A jam-packed agenda greeted delegates to Unifor’s 2023 Telecommunications Conference, with opportunities to hear from union specialists and space to reflect on bargaining victories and opportunities shared across the highly-integrated sector.
Telecommunications Council President and National Executive Board Representative Jeff Brohman set the tone early on by declaring a mission, “We will be using this space to discuss the imminent threat to our membership. We need action, both directly and politically.”
During this crucial period, we stand alongside PSAC’s 155 000 sisters and brothers of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) in their conflict with the Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency. We wish to express our unwavering solidarity on behalf of 315,000 Unifor members and our support for all PSAC members who are confronted with the necessity to strike in order to obtain the respect they deserve. We understand the challenges you are facing and we stand by you in this fight.
There’s no denying that air transport workers and travellers have been through the wringer the last three years.
During the busy travel seasons of 2022, think summer vacation and December holidays, the industry was in shambles with long line-ups, canceled flights, stranded passengers, lost luggage, and excessive security wait times.
Unifor Local 4504 members at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) signed a new collective agreement on April 11, 2023 that includes wage increases and other economic allowances, a new Racial Justice Advocate, and improvements to language.
ST. JOHN’S, NL – Close to a thousand people gathered today in St. John’s in front of the Confederation Building, calling for action to save the province’s snow crab fishery. The Union that represents over 14,000 people in the province, including all 10,000 professional fish harvesters and some 3,000 processing workers, says that it’s the government’s responsibility to protect the people who rely on the fishery, and ensure processing companies operate in a manner that benefits the people of our province.
TILLSONBURG–Unifor has launched a new labour action centre to assist former Adient workers, who were displaced when the company abruptly announced the closure of its Tillsonburg seating foam plant in November 2022.
Windsor Salt workers are standing firm in their refusal to sign away their jobs. The Unifor members have been on strike for two months against American hedge fund owners that are demanding the right to contract out their work. Watch their stories.
For Gavin McGarrigle, the Good Friday Agreement hits too close to home.
The Unifor Western Regional Director spoke of his earliest memories as a six-year-old crossing the border between Ireland and Britain frequently with his family before emigrating to Canada in 1981. During those crossings, he recalls the chaos and violence.
“I can remember standing on the side of the road in front of a massive guard tower while our family’s car was ripped apart by British soldiers on patrol,” he said.
SURREY—Wage increases and benefits enhancements are key features of a collective agreement between Unifor and Coast Mountain Bus Company, ratified today by members of Unifor locals 111 and 2200.
“The gains in this collective agreement will help improve working conditions and the quality of life for Metro Vancouver’s transit workers and their families,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.
VICTORIA—The membership of Unifor Local 4276 voted overwhelmingly today to ratify a new three-year contract with their employer at the Fairmont Empress Hotel.
“Unifor members at the Fairmont Empress have secured a strong collective agreement and have helped set the table for upcoming negotiations in the hospitality sector,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “Congratulations on a job well done.”
OAKVILLE—Unifor welcomed today’s announcement by the Ford Motor Company that the company is investing $1.8 billion to retool the Oakville Assembly Complex beginning mid-2024 to build next-generation passenger electric vehicles in 2025.
The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed Cambie Surgeries Corporation’s attempt to overturn the BC Medicare Protection Act.
“Canadians will always defend and work to build a health care system that is accessible, universal not for profit,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “This ruling should be a lesson that Canadians will not accept a two-tier health care system where the kind of care you get is determined by your wealth.”
NEW WESTMINSTER—As part of the celebrations to mark the historic Northern Ireland peace process, Unifor will join the Friends of Sinn Féin Canada to host Louise O’Reilly TD, the Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade, and Employment.
Unifor is welcoming the news that B.C.’s minimum wage will increase to $16.75 per hour on June 1, 2023.
“Premier David Eby’s government is signalling that it will not leave the province’s lowest paid workers behind as the cost of living rises,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President. “Strong minimum wage, improved employment standards, and greater access to forming a union are all part of the pro-worker changes introduced by this government, and other provinces should follow suit.”
France is currently the scene of a historic popular mobilization. Thousands of workers, with support from a broad coalition of unions, have shown courage by going on strike and taking to the streets to demand respect and the protection of workers’ pensions.
What would a strategic bargaining program look like that truly represents members? Unifor is on a mission to find out.
The union is engaging in ‘Bargaining Worker Power’ sessions, a cross-country consultation to uncover current issues and priorities across Unifor’s many industries and gather new ideas to strengthen the union’s bargaining position.
Fort Frances, Ontario - Over 55 members of Unifor Local 324-19 voted 96% in favour of a new three-year contract with Weechi-it-te-win Family Services on April 3.
Unifor Local 2488 bargaining committee and Native Child And Family Services Of Toronto have reached a tentative collective agreement.
“This was a difficult round of negotiations, but our bargaining committee stood together,” said Andrea Lawrence, President of Local 2488. “This agreement would not have been reached without the skills and solidarity of the bargaining committee.”
TORONTO-It would take the average Canadian supermarket worker 340 years to earn Loblaw CEO Galen Weston’s 2022 total compensation of $11.79 million, says Unifor.
The members of New Flyer, a Canadian multinational bus manufacturer based out of Winnipeg, Man., have voted to ratify a new five-year deal.
“This new agreement will provide stability and meaningful gains during these uncertain times, in light of inflation, for our members,” said Clint Seys, Unifor Local 3003 President. “The biggest challenge going into negotiations was the financial state of the company coming out of Covid, but our bargaining committee stayed strong and walked out with no concessions.”
Workers at Northern Transformer in Vaughan, Ont. voted to ratify a new four-year agreement with the company on March 25, 2023.
“This is a great deal, especially since we have an aging workforce who both require a pension plan and long-term disability they can count on,” said Eamonn Clarke, President of Local 252.
“We have tried for years to get a pension plan in place and now we have it. Bargaining an extra sick day is also great news for our members, all this along with securing an almost 16% increase over the four years makes this the best contract so far.”
CHARLOTTETOWN-The decisive Progressive Conservative win in the Prince Edward Island provincial election shows the need for coordination between progressive organizations and the labour movement to amplify workers voices, says Unifor.
REGINA—The Sask Party government must stop shielding information about where outsourced SaskTel jobs are heading and come clean about why Crown corporation jobs are leaving Saskatchewan, says Unifor.
“The people of Saskatchewan deserve answers about why Minister Don Morgan is so eager to send good jobs to Alberta and overseas,” said Len Poirier, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer.
“SaskTel is owned by the people of Saskatchewan. Let’s make it do better to employ the people of Saskatchewan.”
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Natural Resources
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Dear Minister Wilkinson,
Re: Windsor Salt Labour Dispute
On behalf of Unifor, Canada’s largest union in the private sector, I am writing to you about a labour dispute that is impacting one of the largest salt producers in Canada. More than 250 members of Unifor Locals 240 and 1959 working at the Windsor salt mine and evaporation plant have been on strike for nearly six weeks now, since February 17.
Unifor Media Council Chair Julie Kotsis shone a spotlight on challenges newsrooms and media workers face across the country at the Canadian Hillman Prize Celebration on March 30 in Toronto.
In her speech, Kotsis – a journalist at the Windsor Star with more than three decades of experience under her belt – said the news industry is at a crossroads with shrinking newsrooms and cost-cutting, combined with the harassment and abuse journalists and media workers face in the field and online.
SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA—The joint bargaining committee for Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 have achieved a tentative agreement with Coast Mountain Bus Company.
“Transit workers kept Metro Vancouver moving throughout the pandemic. They have clearly demonstrated their value to the Lower Mainland economy and they deserve fair wages and benefits,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National President.
In a keynote address to delegates at the United Auto Workers Special Bargaining Convention, Unifor National President Lana Payne speaks on the need to plan for the transition to a green future to ensure that workers are not left behind, workers bearing the cost of interest rate hikes and inflation, and the unique moment of opportunity for working people to change the future.
Unifor National President Lana Payne brought a message of solidarity, union building and worker power in a keynote address at the United Auto Workers (UAW) Special Bargaining Convention, held in Detroit March 27-29, 2023.
“Our unions are about building worker power. They have always been about building worker power,” Payne told UAW delegates. “We are experiencing a special moment across the working class in North America. And that if we organize enough to seize it, we can profoundly change the future for working people in both our countries".
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