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Canadian Council continued on day two with a jam-packed agenda that included the latest on organizing, equity, and strikes and lock-outs.
“It’s damn well time for our governments to legislate strong and enforceable anti-scab laws in every jurisdiction in this country,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
A lock out in Gander of 30 Local 597 members has been going on for 608 days. In Montreal 85 members of Local 6000 have been on strike since July 6, 2018.
Delegates learned that Unifor’s organizing department has brought in 285 new units from every sector of the economy, for a total of 21,819 new members.
In the last month alone , nearly 1,000 new members have joined Unifor’s ranks.
“Together we will all continue to build what is already the largest union in the private sector and the most progressive union in Canada,” said Chris McDonald, Assistant to the National President.
Some of these newly organized workplaces include Amnesty International, Aher Transport, Campeau Bus Lines and Ralston Canada.
These successes are even more significant in light of employer-friendly labour laws that discourage union activism.
The discussion shifted to to NAFTA as guest speaker Raymond Bachand, Quebec’s chief negotiator, shared his insights on the trade talks.
Delegates learned about Unifor’s Equity Audit and the development of model language, tools and resources, and other efforts better reflect the union’s diversity at the local and national union level.
“From conducting an internal awareness campaign, to strengthening local equity standing committee structures, we remain committed to implement the recommendations that came from the Equity Audit Report,” said Christine Maclin, Unifor Director of Human Rights.
Recommendations from the National President were overwhelming supported, including a plan for active participation in member-to-member engagement in advance of the 2019 federal election and a commitment to push the federal government to legislate pay equity.
