This column from Unifor National President Jerry Dias and Daniel Bernhard, executive director of FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting, first appeared in the Toronto Star.
If Facebook’s latest plan to pay 14 Canadian media outlets for their content was a good-faith effort to support Canadian journalism, it would not have sworn participating outlets to secrecy, just to kick the tires on their offer.
Facebook is hiding these deals behind non-disclosure agreements because its real intention is not to pay for news, but to avoid paying for it.
Unifor mourns the loss of the 215 children found on Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc territory who perished in the custody of the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The discovery confirms what community survivors have said for decades—hundreds of children went to the school and never returned home. This is true of at least 6,000 Indigenous children who attended residential schools across the country.
The mass grave is a horrific reminder of the scale of the colonial violence that still haunts survivors and their families today.
Unifor mourns the loss of the 215 children found on Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc territory who perished in the custody of the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The discovery confirms what community survivors have said for decades—hundreds of children went to the school and never returned home. This is true of at least 6,000 Indigenous children who attended residential schools across the country.
The mass grave is a horrific reminder of the scale of the colonial violence that still haunts survivors and their families today.
Unifor National President Jerry Dias told a media conference in Mexico City today that immediate and strong action is needed to ensure free and transparent union votes for Mexican workers.
Unifor has donated $250,000 to Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to respond to the immediate health, mental health, psychosocial and emergency response needs, and to carry out essential emergency interventions during the hostilities in Gaza.
TORONTO—Locked out Reliance Home Comfort workers on Short- and Long-Term Disability across Ontario have been cut off from their extended health and dental benefits, says Unifor.
“Reliance is sending their customers a message: the owners will be as cruel as it takes to force a deal on their workers," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. "Customers aren't sheep. If they think Reliance is a ruthless corporation obsessed with profit at any cost, they won't hesitate to go elsewhere."
Re: Securing Canada’s support to waive certain aspects of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights agreement and improve access to COVID-19 supports
Dominic Harris recalls his cousin cutting his hand open.
“He took Superglue and glued it because he didn’t want to go to the hospital,” he said.
“My other cousin tore his ACL and he’s now looking at a $6,000 bill to get an MRI, not including surgery. He has no insurance. If we had a universal health care system, everyone would be on the same level – whether you’re a judge or janitor.”
TORONTO—Members of Unifor Local 975 working at Enbridge Gas Inc. have ratified a new three-year collective agreement that secures gains in wages and benefits.
“Unifor is Canada’s energyworkers union,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Local 975’s new contract will provide fair compensation and stability so our members can continue to serve customers with pride.”
Unifor thanks all paramedics for their exceptional courage and compassion on the occasion of Paramedic Services Week, which runs from May 23 to May 29, 2021.
Paramedic Services Week serves to spotlight our professional paramedics. The theme for this year's Paramedic Services Week "Paramedic as Educator – Citizen Ready" this year's theme hopes to demonstrate the important role that paramedics play as educators to the public.
TORONTO – In a major victory for hard-hit airline workers, 531 WestJet airport agents in Calgary and Vancouver are now members of Unifor, the Canada Industrial Relations Board has declared.
“Today these workers have gained a voice in their workplace during a challenging time in their industry. WestJet workers are dedicated employees who have a great deal to offer as the airline moves forward,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
In 2018, almost 300 members of Unifor Local 16-O working at for Compass Minerals in Goderich, ON went on strike after rejecting a company proposal that included mandatory overtime, 16-hour shifts and 72-hour work weeks. The US- based employer brought in scabs in an attempt to keep the mine operating, leading to heightened tensions on the picket line and safety concerns in the workplace.
TORONTO – Unifor will be holding an online news conference Friday morning, streamed live on Facebook to announce a major organizing win in an industry battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is always good news when workers join a union – and during a pandemic the key to building back better will be for more workers to gain a voice in the workplace by joining a union,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.
After nearly three weeks on the picket line, more than 470 workers who went on strike at a Nestlé Canada manufacturing plant in Toronto, have reached a three-year tentative agreement with the chocolate giant.
Negotiations with the company continued this week via zoom. Despite the challenges related to COVID 19 and the current government restrictions, discussions have advanced and at an adequate pace. We are working hard to reach a negotiated agreement.
We thank you for your patience and support, as we continue to fight for your priorities. We will be sure to keep you informed of future developments.
NORTH SIDNEY—Continued random alcohol testing of Marine Atlantic workers is a flagrant privacy violation and contradicts newly-established labour precedent, says Unifor.
“The continued testing by Marine Atlantic is a clear violation of workers’ privacy and the arbitrator studying this issue agrees,” said Brian Jobes, Local 4285 President. “We have escalated this issue to the highest levels of our union.”
This column originally appeared in the Toronto star.
There’s a reason why they’re called scabs.
“Just as a scab is a physical lesion, the strikebreaking scab disfigures the social body of labour,” writes Stephanie Ann Smith in Household Words.
I could not have said it better myself. Scabs tear apart communities, pull down workers and prolong disputes – something, we at Unifor, know all too well.
The vote against Harris should be part of a broader reform in long-term care
19 May 2021—A coalition of unions, representing a majority of Chartwell’s long-term care (LTC) staff, is calling on shareholders to vote against the company’s Chair of the Board Mike Harris at its annual meeting tomorrow. They hope the withhold vote against Harris will be part of a broader reckoning in the long-term care sector, which was particularly hard-hit by COVID-19 due to long-standing structural problems in the industry.
In celebration of Personal Support Worker Day on May 19, 2021 Unifor salutes the contributions of the thousands of Unifor members who work as Personal Support Workers (PSWs) in Ontario, and Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) in Nova Scotia.
We are especially proud this year to recognize PSW’s who have been on the front lines putting themselves in danger ever day by providing care for others during this unprecedented pandemic. In many health care facilities, PSW’s have been the backbone, providing care throughout the pandemic.
