Union in Politics

Unifor Local 88 sent a letter to the Premier of Ontario in January of this year requesting that Employment Standards Act Regulation 502/06 Paid Emergency Leave be abolished. We outlined the shortcomings of this regulation. The Fair Workplaces Better Jobs Act, passed last year, allows workers 10 days of personal emergency leave with two paid days for illness, injury, bereavement or other emergencies.  Under a newly added exemption in regulation 502/06, auto workers would be entitled to only seven days for personal or family illness or emergencies, and none of them paid. The Employment Standards Act should apply fairly to all workers, yet the government has deliberately chosen to create a double standard with one group of workers singled out to receive less protection than the majority. Over...

Message from Unifor National April 9, 2018 TORONTO – Amid hurried negotiations to meet an artificial deadline Unifor warns that a rushed North American Free Trade Agreement will put workers in peril. “Canada must not be pushed into a hasty NAFTA deal that will impact workers and jobs for a generation to come,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “There is no reason to sign on to half-baked trade policies simply to meet foreign political agendas.” Reports that a deal “in principle” could be announced as early as this week raise serious concerns as key planks of the new NAFTA have yet to be negotiated. “It defies logic to commit without knowing the ramification on auto and other major industries,” said Dias. “Multiple proposals on rules of origin are being floated so an agreement in p...

This is a community town hall to discuss an issue that impacts all of us – trade. Everyone is welcome to join the conversation as Unifor re-imagines what a People’s Trade agenda might look like. Hear from Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians Honorary Chairperson Canadians deserve to have a voice in the development of trade policy. We need to set the rules for what trade should achieve and how trade should work for us – not just for corporations. Join us for an important community conversation as we discuss and develop a People’s Trade Agenda, together. Over the course of 2018, Unifor will hold a series of open town halls in communities all across Canada and Quebec to talk about how trade has directly impacted our lives and how we can imagine it working differently. If you want to find ...

Message from Jerry Dias, Unifor National I write today in support of the thousands of Unifor members working in the steel and aluminum sectors, including 1,000 at Rio Tinto in British Columbia and 3,000 aluminum workers in Quebec, our 40,000 auto sector members and all the workers across Canada who depend on these good union jobs and industries for their livelihood. The American government has announced that it will impose steep tariffs on the import of steel and aluminum into the U.S. but has yet to indicate if Canada will receive an exemption or be hit by these punishing duties. Make no mistake, if America imposes duties on steel and aluminum and Canada doesn’t walk away from NAFTA immediately then we will no longer be negotiating, we’ll be capitulating to Trump. The proposed tariffs on ...