Unifor Local 302 President’s Report - September 26, 2022
At our fourth Constitutional Convention in Toronto delegates gathered for the first time since the pandemic. This was clearly a historic moment in history for our Union. We saw an election for five out of the six top elected positions within our Union. Lana Payne was elected as our National President. She is the first woman elected to this position for our Union. Len Poirier was elected to the position of National Secretary-Treasurer and Daniel Cloutier was affirmed as Quebec Director. Gavin McGarrigle, Naureen Rizvi and Jennifer Murray were elected as Regional Directors.
Marc Roussel from Local 219 (Nackawic New Brunswick) was awarded the Bud Jimmerfield award for his dedication to health and safety. Marc’s employer had taken the position that asbestos abatement activities did not have to follow the standards procedures of the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. The employer even used political pressure to sway WorkSafe and the Chief Compliance office sided with the employer. Marc challenged this decision utilizing the appeal process and eventually through a tribunal where he was successful. Through his hard work and determination Marc ensured that worker’s safety came before profits and production.
We watched a videotaped presentation of the Neil Reimer award being given to Mozart Mimms. Mozart is a 104-year-old man who was born in Kentucky. In 1952 he came to work in Canada for the Canadian Pacific Railway as a sleeping car porter. He shared his heart felt story of how important it was/is to be unionized and the treatment of workers of colour. I would encourage everyone to watch his interview on the Unifor Canada website.
Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan spoke to the delegates and promised to take action on workplace harassment. Bob Nickerson (retired National Secretary-Treasurer went to the mic and reminded Minister O’Regan that his government needed to ensure that retirees received increases to their pensions and that we needed to protect everyone’s pension contributions from employers going bankrupt which causes workers not to be able to access their pensions.
We rallied for the 177 locked out members at Ash Grove cement plant in Quebec who have been locked out for 16 months. Over $200,000 was raised from the floor of the convention to help support these members along with another Local from Saskatchewan.
After her election Lana wasted no time in ensuring the voices of the 30,000 health and social service sector workers Unifor represents were heard at Queens Park. On August 18 she wrote a letter to Premier Ford explaining “these workers are not ok. They have worked through a humanitarian crisis, and yet there is still little relief in sight for them. They watch their co-workers leave the industry altogether or take jobs with agencies that double their salary and allow them the work flexibility they need.”
Lana told the Premier that our health care system is more than nurses and PSWs and staffing shortages are being seen in all classifications from housekeepers to paramedics to cooks. These workers have not received any permanent enhancement or bonus. She described our arbitration structure as antiquated and reminded him that we struggle with the raising costs of inflation with the merger wage increases we are receiving. “There are real solutions to these problems. No meaningful effort has been made to create full-time work and many still work multiple jobs. Wages and benefits must be competitive. Healthcare workers must feel respected.”
There was an appeal being heard in British Columbia to overturn the BC Supreme Court’s decision (September 2020) that protected public healthcare. The National Union along with the Health Council sent money to aide in this fight against privatization. I am pleased to announce that in July the Court of Appeal upheld the BC Supreme Court’s decision in the Cambie Surgeries Corporation case that protected public health care.
On August 18 the Ford government released a five-point health care plan which they title Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery. As Natalie Mehra said this “announcement had very little to improve public healthcare and a lot to promote for-profit privatization.” Let’s make no mistake Ford is attempting to privatize our hospital services while forcing our seniors out of hospitals into a long-term care home that isn’t one of their five preferred facilities. The province announced they will be hiring up to 6,000 healthcare workers. We have 20,000 nursing vacancies in Ontario. We are seeing closures of hospitals and reports from other members of the healthcare team that they are not able to keep up with the workload and overtime that is being asked of them.
Bill 7 will not create more beds or provide better care for Ontarians. This Bill is part of the Conservatives plan to privatize Ontario’s healthcare system. Making the decision to move into long-term care is difficult on seniors and their families. Imagine your mother or father being forced into a facility that is outside or your community with NO choice. This is wrong we must push back against the Ford Government on all attempts to privatize healthcare.
Bill 124 has forced a 1% total compensation cap on public sector workers. After two years of being in place the hearings started on September 12, 2022. Unifor was represented by Dijana Simonovic and Jenna Meguid. “Unifor focused legal argument on the claim that Bill 124 discriminates against Unifor’s women members.” The court was asked to “find that Bill 124 violates the freedom of association protection in the Charter, as well as the equality rights of its female members.” Even though the court is now considering all of the arguments and evidence we need to continue to put pressure on the Government to repeal Bill 124.
We continued our fight back to achieve a fair collective agreement at Chartwell Parkhill. We entered a car into the Parkhill Derby. The car had our message of #respectusprotectuspayus on the roof. We would like to thank Travis for driving the car for the Local and membership.
The Bob White Golf Tournament was held on August 29 at Pineknot Golf and Country Club. We saw golfers from across Southwestern Ontario come together to raise $75,000 in the name of Bob White for our area women’s shelters.
Family Fun Day was our largest East Park event yet with 437 people in attendance. The responses we have received back have all indicated that this day was a huge success. I would like to thank the Executive for once again making this day an enjoyable experience for our members and their families.
Local 302 participated in the Woodstock Take Back the Night event along with other area locals. We will also be attending the Anova Wine Dine and Showtime event on Thursday September 29.
Lana announced last week that National Representative Kelly-Anne Orr will be the Assistant to the President for Healthcare, Social Services and Education. Congratulations Kelly-Anne we know we are in good hands with you.
I’m sure we have all seen the pictures coming out of Eastern Canada on the devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have been impacted by Fiona. We are reaching out to the National Union to see if there is a going to be a combined contribution from all Unifor Locals sent or if we are to send in our own donation to aide in the cleanup.
Bargaining News
The bargaining committee at St. Mary’s Hospital have reached a tentative agreement and will be ratifying October 19.
We have ratified agreements with Richmond Woods Retirement Residence, Alexandra Hospital, Tillsonburg Hospital, Cedar Crossing Retirement Community, Seasons Retirement Community, Holiday Inn and Suites, Extendicare London, and Port Stanley.
Upcoming negotiations
Caressant Care Courtland, Caressant Care Bonnie Place, Longworth Retirement Residence, Pinehaven Nursing Home, and Vision Retirement
Ongoing negotiations
Chartwell London, Dearness Home, Chartwell Parkhill, Avon Maitland School Board, Waterloo Catholic School Board
Arbitration
Chelsey Park Nursing Home