COVID-19 UPDATE

Dear members,

We are living in unprecedented times.   COVID-19 has created an alarming situation for all working people, and that includes Unifor members in Canada. Over the past few days, we have been listening and responding to many of you who have expressed concerns and questions about the economic fallout of the pandemic.

In hospitality and gaming, education, retail, airlines, auto and more, we are facing mass layoffs. Health care workers, already pushed to the breaking point, are preparing to bravely treat patients of this pandemic, and prevent further spread in long-term care homes. In many sectors, including transportation, telecommunications, retail and pharmacies, vital work continues, and workers need protection.

Unifor is treating this situation very seriously and has created a task force, led by National Secretary Treasurer Lana Payne to provide you the latest information. This includes our list of demands from government to keep you healthy, and to mitigate financial hardship.

Unifor’s position is that federal and provincial governments are not acting fast enough to properly stop the spread of the coronavirus before our health care system is completely overrun, and before more Canadians get sick.

Jerry wrote to the federal government on March 12 to make key demands that would protect workers. Without the adequate response measures in place, too many workers will face a difficult choice between going to work while sick and making ends meet. Jerry has been in constant contact with politicians and policy makers, pushing for measures to assist workers.

The webpage www.unifor.org/covid19 is your one-stop hub for union information about the pandemic response. You will find resources and new, printable, sector specific information sheets along with regular updates from the task force. Unifor has adopted an all hands-on deck approach to supporting members during these challenging and uncertain times. We have worked every day to answer questions, communicate with employers, and call on governments to flatten the curve and respect working people in this time of crisis.

If you have questions, we have answers, about EI sickness benefits, work absences, in-person meetings, and refusing work, read our Frequently Asked Questions on COVID-19 .

For the latest public health information, contact your local health agency, listed here on our resources page.

We have also compiled a COVID-19 Checklist for income replacement that sets out the possible measures that may be available for income replacement events including; sickness due to COVID-19, isolation or quarantine, family care obligations, and layoff or business closures.

We do not know how this crisis will evolve. What is certain is your union will continue to monitor the situation and keep you posted on what you need to know.

Now, more than ever, we have to work together to strengthen our connection, our communities, and our vision for working people in Canada.

In solidarity,

Jerry Dias
National President  

Lana Payne
National Secretary-Treasurer

Renaud Gagné
Quebec Director

Urgent Action: Tell Ford "No cuts to TVO"

The details of Doug Ford’s first budget were just released, and just as we feared, Mr. Ford has unleashed cuts on TVO.

We all saw this coming, but I’m still in disbelief.

The details of Doug Ford’s first budget were just released, and just as we feared, Mr. Ford has unleashed cuts on TVO. The damage is just shy of $2,000,000 – a 4.5% cut. That may not sound like a lot, but you have to remember that TVO’s budget has been frozen since 2015. Adjusting for inflation, Ford’s cuts leave TVO’s budget 11% smaller than it was in four years ago.

Maybe Steve Paikin asked one tough question too many.

He boasts that his is the first ever “government for the people”, but Doug Ford’s war on Polkaroo flies in the face of the people’s will. Last year, our research found↗︎ that 73% of Ontarians support maintaining or increasing funding for TVO and TFO, including 66% of people who would consider voting for Ford’s Progressive Conservatives.

The people’s will is clear. Will you help us to make it heard? Please give generously to support our phone blitz.↗︎

TVO, and its French-language counterpart TFO, provide invaluable current affairs and educational programming that enrich the lives of all Ontarians. Ford’s assault on public broadcasting is a direct affront to our culture of decency and democracy.

We have an ambitious plan to place 10,000 phone calls to Progressive Conservative MPPs, so they come to understand just how much Ontarians value public broadcasting. To do that, we need to raise $10,000 in the next 48 hours. Please chip in so we can respond with force.

Just like his populist counterparts around the world, Doug Ford is no fan of an informed public. When journalists expose his shortcomings, he calls them “the opposition.” He plans to fire 3,475 teachers, and now we know that he’s no friend of TVO.

An ignorant society is vulnerable to authoritarianism. That’s why we must do everything we can to stop Doug Ford’s assault on Ontario’s educational public broadcasters.

Help us make 10,000 calls to Progressive Conservative MPPs. Let’s show Mr. Ford what people power can do.↗︎

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting

Making Ontario Open for Business Act will scrap key Liberal workplace laws

Premier Doug Ford's government will freeze Ontario's minimum wage at $14 for another two years with a sweeping new bill that scraps many of the labour reforms brought in by the previous Liberal government in favour of a more pro-business agenda.

The omnibus legislation, unveiled Tuesday, is designed to fulfil one of Ford's central campaign promises, to make Ontario "open for business." It will change several provincial laws, notably employment standards.

The new act will repeal the bulk of the Kathleen Wynne government's Bill 148, labour legislation that gives all Ontario workers a minimum of two paid sick days and forces employers to pay part-time and casual staff at the same rate as full-time workers.

The bill announced Tuesday, called the Making Ontario Open for Business Act, scraps the two paid sick days legislated by the previous government. It also cancels 10 personal emergency leave days and replaces that with up to three days for personal illness, two for bereavement and three for family responsibilities, all unpaid.

The bill also eliminates pay-equity for part-time and casual workers.

Christine, a woman who the CBC News has agreed not to identify to protect her job, works four part-time minimum wage jobs in Richmond Hill, Ont. 

Business groups such as the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Council of Canada have been urging the Ford government to take away the new sick day and pay equity protections granted to Ontario workers this year.

On Tuesday, Ontario Chamber of Commerce chief executive Rocco Rossi said Bill 148 was a case of "too much, too fast."

In a statement, he said: "The compounding labour reforms and unintended consequences came at too high a cost to Ontario's economy. We are absolutely thrilled that the Government of Ontario is holding strong in its commitment to keep Ontario open for business."

Labour unions, however, were not enthused about the new bill.

To read the full article from CBC, click here:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-open-for-business-bill-148-repeal-1.4874351