April 27, 2020 Premier of Ontario Legislative Building Queen's Park Toronto, ON M7A 1A1 sent by e-mail: @email
Dear Premier Ford,
Since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, Canada and the rest of the world have been responding to what will surely be remembered as the biggest health, social and economic crisis of our time.
April 27, 2020 Hon. Monte McNaughton Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development 14th Floor, 400 University Avenue Toronto, ON M7A 1T7
Dear Minister McNaughton,
We are writing on behalf of our 163,000 members in Ontario.
We must express in the strongest terms that every portion of the Occupational Health and Safety Act must be upheld by your Ministry during this COVID-19 pandemic.
TORONTO-Sunwing becomes the third airline to apply for the Canada Emergency Wage Supplement (CEWS) in an effort to maintain as much of their workforce as possible.
"We're pleased to see more employers joining the effort to keep Canada's airlines working," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. "Economic recovery is impossible without taking care of workers first."
TORONTO—Unifor is cautioning the Ontario government that it must consult with workers before proceeding with plans unveiled today in its framework for reopening the province’s economy.
Across this country, individual Canadians are pulling out their sewing machines to make surgical masks and donating them to local hospitals and grocery stores. Others are using their home 3D printers to make the parts for visors.
It’s heartwarming, inspiring and shows the power of a motivated community instinctively making sure their country is properly supplied by making for ourselves the things we need most.
It is that instinct we must all follow now as a country.
Unifor is calling on the federal government to close a loophole in Bill C-14 that will allow unethical employers using scab labour to qualify for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
TORONTO – After weeks of campaigning for a pandemic premium pay for frontline health care workers, Unifor leadership and members received today’s news from Premier Ford of a $4.00 per hour premium with tearful relief. “For years, long before this pandemic, we have fought for the recognition and respect frontline workers deserve, particularly in the struggling long-term care and retirement home sector,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The pandemic has brought much needed attention to sectors that were in crisis already.
Unifor’s National President is available to comment on the announcement today that Health Canada has contracted General Motors in Oshawa to begin manufacturing urgently needed masks for health care professionals and for Canadians.
I am writing to you today to draw your attention to the plight of public transit systems across the country. As you know, precautionary social distancing measures recommended by your government have led millions of Canadians to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Gavin McGarrigle, Western Regional Director and Linda MacNeil, Atlantic Regional Director
The speed and depth of the economic downturn inflicted by the COVID-19 crisis has been unprecedented. The Canadian economy took a 9% hit to its gross domestic product in March 2020 and the labour market shed over a million jobs. The numbers for April and May are likely to be even worse.
UE & Unifor call for urgent action for workers and the planet
As working people and representatives of trade unions, we join environmental activists in marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with alarm and concern for the future of our planet. The time to fight for immediate and bold climate action is now, but the needed economic transition will not take place without strong guarantees for worker rights and good jobs for all.
On April 28, Unifor joins workers across Canada to commemorate those injured or killed on the job. Collectively we are solemnly reminded that more needs to be done to protect the health and safety of workers – a particularly significant message during the crisis we face during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Translink has moved ahead with issuing notice of hundreds of layoffs of front-line transit worker, potentially interfering in the ability of tens of thousands of essential service workers to get to their jobs, says Unifor.
