seeking concessions which the unions believe directly contradicts Premier Stephen McNeil’s claim that health care workers would not lose benefits as a result of amalgamation.
Your Bargaining Committee has negotiated a tentative agreement that increases wages and improves job security. Your Bargaining Committee unanimously recommends the Tentative Agreement and urges you to vote in favour of the recommendation for acceptance.
Unifor echoes and amplifies the longstanding demands from Indigenous people for reform of Canada’s broken justice system.
In June of 2017, the union put out a statement for National Indigenous Peoples Day that called on the federal government to take real, measureable actions towards reconciling our past with our future.
At that time, Unifor called for the federal government to provide equal funding for on-reserve child welfare systems and end the discrimination against Indigenous children that has been proven in federal court.
