The GuardianDECEMBER 2016 –– Volume 72 –– Issue 3 –– Windsor - Essex

all those workers in advance for serving ourcommunity, not just during the holidays

but throughout the entire year.

The UniforGuardian Board,

and each of its respectiveExecutive Boards and Workplace

Representatives would like to take thisopportunity to wish our membership and

their families a safe, joyful, and well-deservedHoliday Season. Furthermore, the Guardian

Board encourages its membership to rememberwith appreciation those who are required to workduring the Holidays. We mustn’t forget that manysectors of the economy work seven days a week,

24 hours a day, and 365 days a year. We thank

The Guardian – 2

By CHRIS

TAYLOR,President,

Unifor Local 200

IIwould like to start my report bythanking all of the GuardianBoard leadership and the mem-

bers of the Locals that make up theGuardian. Your support for our De-troit 3 (D3) Bargaining Committeesreally did make a difference and gaveall of us the confidence to get the jobdone.

We went into Detroit Three bar-gaining with a clear and solid planthat, if successful would set up our fa-cilities and indeed our communitiesand future generations with years ofjob security and stabilize our Cana-dian Auto foot print. We have all beenaffected by the constant flow of goodpaying secure Auto and Auto partsjobs to the southern United States andof course Mexico and our goal in2016 was to show that through re-sponsible bargaining we can competein the global auto industry and that in-vesting in the Canadian operations ofFord, Chrysler and General Motors isnot only good for our members andcommunities but also good for thecorporations!The outcome of bargaining for all

of our D3 operations across GM, FCAand Ford was achieved through thestrength and solidarity of our mem-bers and in Windsor in particular theratification of both the FCA and Fordagreements defined who we are andsent a clear message to the corpora-tions that we are in this for the longterm. In all, a total of 1.3 billion dol-lars worth of investments were se-cured in this round of bargaining andwhat really is a tremendous win for all

of us and includes those both directlyand indirectly employed, was keep-ing the GM operation in Oshawa openand secure for the future. Going intobargaining we were told by anylists,economists and auto researchers thatthere was nothing that Unifor woulddo to save that facility, they told us the“Ship has sailed” and wished us luck.

Let me be clear, luck had nothingto do with what we were able toachieve at GM, Ford and FCA, It washard work and dedication on behalf ofthe Bargaining Committees who werefully supported by our members andmore importantly, the steadfast com-mitment from our National PresidentJerry Dias who maintained a positionfrom day one, saying that there willnot be agreements with the D3 unlessthere is significant investment in ourfacilities and he never waivered.

Our Ford operations in Windsor,with the new investment, will be se-cured for many years and when thedust settles on the work that will takeplace at the Annex with the new 7.XLiter we fully expect that no one will

be left on lay-off and we will have theopportunity to hire those membersthat lost recall rights and transferredto other facilities. We were devastated in 2014 when

Ford made a decision to place theDragon engine program in Mexicoand from that day on we made it ourmandate, both as a Bargaining Com-mittee and as a membership that wewould not be placed into a positionagain to have the company make thedecision on our future and the new in-vestment that we have achieved forour Windsor operations is proof of oursteadfast commitment to win the in-vestment that we earned!

At FCA we entered negotiationsdetermined to win investment for ourBrampton Assembly Plant, morespecifically the paint shop at Bramp-ton. For as long as I can remember wehave been talking about the need toupdate the paint shop at Bramptonand it is extremely satisfying for all ofthe D3 Bargaining Committees tofinally come out of bargaining know-

. . . cont’d on next page

Investment . . . InvestmentOur Goal is Now Achieved . . . FORD, FCA, GM

Unifor Local 200 delegates are seen at the recent 5th AnnualOntario Regional Council recently held in Toronto.

The Guardian – 3

Chris Taylor . . . cont’d

. . . cont’d on next page

A proud moment for Unifor Local 200 President and Chairperson of the Ford Master Bargaining Committee,Chris Taylor, who is seen addressing over 1400 active and retired members of Local 200 at the recent rati-fication vote of the new Ford agreement. A major investment of over $400 million to launch the all new singlesource 7.X liter engine program at the Annex. Along with the other gains achieved the 6700 Ford workersratified the agreement with 58% voting in favour. The breakdown on the individual locals was as follows,Local 200 voted 88.7% in favour, Local 240 voted 97% in favour, Local 584 voted 60% in favour, Local 707rejected the agreement with 55% voting no and local 1087 voted 70% in favour.

ing that the Brampton Plant will getthe investment needed for the paintshop which will allow for future in-vestment on next or new generationmodels at that facility. With this com-mitment and the recent investmentthat has been completed at WindsorAssembly Plant our FCA facilities arewell situated to continue offeringgreat products and job security wellinto the future.

Unfortunately along with all ofour achievements there was a lot ofdistractions that took away from the

bargaining gains. In particular we hadto deal with social media that spreadfalse information causing a lot of is-sues and really did take bargaininginto new territories that we all hadhoped would not see. Social media isa great tool but there are too manythat took advantage of this tool to tryto drive wedges between committeesand our members and this was unfor-tunate. I can only say that people havethe absolute right to speak their mindbut I will never agree that people havethe right to spread lies and false infor-

mation to the point that it affects ourability to bargain and maintain in-tegrity for the process. Our membersdeserve the very best that the bargain-ing committees can deliver and thatability cannot be jeopardized by a fewpeople who have nothing better to dothan try to interrupt our lives and po-tentially negatively affect our livelyhoods. It is difficult enough to bargain in anage where we have government thatdoes not support us, trade deals have

Chris Taylor. . . cont’d

put us at an unfair advantage at a timewhen the corporations claim they are“Global”. We are competing with ju-risdictions that stop unionization andso called “Right to Work” states thatput our bargaining in a very tough po-sition going up against corporationsthat have the ability to pick up andleave without repercussion.

It is all these things and manymore that force us to do reality checkswhen we bargain and leadership de-mands that we must be open and hon-est with our members on theirexpectations. For these and manymore reasons it forced our leadershipto a balanced approach and the out-come proves that we stayed thecourse.

On behalf of myself, I want topersonally thank all of you who sup-ported us during bargaining and wecan all look to a long healthy futurefor our Auto and Auto parts that willprovide security for the current gen-eration and opportunities for futuregenerations.

American PoliticsThe election is done and the out-

come is known world wide and thereis reason for concern. Donald Trumpran a campaign of fear, a campaign ofdivision and he managed to drive awedge between so many groups. Hehas divided by ethnicity, women andmen, young and old, and by class.Trump is the worst type of leader inthat he promised the world and will bedelivering stones. Look at his picksfor leadership, to date all but one areeither billionaires or millionaires anddoes anyone think that the Americanswill be better off by being governedby those exact people who are respon-sible for outsourcing, responsible forthe financial collapse, responsible forthe ever widening gap between therich and poor. We certainly hold out

unacceptable to all of us. He can sayall he wants about creating millions ofnew jobs but if they are all at mini-mum wage, what have the Americansreally gained.

Only time will tell what will hap-pen under the Presidency of DonaldTrump but we cannot sit back andhope that his agenda will not spillover to Canada and more importantlywe will have to put pressure on ourgovernment to ensure Trump does notfurther erode our position. JustinTrudeau must be prepared to react tothe fact that Donald Trump may verywell “Make America Great Again”but the slogan may mean that it is allabout America and Great Again likelymeans great at repressing people byclass, colour and ethnicity and this isnot what we want on this side of theborder.

I want to take an opportunityagain to thank the GuardianBoard and our members andwish you all the very best Christ-mas Holidays and all the best inthe New Year.

hope that he will not practice his badbehaviour and that his off the cuffcomments will be curtailed but by thecampaign that he ran, it is highlydoubtful.

The fact is that the results of theelection are not because DonaldTrump was the best candidate, he wonbecause people are tired of politicianswho say one thing and do some thingelse. The electoral system is rigged inthe U.S. Hillary won the popular voteby over 2 million votes and yet Don-ald is president. Our system is alsorigged by the continued use of “firstpast the post” and this too must befixed.

Sisters and Brothers, we can allbe happy that the results of the elec-tion will mean that the TPP will begone and he may re-negotiateNAFTA, but does anyone think thatDonald Trump will do anything onbehalf of Canadians if he does rene-gotiate the agreements? What we willsee is that Michigan will not be thelast state to go “Right to Work”. Wewill see the entire United States go to“Right to Work” and that should be

The Guardian – 4

After 23 years of dedicated and excellent service at the Local 200 /444 unionhall, custodian and Local 240 member, Serg Santarossa, along with hiswife Debbie are seen with Local 200 and 444 staff and officers. On behalfof everyone who has passed through the hall over the years, we wish Sergand Debbie a happy, healthy, and well-deserved retirement.

The Guardian – 5

DDECEMBER 01, 2016 marksthe 75th year in existencefor our Local Union, after a

bitter 99 day strike, which led to theimplementation of the Rand Formulafor all Union Shops. Throughout theyears from our humble and trailblaz-ing beginnings, Local 200 has beena leader in working to change the so-cial fabric of our country, all in orderto improve the quality of lives forour members. It would take manypages to list our accomplishmentsthroughout the past seven decades.None of this would be possible if notfor the dedication and determinationof our leadership, and the support ofour members throughout the years.

The economic environment weare in has evolved in many waysthroughout the years, and Local 200has had to make many changes inorder to survive. In 1941 we repre-sented Ford members only. Fast for-ward to 2016 and we are now anamalgamated Local representing 6units throughout our community.

One thing that has remained con-stant throughout our history is thefact that our members have alwaysbeen there to do what needs to bedone in good times and in bad times.Charitable acts and giving back tothe community in so many differentways is second nature to all of us.

This is a trait that has beenpassed down throughout generationsof our members. It is just what wedo, and we do it better than anyone!It is true that no one can predict thefuture, but one thing that can be pre-dicted is that in the years to come,

Local 200 will always be ready toface any challenges and obstaclesput in front of us. That will neverchange.

May you all have a greatHoliday Season and a HappyNew Year.

LOCAL 200

ByDAN CASSADY

SecretaryTreasurer

Unifor Local 200

Happy BirthdayLocal 200

Unifor Local 200 in partnership with the United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County, Canvassers take a moment for a photo-op and hope that themembers will continue as in the past, making a donation for those less for-tunate our community .

Busy Year but SuccessfulLOCAL 444

ByDINO CHIODO

UniforLocal 444 Presidentdchiodo@uni444.ca

The Guardian – 6

OOn November 2nd, aforum on the Trans Pa-cific Partnership was

held at the Ciocaro Club ofWindsor, hosted by the Cana-dian Labour Congress and theCouncil of Canadians. Guestspeakers Hassan Yussuff andMaude Barlow talked about theneed for trade agreements to befair to all jurisdictions that signon to them and to the vast inap-propriateness of signing dealsthat affect the Health and wellbeing of the Canadian people.

They were joined at thepodium by youth activist JadaMalott, an 11 year old that

knows more about the Trans Pa-cific Partnership than probablythe majority of Canadians. Jadaspoke to the thousands of pagesthat contains the TPP and whypublic consultations did not takeplace before the Governmentstarted negotiating with thecountries involved in its imple-mentation. She also touched onthe idea that today's youth aretomorrow’s constituents and thatGovernments should not onlypay attention to what they aregetting involved in, but also lis-ten to their needs for their fu-tures.

The pressure put on the Lib-

eral government, although in-tense at times, was only a part ofwhy it looks that the TPP is fi-nally dead. The U.S. Electionalso played a big part in it asboth candidates who were run-ning said they would veto it assoon as elected. This may soundlike a blessing to us and it cer-tainly is to the extent that theTPP is most likely over with atthis point, however the greaterconcern is that the U.S. is nowin a position to negotiate andrenegotiate other trade dealswith Canada. U.S. President-elect, Donald

Trump has signaled that hewants to renegotiate NAFTAand has even gone as far as tosay it doesn't serve U.S. inter-ests. This is a scary propositionfor Canadians and our jobs asNAFTA has always benefitedthe U.S. more than Canada.Using this logic, once the U.S.renegotiated a deal that is bettersuited to 'their interests' it servesto say that it will be less likelyto help Canadians in any way.

The war regarding tradeagreements is heating up nowthat the election south of the bor-der is over and we will need towatch very closely to see howthings play out over the coming

. . . cont’d on next page

TPP, NAFTA, U.S. Election, oh my!

On November 30th, thousands attended a demonstration at Queen’s Parkin Toronto in opposition to Schedule 17 of Bill 70 of Ontario's budget im-plementation legislation. All Provincial Trades are telling Premier KathleenWynne to kill that Bill as it hurts trades and endangers workers. Further-more, the Bill will deregulate compulsory trade work in Ontario, and coulddiminish consumer protection.

The Guardian – 7

Dino Chiodo. . . cont’d

years. One thing is for certain,we will need to apply more po-litical pressure than ever beforeon our governments so that theyact in the best interest of Cana-dians and our communities.Bill 70Recently, we were at Queen's

Park in Toronto with thousandsof Skilled Trades to protest thedangerous amendments pro-posed by the Ontario LiberalGovernment in Schedule 17 ofBill 70.

These amendments will im-pact more than 200,000 certifiedtrades and professionals in On-tario who will see their trainingand certification become mean-ingless due to changes that willbenefit business by allowingcheaper, unskilled labour to docomplex and potentially danger-ous work that was previouslyperformed by skilled trades indi-viduals.

The fact that this govern-ment is putting the safety ofhundreds of thousands of trades-people and those affected by thework they do on the back burneris rise for great concern.

We are calling upon the Lib-eral Government to repealamendments under Schedule 17of Bill 70 immediately and toshow that the protection of On-tarians is a priority to them.

Ontario RegionalCouncil

We have just completed ourOntario Regional Council andthe results of the various elec-tions for office are as follows.Chairperson: Dino ChiodoVice Chair: Candace Lavalley

At the recent 39th Annual Charles E. Brooks Community Service Award,this year’s recipient was Professor Brian E. Brown from the Windsor Uni-versity Faculty Association who was honoured by hundreds at the CabotoClub.

Unifor Local 444 delegates at the recent Annual 5th Ontario RegionalCouncil held in Toronto, gather for a photo

Treasurer: Tulio DiPontiMembers at Large:Kari Jefford, Ken Cole, Tim McKinnon, Jim Reid,Pearl Almeida,Stephanie Haskell, Scotty McIlmoyle,Debbie Montgomery

. . . cont’d on next page

Dino Chiodo. . . cont’d

All of our Councils are in-spiring and this one was no dif-ferent. We had guest speakerswho gave information on abroad range of topics from ChrisBuckley - OFL President, TareqHadhad - Peace by Chocolate,Jamie Kirkpatrick- Blue GreenAlliance, Nancy Peckford -Daughters of Vote, VictoriaMaxwell - Mental Health Edu-cator just to name a few.

It is always my honour to beable to Chair these Councils andto see the activism that comesright from the shop floors fromthe representatives of the vari-ous local unions that participate.Currently the Ontario RegionalCouncil represents over 180,000Unifor members in hundreds oflocal unions across the Province.The Ontario Regional Council iswhere the representatives fromthe local unions debate the di-rection of the union within theboundaries of our Province, it iswhere we set the direction ofhow, as a region, we move for-ward.

The Guardian – 8

On Remembrance Dayrecognizing those who haveserved in the military, Local 444President Dino Chiodo alongwith Local 44 war veteranDarin McAgy lay a wreathat the City Of WindsorCenotaph. Looking onalso was Local 444 Retireewar vet Rodger DeGuire.

Proud Unifor Local 444 Youth Committee members continue to expand asthey take a moment for a photo from their committee meeting. Newly electedto the following positions are Chairperson Dustin Heggie, Vice-ChairpersonDaniel Faraci and Secretary Soda Moun.

HolidayMessageI would like to take

this opportunity to wisheveryone a MerryChristmas and aHappy New Year.

When does it End?LOCAL 444

By DAVE CASSIDYUnifor Local 444 Secretary Treasurer,

President of Windsor-Essex Skilled Tradesdcassidy@uni444.ca

. . . cont’d on next page

TT he Ontario government hasintroduced amendments tothe Ontario College of Trades

and apprenticeship act that it plans topush through the legislature in theupcoming weeks. These amend-ments buried in a budget bill will di-minish the value of a certificate ofqualification in a compulsory trade-such as electrician, steamfitter,plumber, sheet metal worker to namea few. This may also impact thetrades in the non-construction sec-tors as well. Trades are designated ascompulsory in order to protect work-ers and the public. Ontario law stip-u l a t e s t h a t o n l y l i c e n s e dprofessionals or registered appren-tices can perform the work of a com-pulsory trade. The government’sproposed amendments will allowcheaper, unskilled workers to dosome of this work so that corpora-tions can save money.

The Kathleen Wynne Liberalgovernment is creating an unsafeworkplace and telling skilled tradesprofessionals and apprentices thattheir investment in training is awaste of time and money.

Why are skilled trades suddenlybeing treated differently than otherprofessions?

What message does this send tothe more than 200,000 certifiedtrades professionals across theprovince who have invested in skillstraining so they can provide qualitywork and maintain the highest safetystandards?

We don’t understand how thegovernment can say on one hand thatthey want to build a skilled work-force and then turn around and sayyou don’t need to be trained to docomplex and potentially dangerouswork.

If this process is enacted, it isbeing said that Ontario will have thelowest trade standards in Canada?Really is this what our governmentwants?

Our skilled trades council alongwith the national union has been partof a coalition called Progressive Cer-tified Trades Coalition who is call-ing on our government to severSchedule 17 from Bill 70 and refer itto the legislative committee whereall interested parties, including thepublic at large can fully discuss andunderstand the impact and who willactually benefit. CANADIAN APPRENTICESHIPFORUMAs a skilled trades council, I have

written many times about CAF. Thisorganization is committed to collab-oration, accountability and respon-siveness to the evolving needs of theApprenticeship community. Thework we do is intended to supportpolicies and programs that are well -

informed and progressive. Our mis-sion is to advocate for and promoteworld- class apprenticeship training.We represent the broad diversity ofApprenticeship stakeholders acrosstrades, across sectors, and across thecountry, and we speak as a unitedvoice for excellent policy and prac-tice by providing accurate, unbiasedresearch insights, supporting aware-ness and implementation of promis-ing pract ices , and promot ingApprenticeship as an effective modelfor training and education. The CAFwebsite is a great tool to use togather info that any group in the Ap-prenticeship community needs. Theinformation is endless and if anyoneneeds anymore info do not be afraidto send me a note for follow up.

The Guardian –9

Seen are Windsor Assembly Plant members along with their partners /spouses signing retirement papers. Helping out with questions was BradColman, WAP Benefit Representative, along with Dave Cassidy, Local 444Financial Secretary Treasurer.

DETROIT 3 BARGAININGSKILLED TRADES

Finally, after a long summer, allthree companies are "IN THEBARN" as far as ratifying their col-lective agreements. On the masterskilled trades tables we were all en-gaged from the get go with eachother. We met several times collec-tively always making sure that whatone committee was thinking ofdoing or changing had no negativeeffect on the other committees. Wewere able to maintain our work own-ership language once again which isso important to maintaining thetrades traditional work, we renegoti-ated an apprenticeship program withall three and we now have CWB andTSSA certification coming in all ourfacilities. I just want to give a shout out lo-

cally in Windsor to the three folksthat I had a pleasure to work closelyalongside during this time, Ken An-derson from Windsor Ford, Paul Re-naud and Kim McMaster from FCAWindsor. All three of you stayed fo-cused, to the point, had done yourhomework, were very well preparedand represented the membership sec-ond to none. I know with your lead-ership inside our facilities, ourskilled trades are in good hands.Congrats to the three of you!

CLOSINGThe holidays are for family and

friends.To Jen, Connor and Mack who

support me day in and day out I can'tthank you enough, I love you guys.

To the entire membership fromcoast to coast that I represent, thankyou for the unwavering support youhave shown me. I continue to learnand grow because of the support andThe Guardian –10

Dave Cassidy, National Chair to Skilled Trades and Phil Fryer, NationalSkilled Staff Representative, are seen with Dave Jones, Local 707 acceptinga donation which was made by Bob Chernicki Charity of Choice. Dave's fa-ther, Ron was the past President of the Canadian Skilled Trades Counciland for many years, played an intricate part in building the Council and willbe sadly missed.

Dave Cassidy. . . cont’d

challenges that become bestowed onme from each and everyone of you.

Remember to keep the brothersand sisters from our other sectorswho have to work during the holi-days in our thoughts as they providegreat service to either their patients

or patrons.Enjoy your holidays, stay safe

and always remember..."Keep the main thing, the main

thing" With Respect and Solidarity!

Cass

Unifor representatives , parliamentarians along with an estimated 4,500 peo-ple gathered at Queen’s Park in Toronto opposing Schedule 17 of Bill 70 ofOntario's budget implementation legislation. That section, known as Sched-ule 17, would give the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) the powerto review or overrule some decisions made by the industry-run Ontario Col-lege of Trades.

80 YEARS OFSUCCESS

LOCAL 195ByGERRYFARNHAMPresident,Unifor Local 195

Greetings Sisters & Brothers,We will be celebrating our 80th

Anniversary on December 9th. We arecertainly not alone in celebrating whatwas the beginning of industrial union-ism in Canada for autoworkers. 80years ago the workers at KelseyWheel in Windsor were determined toestablish their own union organizationto fight for job security and betterworking conditions in their facility.Eighty years later we certainly thankthose courageous fighters whoproudly stood together and receivedthe first ever union charter of the thencall U.A.W. Local 195, this was onDecember 11, 1936.

Looking back, there is plenty ofhistory that showed the most difficultstruggles taking place. Remember, thework back then was extremely physi-cal and hazardous. There was no com-pensation for any worker who was

killed or injured on the job. Workerswere treated as old rusty machinerywould be, and thrown out onto thestreets. Kelsey Wheel workers orga-nized with the cooperation of fellowAmerican workers, who stood withtheir Windsor Brothers, in order toachieve the first Local ever to be rec-ognized in Canada.

We never forget the founders ofour Local and we do still show respectto all sixteen charter members by,awarding sixteen aspiring post-sec-ondary students who are the childrenof our members. We do this each andevery year. We will continue to up-hold the spirit of resistance, with de-termination based on our long historyof proving that fighting back makes adifference. I’ve heard in past years that unions

were “outdated” and had “served theirtime”. However, I also remember this

was all being said, at the same time aferocious attack was underwayagainst retired workers, against secu-rity, and an attempt to drive downwages and our hard fought benefits.We fought off many of those chal-lenges over the years by standing to-gether and not wavering and we willcontinue to fight hopefully over thenext eighty years, in order to advanceas part of a social movement for amore humane society, for dignity, forpeace, justice and equality for allworking, women, men and their fam-ilies.

In closing, on behalf of UniforLocal 195, our Executive Board andour Staff we would like to wish youGuardian Board readers and theirfamilies, the very best throughout theholidays and a healthy and prosperousNew Year.Below is a list of recent newly rat-

ified Collective Agreements since ourlast Guardian Report:University of Windsor CampusPolice and Parking ServicesOur members ratified a new 3-year

agreement on Tuesday, September20th, 2016. Highlights of this agree-ment were: numerous language im-provements, increase union time, shiftpremium increases, increases tohealth and welfare for physiotherapy,new hearing test, life insurance in-crease to $170,000, a new union of-fice will be established, wageincreases of 1.5% year 1, 1.25% inyear 2 and 1.5% in year 3. As well, a new classification of

. . . cont’d on next pageThe Guardian – 11

Local officers and members from Unifor Local 195 look on as OFLPresident Chris Buckley addresses audience at the recent

Ontario Regional Council.

Gerry FarnhamReport . . . cont’d

senior special constable was added inthis agreement. The member musthave 10 years of service and will thenautomatically move in to this newclassification. The increases to thisclassification are an additional $1.00year one per hour, .70 cents in year 2and .50 cents in year 3, equaling a$2.20 an hour increase plus the nego-tiated percentages in each year.

Wages vary in this group from thehigh end to $38.11 and low end 4thclass of $27.21. Parking classifica-tion also varies from the high end of$41.29 to $25.20 on the low end.Congratulations are in order to JohnDekok, Chairperson, Mike Rapaich,Committee, Christine Fitzgerald,Committee, Gerry Farnham, PresidentUnifor 195, Mina Sarajcic, UniforStaff Rep.Performance Ford

On Wednesday, September 21,2016, our members at ratified a new3-year agreement. Highlights of thisagreement are: numerous languageimprovements, life insurance in-crease, tool allowance increases,safety shoe increases, renewal of li-censes paid for at 100%, increases inwages of $1.20 per hour over the lifeof agreement. Retro will be paid outfrom July of 2016 to-date.Congratulations to the Bargaining

Committee which consisted of JasonThomas, Chairperson, Kyle Will,Committeeperson, John Toth, 1st VicePresident Unifor 195, Gerry Farnham,President, Unifor 195 and MikeLovric, Unifor Staff Rep.

Emrick Plastics Our members at ratified a new 3-

year agreement on Sunday October 2,2016. Highlights of this agreementare: numerous language improve-

ments, Family Day will now be ob-served, Health and Welfare increasesin vision, S&A, dental, chiropractic,physiotherapy and massage therapy,bereavement pay for brother-in-lawand sister-in-law increased to imme-diate family. PEL increase, part-timeemployees increases, pension in-creases, license fees covered now forskilled trade certificates, buy-outpackage with a minimum of 25 yearsof service, COLA will continue run-ning in this agreement, taking thewages to $30.46 in skilled trades onthe high end and $24.16 an hour onthe low end for a machine operator, aswell as, in lieu of wage increases, a$1000.00 bonus in year 1, $750.00bonus in year 2 and $750 bonus inyear 3. Congratulations to the bargaining

committee of Vicki Westworth, Chair-person, Judy Grant, Committee, KyleChew, Committee, Tony Ciampa,Secretary Treasurer Unifor 195, GerryFarnham, President Unifor 195 andMike Lovric, Unifor Staff Rep.Team Paint

On Sunday October 9, 2016, ourmembers at ratified a new 4-yearagreement.

Highlights to this agreement in-clude: some language changes. Thisagreement was basically a roll overagreement with the exception of somehiring to the full-time position willtake place, as well all full-time, per-manent part-time and part-time work-ers will be red circled into theircurrent classifications. Wages in theseareas range from $34.00 an hour onthe high end to $24.94 an hour on thelow end. Those workers who wereworking for the temp agency will behired on to Team increasing theirwages from the current $15.00 to$19.95 per hour. Possible buy-out packages may be

available, as well there was a ratifica-tion bonus of $1500.00 to all full-timeemployees, $750.00 for part-time andpermanent part-time employees and$250.00 for all casual part-timers.

Congratulations to the bargainingcommittee which consisted of BryanCrosby, Chairperson, Jay Boismier,Committee, Sue McCall, Committee,Otis Brown, Committee, DennisCostello, Committee, John Toth, VicePresident Unifor 195, Gerry Farnham,President Unifor 195 and Whitey Mc-Donald, National Staff Rep.

The Guardian –12

. . . cont’d on next page

Unifor Local 195 Delegates gather for a photo opportunity at the recentOntario Regional Council held in Toronto

Gerry Farnham

Report . . . cont’d

First StudentOur members at ratified a new 3-

year agreement on Wednesday Octo-ber 12, 2016. Highlights of thisagreement include: numerous lan-guage proposals, increased union timefor the Recording Secretary, increaseto bereavement pay, new pay forLabour Day, tool allowance increaseto the mechanics, $200 lump sum firstyear, 2% increase in year 2 based onT-4 earnings as well in year 3. Me-chanics will receive a 2% increaseyear 1, 2% in year 2 and 1.5% in year3 of this agreement taking their wagesto $32.10 by the end of the agreement. Congratulations to the bargaining

committee Flavio Marcon, Chairper-son, Maggie Carder, Committeeper-s o n , R o y A d a m a c h e ,Committeeperson, Tony Ciampa, Sec-retary Treasurer Unifor Local 195 andMike Lovric, Unifor Staff Rep.

FCA Security Our members at ratified a new 4-

year collective agreement. Highlightsof this agreement include: numerouslanguage improvements, two newpermanent positions which will in-crease the permanent employmentlevel from 44 to 46, confined spacetraining will take place in house now,new language was put in place forstaffing at the Grandmarais truck gate.Base wage increases of 2% upon rat-ification as well as another 2% in-crease in September of 2019. Therewere also some very respectful eco-nomic gains for in-progression of ourmembers.

Under this new enhanced progres-sion, a member with 2 years of servicewould receive an additional $21,050in new income compared to their re-

cent progression. As well, they willreceive the $6,000.00 ratificationbonus and the other lump sumbonuses of $2,000.00 each year total-ing $12,000.00 in bonus monies. Thenew money would create a total of$33,050.00 over the life of the agree-ment for our members that fit in that2nd year category.

The economic gains for our tradi-tional members will be valued at$19,903.00 over the life of this agree-ment. Congratulations to the bargain-ing committee which consisted of: theentire Master Bargaining Committeefor Fiat Chrysler headed up by JerryDias our National President and thefollowing specific bargaining com-mittee of Security/Fire and Emer-gency Services, Mario Moceri,Chairperson Unifor Local 195, JoeDenardi, Committeeperson and KeithLauzon, Committeeperson.A. G. Simpson

Our members at ratified a new 3-year agreement on Friday November11, 2016. Highlights include: numer-ous language improvements, increasein vision, dental, major medical, hear-ing and PSA test, increases in healthand safety, glasses and boot al-lowances, increases on new hires invacation days by two additional, in-

creases in vacation for those employ-ees with 30 years plus by two addi-tional days, which is the majority ofthis work force at this time, skilledtrade wage increases of 1% in yearone, 1% in year two and 1.5% in yearthree, which will take their wages to$31.48 by the end of this agreement.Increases in wages of 1% in all threeyears to all other classifications takingthese wages to $23.44 for productionemployees by the end of this agree-ment. The progression grid was in-creased by 5% in each year of thisnew agreement. COLA will be frozenuntil the last day of this agreementhowever $250.00 lump sums werebargained for all employees to offsetthe COLA as well as a $250.00 sign-ing bonus to all employees. Congratulations to this bargaining

committee: Jaswinder Rai, Chairper-son, Oliver Huppertz, Committeeper-son, Gerry Farnham, President UniforLocal 195 and Mina Sarajcic, Staff.

On behalf of the members on Remembrance Day Kirk St. Pierre and KevinMcMaster lay a wreath during ceremonies held at the Windsor Cenotaph.

The Guardian –13

LOCAL 195

All Workers Have the Right to ReturnHome Safe at the End of Their Shift

ByTONY

CIAMPASecretary Treasurer

Unifor Local 195

AS STATED by the Windsor Star onNovember 17, 2016 “It’s been adangerous year for workers in Wind-sor-Essex, statistics show”. Thestory in the Windsor Star highlightedsome alarming statistics, since May1, 2016 The Ministry of Labour haslaunched 39 investigations into “in-dustrial incidents” in Windsor-Essex, including three fatalities andtwo critical injuries.

All workers in Ontario have theright to return home safe and soundat the end of their shift. The OntarioHealth & Safety Act (OHSA) clearlyarticulates that preventing work-re-lated illness and injury is the mostimportant job of all workers and em-ployers. The Ministry of Labour hasin place a Safe at Work Ontario strat-egy to protect workers and enforcethe OHSA. Even with increasedworker awareness and education,

The Guardian – 14

Retired member from Local 195, and War Veteran Wayne Eaton, along with members from Local 195 take a mo-ment to remember those who have served, died and have been injured defending our country at the

Remembrance Day ceremonies held at the cenotaph at city hall square in Windsor.

. . . cont’d on next page

workplace related injuries and deathcontinues to rise across Ontario.Workplace fatalities have a tremen-dous impact on the affected families,the workplaces and the communityas a whole.

As workers, we have an obliga-tion to look for opportunities to raise

awareness and be on the look-out forhazards that could result in injury ordeath. On November 4, RobMorneau (44 years of age) wasworking on the roof of Ventra Plas-tics when he tripped, fell through askylight and died. A few weeks later,

TONY CIAMPA. . . cont’d

on November 16, Dean Trombley(51 years of age) was pinned by aheavy steel beam while working atR.J. Cyr Co. In addition to these tworecent fatalities, in October, a workerdied at Lehn Farms in Leamington,in July, a roofer died after fallingthrough the roof of a Good Life Fit-ness and that same month, a workerdied at MCM Acres greenhouse inLeamington. These tragedies are un-acceptable; we all have the right towork in a safe environment and to gohome to our families at the end of theworkday.These fatalities should serve as a

reminder about being vigilant in theworkplace. Safety is not only theemployer’s responsibility or that ofthe Workplace Health & SafetyCommittee. Each one of us, has theresponsibility to work in compliancewith the OHSA regulations, use orwear protective clothing/devices, re-port defects or any other hazards orviolations. We all have the right torefuse unsafe work. The Ministry ofLabour has many online resources(https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/pubs/publications.php) thatwe all could use to continue to raiseawareness at work, in our neighbour-hoods and with families and friends.Awareness is the key, we all can helpprevent a tragedy.

This year marked the 12th an-niversary of Bill C-45, whichamended the Canadian CriminalCode. This federal legislation, estab-lished new legal duties for work-place health and safety, and imposedserious penalties for violations thatresult in injuries or death. The Billincludes rules for attributing crimi-nal liability to organizations, includ-ing corporations, their representatives

The Guardian – 15

and those who direct the work ofothers. However this law has notbeen strictly enforced nor has it beeneffective in reducing workplace ac-cidents or death. According to theAssociation of Workers Compensa-tion Boards of Canada (AWCBC)the average annual workplace fatali-ties for the years 2000-2012 was 972workplace deaths per year. In com-parison during the first 10 years ofthe bill being passed into law, therehave only been 10 prosecutions. Thisshould raise the question as to whythere are not more workplaces beingheld criminally responsible for aworkplace related injury or death.

As we continue to concentrateour efforts on making our work-places safer, let’s also focus our at-tention on educating young people athome and in our community. Ac-cording to the Workplace Safety andInsurance Board, between 2009 and2013, 30 young workers aged 15 to24 died in work-related incidents andover 30,000 young workers receivedinjuries resulting in lost time atwork.

To help raise awareness, theMinistry of Labour has launched the

Bring Safety at Home initiative. Thishas been designed to enable parentsto play a positive, proactive role inensuring that “their children comehome after work healthy and freefrom injury at the end of each day”.

Go to http://www.bringsafety-home.com/ to access the campaignresources.

As we reflect on the workplacefatalities that our community experi-enced in 2016, let’s make a commit-ment to work tirelessly in 2017 tomake every workplace safer. Everyworker has the right to refuse unsafework, every worker, young or old,unionized or not has the right to gohome safe at the end of the work day.

Since this is the last publicationfor 2016, I would like to take this op-portunity to wish all of the readers ofthe Guardian, and in particular themembers and support staff of Local195 a joyous holiday season and allthe best for the New Year.

Local 195 Vice President John Toth along with members from the Localare seen giving a big thumbs down to the unfair T.P.P. agreement.

Canada

LOCAL 2458By

BRUCEDICKIEPresident

Unifor Local 2458A Five Week Strike

AA five week strike by supportstaff at the Windsor EssexCatholic District School

Board ended when the 370 membersof Local 2458 ratified new agree-ments on Saturday November 19,2016. The workers returned to thejob on Monday November 21, 2016.

The first new agreements havean expiry date of August 31, 2017.Due to legislation, a second set ofagreements expiring August 31,2019 had to be negotiated and rati-fied separately and all agreementssaw over 90% support of the mem-bership. The agreements coverworkers in the Office, Clerical andTechnical Bargaining Unit and theCustodial, Maintenance and SkilledTrades Bargaining Unit.

The bargaining committee andlocal executive thank the membersfor their support and patience duringthis difficult strike where the em-ployer seemed more intent on bar-

gaining through the media than at thebargaining table.

We also wish to express our sin-cere appreciation and thanks for thesupport of the teachers, students andparents. Public support was alsooverwhelming, and we would like tothank members of other Unifor Lo-cals and area Unions who picketedwith us and made countless dona-tions to the strikers. We are gratefulfor the tremendous level of supportwe received throughout the dispute.

This was a strike that did notneed to, and should not have hap-pened. The School Board took a po-sition that the Union would have toagree to certain take aways as a pre-condition to bargaining. This posi-tion was disrespectful and unfair tothe Board’s employees, and was un-justified and unacceptable to theUnion Bargaining teams.

In the end, at the urging of theUnion, the Ministry of Education in-

tervened to get the Board back to thebargaining table and settlementswere reached after three days of in-tense negotiations.

Many of you may know frommedia coverage during the strike anda previous article appearing in thisspace that the School Board and theprovincial government have beentrying to end post-retirement benefitsfor retirees of the Board for sometime. An Ontario Superior Court de-cision that came down in April ofthis year found against the govern-ment and the board in their pleas thatproviding those benefits was con-trary to the Education Act.

Although the Court ruled that theP.R.B.s did not contravene that Act,both the government and the boardcontinued to hold to that position inbargaining. As well, the Union wassuccessful in challenging Bill 115,which illegally imposed the previouscollective agreements on the supportworkers and a remedy to that was or-dered by Justice Lederer.

As a result of the settlements andthe previous court decisions, currentretirees will continue to have post-retirement health care benefits paidfor by the Employer and a number ofworkers who are or will be retire-ment eligible, will be able to retireand have that same benefit package.In total 54 more workers will now beable to access retirement benefits.Unfortunately, no other worker willbe offered health care benefits in re-tirement in the future. As compen-s a t i o n , w e n e g o t i a t e d c a s hsettlements ranging from $1,000 to

The Guardian – 16

. . . cont’d on next page

President Bruce Dickie updates the Unifor Area Retirees Council and tellsthem that the recent strike against the Office, Clerical and Technical Bar-gaining Unit and the Custodial, Maintenance and Skilled Trades BargainingUnit was one of the worst attacks he has seen coming from the schoolboard pertaining to court orders on the picket line.

BRUCE DICKIE. . . cont’d

$35,000 to current workers. We were one of only two School

Boards in the province that had post-retirement benefits in our collectiveagreements. Those benefits were ne-gotiated and in place over the pastfive decades and there was tremen-dous pressure to end the practice infuture. The settlement reached pro-tected those who had made sacrificesin past bargaining in order to eithermaintain their retirement health carebenefits, or be compensated.

The attitude we encounteredwith this board and the Ontarioprovincial government is reflectiveof a much larger scale attack onworkers’ benefits and pension plans.Starting with the financial meltdownof 2008/2009 an attack began on de-fined benefit pensions, sick leaveprovisions and both pre and post-re-tirement health care benefits.

We have all heard about benefittrusts, something our Union has ex-perience with and is very much op-posed to. Public and private sectorEmployers alike are trying to eitherreduce or eliminate their responsibil-ity for pension and benefits.The Federal government of Justin

Trudeau has introduced a new bill –Bill C-27 which would amend the“Pension Benefits Standards Act”and allow federally regulated em-ployees and Crown Corporations toreplace defined benefit pension planswith defined contribution plans.

In the United States, President-elect Donald Trump is getting adviceon how to attack federal governmentemployee Unions to reduce or elim-inate their bargaining power. (Wis-consin among other states have allbut eliminated public sector unionsfrom bargaining contracts for theirworkers).

It’s the same old story, CEOs and

Local 2458 members are seen in Toronto attending the Unifor Health CareCouncil prior to the 5th Annual Ontario Regional Council.

Seen are Local 2458 delegates attending the 5th Annual Ontario RegionalCouncil which was held in Toronto.

The Guardian – 17

top management typically have verygenerous defined benefit pensionand health care plans, but the work-ers must make sacrifices in the nameof competitiveness and efficiency. Ibelieve we will only see an increasein this kind of approach. It is biggerthan just our Union, and bigger thansomething to only be dealt with inbargaining. We are going to have togo on the offensive, politically andsocially to educate people that wecan and should afford a decent stan-

dard of living with pensions andhealth benefit security to all workers.

The irony of a strike over bene-fits at an employer whose sole func-tion is to educate our children andgrandchildren so they can becomeproductive members of society withgood paying jobs and decent benefitswas not lost on our members.

Wishing all Unifor Members thebest for the Christmas holidays anda very Happy New Year!

Doubling Down our Efforts By

TULLIODIPONTI

Secretary TreasurerUnifor Local 2458

LOCAL 2458

WW ithin Unifor I am fortunate to beable to have multiple roleswithin our union. This month

marks three years as Financial Secretaryfor our Ontario Health Care Council.

The regional council structure wascreated when we formed Unifor in 2013,and it's been a privilege to represent ourmembers on this board. It gives us theopportunity to focus on issues that arespecific to Ontario and affect both ourmembers, and all workers.

One of those issues is the ChangingWorkplace Review, a consultationprocess undertaken by our provincialgovernment to update the EmploymentStandards Act and the Ontario LabourRelations Act.Unifor has been able to play a remark-

able role in this process. It started justover a year ago with public consultationsin 14 cities. Unifor activists and leader-ship presented in every single location.We followed that with a Queen’s ParkLobby last December, where we had par-ticipation from over 20 local unions, andmet with 50 MPPs.

Our written submission, drafted bydebate at our Ontario Regional Council,contained 43 recom-mendat ions tha twould improve thelives of all workingOntarians. When theinterim report wasreleased this pastsummer, almost allof our recommenda-tions were included.In fact, in the case ofbroader based bar-gaining sectors, theadvisors have goneeven further to out-line how this couldwork.

We've since sub-mitted a follow-up

written response and concentrated on thespecific areas where the advisors have re-quested more detail. As I write this, weare expecting the final report of the advi-sors very soon. In fact one of them isscheduled to speak at our ORC meeting.But the employer groups are working

too. Some of them have formed a coali-tion called "Keep Ontario Working." Thename sounds positive, but it is anythingbut. They're concerned about their 'flexi-bility'. And they're firmly against anyprogressive changes that would improvethe lives of working people.

Minister of Labour Kevin Flynnespoke to the more than 700 delegates,staff, and guests at our last Ontar io Re-gional Counci l . His comments werethoughtful and reflected how many of usfeel about the new realities of work. And,thanks to technology and verbatim min-utes, we can quote him accurately! Hesaid:

“You work in nearly every sector ofour community and you share with ourgovernment a vision of a society that ismore fair, that is more secure for the peo-ple that work in this province.”

The laws we wrote back then simplydon't apply to the reality of today's work-

place. You understand that, I understandthat, and the Ministry of Labour under-stands that. And, it is so important thatour laws stay relevant to the reality ofworking in Ontario today. We need toproperly protect those who need protec-tions. We also need to let employers un-derstand what the standards are today inthe Province of Ontario."

We will have to hold him to hiswords. We know that to be able to seeprogressive change we will have to keepup the pressure. This really is a once in alifetime opportunity.

Once the final report is released, thegovernment will be making decisions onwhat types of reform are needed. Therecould be some very positive improve-ments for workers, that would make iteasier to join a union, enhance protec-tions and rights for non-union workers,and ensure the continuation of rights forworkers affected when a contract isflipped.

But to see progressive reforms wewill need to double down our efforts. Weknow that the employer lobby groups

will be demandingstatus quo or worse.We must make surewe are the voice ofworkers. We willbe calling on all ofyou to help us dothat.

As I close my re-marks, I do want towish all of you asafe and joyous hol-iday season, and en-courage everyonewith the capacity todo so, to donate tothose in our com-munity who are inneed.

The Guardian – 18

Unifor Local 2458 Executive Board members are seen wearing purplesporting a campaign “Shine the Light” to bring the awareness ofdomestic violence and homelessness against women throughout

the community.

BySCOTT

RICHARDSONChairperson

• REGIONAL 10-PIN BOWLINGTOURNAMENTSunday, January29, 2017Deadline: January 16, 2017Superbowl Lanes, Windsor

• MOONLIGHTBOWLING TOURNAMENTSaturday,February 25, 2017Rosebowl Lanes, Windsor

• REGIONAL CRIBBAGE &EUCHRE TOURNAMENTSunday, March 5, 2017Br. 143, Canadian Legion,Windsor

• RETIREE EUCHRETOURNAMENTWednesday, March 15, 2017AMA Sportsmen ClubAmherstburg

• UNIFOR REGIONALFISHING TOURNAMENTSunday, May 21, 2017AMA Sportsmen ClubAmherstburg

• UNIFOR REGIONAL GOLFTOURNAMENTSunday, May 28, 2017Roseland Golf Course, Windsor

Check our Website atwww.uniforsworc.ca

and/or “UNIFOR SWORC” on Facebook for

applications, future tournaments andPast Tournament Results

SWORC

UpcomingEvents

E-mail:scott.richardson@fcagroup.com

The Guardian – 19

Recreational Activities from UniforThe SouthWestern Ontario Recreation Council, better known as SWORC, would

like to encourage all UNIFOR members to participate in our recreational events thatare organized and volunteered by SWORC members. These events are all about havingfun and meeting other UNIFOR members.

To get the most updated UNIFOR tournament dates and applications, go to ourwebsite www.uniforsworc.ca or join our group on Facebook “UNIFOR SWORC”.

The South Western Ontario Recreation Council will be holding elections at theDecember meeting for the following positions: Chairperson; Vice-Chair; RecordingSecretary; Financial Secretary and Member-at-Large. Good Luck to all those interestedin running for a position on the executive. On behalf of the SWORC RecreationCoun-cil, we would like to thank everyone for another great year and have a Joyful & SafeHoliday.Roger Sweet memorialRetirees’ PepperTournament

The annual “Sweet” pepper tourna-ment was held on October 12th at the Br.143 Legion. This event has a consistentnumber of retirees who gather year afteryear to have lunch and play cards for theafternoon. It is always a good afternoonof fun for our retirees. Thank you to Jimand Linda Closs for continuing to orga-nize this event for our retirees

National Texas Hold ‘EmThe National Texas Hold ’Em Tour-

nament was held on November 13, 2016.There were 35 participants ready for theshowdown and head to head competitionon the tables.

Congratulations to Mark Willis Jr.from Local 195 for coming in first place,Lee Callister from Local 444 secondplace and Robert Anger Local 444 thirdplace. Thank you to all the SWORC commit-

tee members who volunteered their timeto ensure everyone had a great time.

SWORC Committee member Wayne Brousseau is seen from the Texas Hold’Em with the winners, from left: 1st place–Local 195 Mark Willis Jr., 3rdplace–Local 444 Lee Callister, 2nd place–Robert Anger, absent.

LOCAL 240

Godfrey The GrinchBy

JIMANGUSPresident,

Unifor Local 240

CEO of Postmedia Network, theowner of The Windsor Star and a deadringer for the Grinch himself. In themidst of carving 20% out of the work-force by means of voluntary buyoutsand potentially layoffs, Godfrey andhis management posse were awardednearly $2.3 million in retentionbonuses. One irony in this very ques-tionable example (questionable is amild description of something that hasbeen also described as disgraceful) ofthe greed of senior management is thatone of the very key executives thatneeded $300,000 to hang around andshepherd the next round of employeechops has already left the happy Post-media family.

The real story here is, that tradi-tional media, is underwater. One of thepillars of our democracy is being chal-

lenged by technology in unprece-dented ways and the bottom line willbe losing many of the voices that holdthe Harpers and the Trumps and otherlesser lights in the world to account fortheir actions and thoughts. We don’thave that luxury with Facebook andGoogle controlling the amount of in-formation they do with algorithmiccalculations that apparently don’tknow fake news from real news.

As a labour movement we need tosupport efforts to strengthen the voicesthat we can vet and criticize beforecorporate mismanagement and a bro-ken ecomomic model silences them. Ifthat means subscribing to a local news-paper or supporting a local TV station,we need to do that.

The Guardian – 20

II t is hard to believe that we are en-tering the final month of 2016, ayear we will all remember as a

monumental one on so many fronts.We are just over a year removed fromthe Election of 2015 when Canadiansrejected Stephen Harper’s governmentof fear and division and have just seenthe election of a U.S. president whoseems to embrace many of the sameconcepts and ideas and others that areeven more frightening. We’ll look onwith interest to see just how that pro-gresses starting January 20th.

We are also entering the season ofgiving and good will toward humanity.It is inevitable in every Holiday seasonthat we might also encounter a figurewho reminds us of the ChristmasGrinch or Scrooge. In 2016, that per-son was Paul Godfrey, President and

On Remembrance Day and on behalf of the members from Local 240, President Jim Angusand 1st Vice President Jodi Nesbitt are seen laying a wreath at the City of Windsor cenotaph. Lest We Forget!

. . cont’d on next page

jimangus@bell.netuniforlocal240@gmail.com

LOCAL 240. . . cont’d

Bargaining UpdateBargaining Season is upon us in

Local 240 with upcoming talks withCanadian Salt, Hudson’s Bay and TheWindsor Star either started or slated toopen up in early January. Congratula-tions to Mark Radvanyi and his teamfrom our Ford Office units on their rat-ification of a new agreement. Markalong with his committee, ChristinaGrossi and Jodie Paterson did a terrificjob in a very tough set of bargaining.

Congratulations to them and toLocal 200 leadership on achieving thegoal of a new product for the Windsoroperations and the entire Ford Bar-gaining Council on a job well done.

Our Green Shield committee wasalso successful in negotiating a oneyear extension to the three year agree-ment due to expire in February. Thisgood news story was accomplished asa result of the largest piece of businessever captured by this Windsor successstory. In order to facilitate the smoothtransition to this new business from theCity of Toronto, the committee wiselychose to negotiate a one year extensionto the collective agreement and bringit back to the membership who over-whelmingly supported their committeeled by Jodi Nesbitt.

Improvements in wages, and in-crease to the pension plan, a signingbonus, and other renewed and in-creased provisions as well were a partof this extension. The committee willalso benefit from seeing the results ofalmost 100 new hires to the workplaceand will bring this clearer picture backto bargaining in a year’s time to nego-tiate the next agreement.

Children’sChristmas PartyThank you once again to Maureen

Dinchik and her band of volunteers onanother successful Children’s Christ-

mas Party held on Sunday, Nov. 20th.Maureen planned a very well attendedstart to the Holiday Season for 150 ofour member’s children and grandchil-dren featuring gifts and treats for all,Ron the Magician and of course SantaClaus himself.

Wish BraceletsOur dedicated Women’s Commit-

tee has undertaken the Wish Braceletinitiative to benefit the Hiatus Housethis holiday season. Hand crafted byLocal 240 member, Kelly Nadalin,these bracelets are great stockingstuffers at just $5 each with all pro-ceeds going to Hiatus House. They aregoing fast, and they may be sold out by

the time this reaches locals in theGuardian Board, so get yours as soonas you can before they are gone.As always, we ask you to remember

to purchase in union workplaces, re-serve your holiday and winter travelthrough CAA, get the perfect Christ-mas gift at Freed’s or Hudson’s Bay orgive a gift subscription to The WindsorStar. Remember also, the need that stillexists in our communities and thosewho still want for so much. Your sup-port for the organizations that help willbe the best gift you give.

Finally, we wish you and yours asafe, Happy Holiday Season and aHealthy New Year.

In Solidarity!

Seen during the recent set of Ford Master bargaining held in Toronto areLocal 240 members Mark Radvanya, Christina Gorrsie, Jodi Patterson alongwith Scott Smith and John D'Agnolo. The Local 240 members voted 97% infavour of the 4 year agreement.

Delegates from Unifor Local 240 are seen attending the 5th AnnualOntario Regional Council which was held in Toronto.

The Guardian – 21

The Guardian – 22

LOCAL 240

December 6th . . . is theNational Day of Remembrance andAction on Violence Against Women.This day marks the 27th anniversaryof the 14 young women who weremurdered for just that....beingwomen. These women were engi-neering students at L’École Poly-technique in Montréal where thismassacre took place.

This was nothing more than anact of gender-based violence. Re-membering this horrific event hasbecome the basis of recognizing andsupporting action against widespreadviolence committed against womenin our society.

December 6th is a day thatEVERYONE can come together(men, women and children) to uniteand stand beside each other and sayenough is enough. We must end allforms of violence against womenand children. I encourage not onlyour Sisters but our Brothers too tostand up and speak out on this issue.

THE COURAGE OF AWOMAN ALONE IS NOTENOUGH

This now brings me to speakabout the Hiatus House which is anemergency shelter for abusedwomen and their children. The Hia-tus House is a self service agencythat offers confidential interventionfor families experiencing domesticviolence and to help break the cycle.

Nowhere to Hide? Abused? GetSafe. Get Help! 519-252-7781

November - Shine theLight on Woman AbuseCampaign

Our Women’s Committee hasbeen working hard making and sell-

ByANGELA DIVITARISSecretary TreasurerUnifor Local 240

December 6th . . . Remembering14 Women

ing Wish Bracelets.One Hundred Percent of the pro-ceeds will be donated to the HiatusHouse. Stay tuned for the results ofthis initiative.

Pictured are members from GSC’s afternoon shift who wore purpleto support the “Shine the Light” campaign and raise awareness

on this issue.

On December 9th, our Retireesgathered at the Caboto Club to unitein celebration and friendship. It wasgreat to see so many new and famil-iar faces. I would like to thank all ofthe Locals and employers who con-tributed door prizes for our retirees.

I would also like to thank our re-tirees for their years of activism intheir workplaces and in our Local.Without you, we wouldn’t be wherewe are today. You have paved theway. On behalf of our Executive, I

Retirees Christmas Luncheonwould like to thank Len Campbell,Retiree Chairperson, for all of his ef-forts throughout the year and count-less hours of volunteering and formaking this luncheon a huge suc-cess.

During this holiday season Iwould like to personally wish eachand every one of you happiness andhealth throughout the coming year.Enjoy this holiday with your familyand friends.

Be Merry and Be Safe!

LOCAL 1959

ByBILL WARK

President,Unifor Local 1959

Greetings,Our Local has been busy lately

with negotiations and various initia-tives including a successful UnitedWay campaign. Negotiations atWalker Industries, a new three yearagreement was reached that includedwage, benefit and bereavement im-provements just to name a few. BothBrian and Charles Beaudoin, Chair-person and Committeeperson re-spectively did a great job inbargaining.

The Fine Salt Facility has beenbusy lately with production and themembers are working long hours tokeep up with demand. The Koshersalt box line has proved to be suc-cessful and production has been cor-respondingly good. Construction onthe Co-Gen project is underway andexpansion of the flaker line and 5thlevel are underway. The committeeis working hard in preparation of theupcoming negotiations in the newyear.

Precision Plastics operationshave been continuing and the Com-mittee is working on the day to dayissues. Dialogue continues on prod-uct allocation with the company. Alland all things are looking favourablefor the members at Precision Plas-tics.

At the Ojibway Mine, construc-tion has started on the initial phasesof the new mine development andthe first piece of equipment has ar-rived onsite at the mine. ProductionSaturdays have been scheduled andone more is scheduled before the endof the year. Preparations are under-way for negotiations and the firstmeeting date is set for early Decem-ber with all three committees and theCompany.

President’s Report

A couple of this year’s UnitedWay themes is breaking the cycle ofpoverty and food security. Recog-nizing that investment in learningopportunities for todays youth willpay dividends going forward. Oneunique United Way sponsored pro-gram is the summer lunch program.This program consists of makingsure school age children have foodto eat once school breaks for thesummer. Some of us may not thinkof it but what happens to our youthafter the school lunch program endsand summer starts.

This is a very good program thatis run in various locations within thecity and county to ensure childrenfood to eat all year round. Our Localand myself as leads for the 2016-2017 campaign hope everyone cancontribute to the campaign and makesure that the campaign reaches newhighs in giving, so that the invest-ments we make today will pay divi-dends going forward.

Congratulations to our Locals200 and 444 for wrapping up a toughset of bargaining that will ensure theautomotive footprint and the thou-sands of spinoff jobs that are createdby automotive production/assemblyremain in Windsor-Essex andCanada for years to come.

In closing I would like to thankColette Hooson over her tenure asour local’s National Representativefor her staunch support of our mem-bers and the assistance and guidancethat she has provided our committeesover her tenure.

We wish Colette all the best forThe Guardian – 23

a long and happy retirement.Thank you and Seasons Greet-

ings to all and to a happy and pros-perous 2017

Workplaces werepresent throughout

Windsor - Essex County.

ADM Agri IndustriesAG SimpsonAccucapsAmherstburg ChevroletBrinksButcher EngineeringCampus Police - U Of WCanadian EngineeringCentral StampingsChrysler SecurityColonial ToolComfort Inn & SuitesComfort SuitesD&C TunnelE.R. St. DenisEmrick PlasticsFirst StudentFlex-N-GateGatesJamieson LaboratoriesJD NormanKautex TextronLakeside PlasticsLanex Mfg.Morrice TransportationMotor City Chrysler #1Motor City Chrysler #2Nickleson MachinePapp PlasticsPerformance FordPm PlasticsPrecision GroupProvincial ChryslerRiverside InnRomeo MachineShurlok ProductsSyncreon CanadaTeam IndustrialTeam Industrial GSTilbury ConcreteTitan ToolVeltri HowardVeltri LakeshoreVentra PlasticsVets CabViking PumpWaterfront Hotel

Canada

LOCAL 1941

President’s Report It is with great sadness and heavy heartsthat I announce the passing of Kevin

Smyth a long time Executive boardmember, and Judy Kavanagh who servedon the Tilbury Manor bargaining commit-tee for several terms. Condolences to theirfamilies.AccurcastThis unit currently has 93 active mem-

bers with 29 on layoff. These layoffs aredue to a decrease in sales, which has giventhe company the opportunity to rebuildsome machines. The committee has challenged the em-

ployer’s layoff notices, in dispute to thenotice period required under the ESA. Thecommittee has also been busy providingthe laid off members and their families’guidance and direction in dealing withthese layoffs.AutolivPlant population is 170 active with three

on layoff. Installation of the new coatingline has begun by outside contractors fromItaly. The shift preference process hasbegun for the 2017 calendar year.The annual toy/canned good drive has

begun for the Tilbury help center, they willbe sponsoring 6 families this year.Additionally the United way drive is in

full swing.Hudson ManorCongratulations to Edna Larsh who has

been re-elected as Chairperson of this Unit.They currently have 30 active members.One grievance remains outstanding and isat the arbitration stage.MahleIn-plant elections were held in October.

The results are as follows Plant Chairper-son: Darryl Twigg, Committeepersons:Bob Grimoldby, Sandy McLean, AndyVaughan, Skilled Trades: Steve Mihalco,

Health & Safety Co-Chair: Frank Niehus,Health & Safety Committee: Patti Hen-neker, Ryland McIntyre, Dave Marchand.Congratulations to all.

New product lines continue to be in-stalled. The outlook for 2017 lookspromising. The current Collective agree-ment will expire in August of 2017.Tilbury ManorNursing HomeThe Christmas schedule is out, and the

committee continues to work on a coupleof issues. All hours that were previously reduced

have now been returned. They have addeda full time RN position for a pilot projectto alleviate the workload of the current fulltime RN.

On behalf of Unifor Local 1941, wewish you and your families a wonderfulChristmas Season and all the best in theNew Year.

By BOB ASHTON

President,Unifor Local 1941

The Guardian – 24

The Directors are:Local 195–Gerry Farnham, Tony CiampaLocal 200–Chris Taylor, Dan CassadyLocal 240–Jim Angus, Angela DivitarisLocal 444–Dino Chiodo, Dave CassidyLocal 1498–Steve Morash, Charmaine TurtonLocal 1941–Bob Ashton, Dean MitchellLocal 1959–Bill Wark, Clovis CôtéLocal 2027–Steve Taylor, Darryl McLeanLocal 2458–Bruce Dickie,Tullio DiPonti

FINE TOUCHGRAPHICS

The Guardian, 1855 Turner Road, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 3K2Telephone (519) 258-6400, Fax 258-0424. Address changes should be directed to your Local Union Office

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GORD GRAY, Editor

The Guardian

Local 1941 President Bob Ashton is seen in Toronto attending an AutoParts Council prior to attending the 5th Annual Ontario Regional Council

IT’S ALL OVER, it’s done! Thereare people who are still in a state ofshock and some people are looking fora new country to call home. Whowould have thought that business ty-coon and reality television star DonaldTrump would be the next President ofthe USA? No matter what side yousupported, everyone needs to come to-gether and work towards makingthings better for the future. This pastelection campaign season seemed tohave lasted eons and I’m certainly gladthat all the mud throwing is finallyover with.

As Canadians, we watch the U.S.Presidential election with great inter-est. If you ask most Canadians, theywill know more about U.S. politicsthan they do about Canadian politics.The U.S. lying to Canada’s south is ourdirect neighbour and many Canadianshave family and friends there whilemany others visit often for businessand pleasure. The U.S. is also ourlargest trading partner with $575 bil-lion (USD) in total goods going bothways in 2015. One of the top cam-paign promises Trump made was tochange the trade deals to bring thosedeals more in favour with America’sinterests. Just recently, Trump saidone of the decisions he will make onhis first day as president would be topull out of the Transpacific Partnership(TPP) trade agreement.If Trump were to do this, the whole

TPP treaty would be finished. Cur-rently the TPP would only take effectif it was ratified by 6 countries that ac-count for 85 percent of the combinedgross domestic product of its membernations. The United States is 60 per-cent of that group of 12 countries – sodoing the quick math, without the U.S.ratifying the deal, the TPP fails. Its

LOCAL 1498

Over and Done!By STEVE MORASH

President, Unifor Local 1498

failure does not mean that trade willstop – all of these countries currentlyhave individual trade agreements in ef-fect with each other and they will con-tinue to trade with each other, but juston their own original trade terms.

The failure of the TPP treaty is awin for Canada. It is a deeply flawedagreement, and the costs of the TPPoutweigh the limited benefits thatmight arise from the deal. UnderHarper, Canada came very late to thenegotiations and the terms that werenegotiated were skewed against ourfavour. The auto sector would see aphase out of tariffs on Canadian im-ports of Japanese vehicles over 5 yearswhich eliminates the incentive of man-ufacturing autos in Canada and import-ing them instead. The auto parts sectorwould see changes to the North Amer-ican content rules as countries will beable to substitute parts from low-costcountries for parts currently producedand sourced from within NAFTAcountries and still quality for tariff-free

The Guardian – 25

shipment of the vehicles within NorthAmerica that will cost good payingjobs. The TPP also has a chapter onInvestor-State Dispute Settlement(ISDS) which allows corporations tosue governments but not vice versaand disputes are settled by arbitratorsand their decisions cannot be reviewedby a country’s domestic court system.These are just a few of the issues thatthe TPP will cause Canadians not tomention the issues facing the dairysector, restricting efforts for pharmacare and weak environmental provi-sions.

A country cannot survive withouttrade, even Donald Trump realizes thatwith him saying he will pull out of theTPP but negotiate bilateral trade dealswith countries including opening upthe NAFTA agreement with Canadaand Mexico. But trade agreementsneed to be fair, not necessarily free.They need to be about helping work-ers, the environment and allowing peo-ple to afford basic needs and not aboutprotecting multinational corporations’rights and allowing them to sue overfuture profits. If and when these tradeagreements come open for renegotia-tion, we need to let our leaders knowwhat we want in them to make the fu-ture of this country better for genera-tions to come.

Merry Christmas and HappyHolidays from all of us at Local 1498.

With well over 200 in attendance members from Local 240 are seen at the Ciociaro Cluband heard and explained by Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff,Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow and former CAW National PresidentKen Lewenza why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement is the worst deal evercreated and will have a profound impact on ALL Canadians for decades to come.

LOCAL 2027

The afternoon shift that we wererunning has come to an end on Nov25th, 2016 and we have not been in-formed of production requirementsin the new year as of yet. Of course,with this coming to an end it bringsconcerns of layoffs from our mem-bers. The company is not allowed tolayoff any member in a calendar yearin which probationary employees orstudents have been utilized betweenthe months May and August andboth were hired this year. But thisonly protects us until the end of theyear. The company has made NOmention of layoffs at the currenttime.

We are going into the one-yearextension of our current collectiveagreement that we bargained to helpsolidify 250,000 cases of productinto our plant . These includeMcGuinness and Meagher’s liqueursand smaller production runs of dif-ferent bottle sizes of Wiser products,Polar Ice, Lot 40, Gibsons and Spe-cial Old.

The retirement incentives pack-ages are all done and with 40 pack-ages offered, 34 members haveelected to retire. We wish them all ahappy and healthy retirement! As aresult of these packages, 29 newmembers have been successful get-ting their seniority. Once again Iwould like to welcome them all.Most have now gone through our

New Membership Orientation pro-gram which seems to be well re-ceived.

Thank you to Mark Lebert (Ben-efits Rep.) Andy Tymec (RetireeChapter President) and Mike Renaud(National Rep.) for their help!!

We are currently holding a raffleto raise money for this year’s UnitedWay Campaign. The raffle will takeplace at Walkerville Brewery on De-cember 9th 2016.

I would like to take a momentto thank all of the members for theirsupport. It has meant a lot to me overthe years being elected your presi-dent and I hope I haven’t let youdown. I know this isn’t a perfectworkplace and we have never beenchallenged more than we have beennow. I hope the relationship betweenthe company and union improvessome day but until then, we muststand strong together. This is all “our union” and we all

need each other! Don’t allow thecompany to pull us apart by com-pany favoritism. Don’t let them pre-tend they have your best interest inmind. Success comes from solidar-ity.

I would like to wish everyone agreat holiday season. Please thinkof the members of Local 2027 whenyou are enjoying some holiday spir-its or buying a Christmas gift.Merry Christmas to ALL!

Challenging TimesBy

STEVETAYLOR,

President,Unifor Local 2027

The Guardian – 26

• The Bay• Sears• Freeds of Windsor• Windsor Star• CAA (Canadian Automobile

Association• Hiram Walker (Spirits)• Diageo (Seagram’s Crown

Royal)• Motor City Chrysler (Only fully

unionized dealership in Windsor)

• Radisson• Provincial Chrysler (Service)• Caesars Windsor• FCA Canada• Ford• General Motors• Motor City Credit Union• Performance Ford Service• Travelodge Hotel• Veteran Cab• Jamieson Laboratories

(Vitamins in stores)• Tilbury Cement• Windsor Salt• Beach Grove Golf and

Country Club• Comfort Suites• Green Shield Canada

Shop Wisely – ShopUnion – Shop Unifor

We would like to take this op-portunity to thank the member-ship and their families forpatronizing the facilities weserve and buying the productswe build. Buying Unifor union-ized products re-inforces ourcommitment to our commu-nity. Thank you!

One Year Contract Extension

Windsor AreaOffice Update

After more than 30 years inthe Labour Movement, Colette Hoo-son retired on December 9th. Colettebegan working at Green ShieldCanada in 1980, and soon after be-

came a Committeeperson and then Chairperson of that Bar-gaining Unit.

Colette held numerous positions at Local 240 includingRecording Secretary and Vice President before becomingthe first woman President of that Local, in 1998. Whileserving as President, she held several positions includingChair of the National Women’s Committee and Chair ofthe National Resolution Committee. She was a pioneer infighting for Pay Equity and has remained active in promot-ing and ensuring pay equity success since it was legislatedin 1987. She has been a voice for Women’s Rights and ac-tive in our community in a host of different capacities. A supporter of United Way and many agencies that help

the less fortunate in our community. Colette never backeddown from controversy and always stood for what she be-lieved in. She came on Staff with the National as an Orga-nizer in 2004 and then as a Servicing Representative andhas continued that role up to her retirement. We wish Co-lette the very best in her retirement.

Theresa Farao, also formerly from Local 240 who hasbeen on Staff with the National as a Servicing Representa-tive in Toronto will transfer back to the Windsor Office re-placing Colette. Theresa has numerous years of experienceas President of Local 240. We welcome Theresa to theWindsor Area Office and wish her the very best in her po-sition and we are confident our members will benefit fromher experience.

ByJACK ROBINSON

Unifor Canada Windsor Area Director

The Guardian – 27

Colette Hooson, Staff Representative is congratulatedby Jack Robinson, Windsor Area Director on her retire-ment.

Jack Robinson, Windsor Area Director and Theresa Farao,Staff Representative, along with Local 240 members JodiNesbitt and Trish Longson participate in the Rally for De-cent Work at Queen’s Park on October 1.

On behalf of the Windsor AreaOffice I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and

Happy New Year and hope forSafe Holidays for everyone.

JACK ROBINSON

Season’s GreetingsSeason’s Greetings

Jack Robinson, Windsor Area Director on the picketline with Windsor-Essex Board of Education

Members during their strike.

By MARKBARTLETT

President,Windsor Regional

EnvironmentCouncil

Unifor Windsor Regional Environmental Council

Living in “Interesting Times”

TT he election of Donald Trump remindsme of a quote from a speech by Pres-ident John F. Kennedy. He spoke of a

curse that one puts on an enemy, "May youlive in interesting times". It sounds like you are wishing someone

well but it depends on the definition of in-teresting. In this case the definition of "in-teresting" includes anxiety about ourenvironment, increased racism, sexism,fascism, war and terrorism.

I think we can all agree that we are nowliving in "interesting times" as the curse ofTrump and his team of climate change de-niers, white supremacists and greedy cor-porate lobbyists has us anxious about all ofthe above and more!Before you get depressed and stop read-

ing, I would like to quote the late NDPleader Jack Layton, “My friends, love isbetter than anger. Hope is better than fear.Optimism is better than despair. So let usbe loving, hopeful and optimistic. Andwe’ll change the world.”

I think I will be repeating Jack's wordsin my head a lot in the next four years!We need to resist the urge to give up or

despair! There are still lots of reasons tohope.

In Morocco at the COP 22 UN climatechange meeting, countries reacted to theelection of Trump by "accelerating globalclimate action as they fast-tracked the po-litical and practical aims of the historicParis Climate Change Agreement forglobal climate action and underlined thatthis shift is now urgent, irreversible and un-stoppable."

In Canada, the federal government hasjust announced the phase-out of Coal by2030 and a Federal Cap and Trade programto reduce CO2 and fund the transition to alow-carbon economy.Today, Justin Trudeau, with the support

of Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley, re-jected the environmentally dangerousNorthern Gateway pipeline but approvedthe equally dangerous and unnecessaryKinder Morgan Trans Mountain project. Healso approved the Enbridge Line 3 replace-ment.

Our union is opposed to both theThe Guardian – 28

Northern Gateway and the Trans Mountainprojects. We oppose export pipelines andsupport domestic refining of oil while ac-tively demanding funding of a Just (fair)Transition to a low-carbon economy.Falling oil revenues in Alberta have af-fected our members, but export pipelineswill not increase domestic refining or cre-ate secure long-term jobs. They will nothelp reduce global climate change. As ourUnifor Statement on the Environment says,"There are no jobs on a dead planet".This excerpt from our "Pipeline Primer"highlights our position. "We support the creation of a Canada-

wide energy grid,... the application of strictsafety and environmental standards to newand renovated pipelines, . . . support therights of First Nations to control develop-ments on their land and participate fully inthe economic benefits from resource pro-jects. We support strategies to maximizeCanadian value-added and jobs at all stagesof energy production: including equipmentmanufacturing, production services, up-grading, refining, and secondary manufac-turing."

When the National Energy Board ap-proved Trans Mountain last May, JoieWarnock, Unifor's Western Director said,"The Kinder Morgan expansion project isall risk and no gain for the public or our en-vironment." Jay Ritchlin of The David Suzuki Foun-

dation said of Trans Mountain that, "BritishColumbians are right to worry about the ef-fects of oil spills on sensitive marine envi-ronments, killer whales and theircommunities' health,"

Patrick DeRochie, the director of En-vironmental Defence, said Tuesday, "Theapprovals raise grave doubts how these andadditional pipelines, including KeystoneXL and Energy East, can fit with Canada'scommitment to the Paris climate agree-ment," "Much bigger cuts in other emis-sion sources must be made to compensatefor more oil-based emissions."

Opposition to the Trans Mountain ex-pansion is set to turn BC into "StandingRock North"

Meanwhile, Across the River...

The shocking abuse of peaceful pro-testers at the First Nations led, anti-pipelineprotests in Standing Rock, ND is a nationaldisgrace! People are being shot with rubberbullets and blasted with concussiongrenades and water cannon while trying toprotect their water and their familiesgraves. These same tactics were usedagainst peaceful Civil Rights protesters inthe 1960s. I shudder to think what will hap-pen once Trump is in office.

Trump is a disaster for our environmentand the future of our children and grand-children! He has said he will approve theKeystone XL pipeline, reopen coal mines,increase domestic shale oil production anddangerous fracking. He will pull fundingfrom the Paris Accord, eliminate the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency and Environ-mental regulations as well as subsidies forenergy conservation, renewable energy andelectric vehicles. He has pledged to spendthe money saved from cutting these envi-ronmental programs to subsidize the fossilfuel industry!

Trump could also have a direct effecton our membership at the Windsor Assem-bly Plant.

If the US $7500 rebate on Electric ve-hicles is eliminated in our largest marketwe will sell less PHEV Pacificas. Fortu-nately, States like California still requireZero or Low Emission Vehicles and we canstill sell our PHEV there, and in Ontario,the rebate is $14,000, making the PHEV$3000 cheaper than the equivalent gasolinepowered Pacifica.

Even more worrying is the likelihoodthat Trump will change the Corporate Av-erage Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standardsthat have forced automakers to make hy-brid and electric vehicles.

In the face of the challenges posed byTrump and those who would destroy ourworld for short-term profit, we must be pre-pared to fight harder for our future. As Jack Layton said, We must continue

to "be loving, hopeful and optimistic" sowe can "change the world!"

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday!

IDENTI MOTOR

Refer a friend and

IFY THE NEXT CITY MEMBER

d you will ece both r

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RCIAL LENDING CENTREe, Unit 301 Kildar

9 977 6939

AD BRANCHTECUMSEH ROecumseh Rd. E6701 Te

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The Guardian – 29

The Guardian – 30

NOW ACCEPTINGREGISTRATIONS!AGES 0-12

3450 YPRES AVE. MAIN LEVEL(Off of Ken Girard Court)WINDSOR, ON. N8W 5K9

We are very excited about the re-opening of the State of the Art Day Care facility, formerly known as The CAW Child Care Services. We are now called “THE SCHOOL HOUSE ACADEMY”.This beautiful 19,000 sq. ft. facility is centrally located near E. C. ROWand Tecumseh Road East. It is absolutely beautiful and the groundsare fully equipped with 5 separate playgrounds. We are nurturing learningenvironments throughout the centre. Highly trained professional andexperienced staff. Our highly trained staff consist of fully qualified R.E.C.E.teachers, that also have CPR/First Aid Medical and Police Clearances.We are accepting registrations now, with our grand opening on October 1,2016. We welcome you ALL here to this amazing facility of TLC and qualifyeducation for your precious children, to grow in a safe environment. We offerservices from ages 0-12 years old, infant, toddler and pre-school age, beforeand after school care.Bussing is available to and from many elementary schools in the area by theSchool Board. Open year Round, including March Break Camp, P. D. Days,Winter Break Camp and Summer Day Camp.COME JOIN US! “CALL FOR A TOUR TODAY! 519-974-6222.

SPONSORED

SPONSORED

REGISTRATION FEE WILL BE WAVEDFOR ALL UNIFOR MEMBERS

UNIFOR CHILD CARE SERVICES

December 1,

REGISTRATION FEE WILL BE WAIVEDFOR ALL UNIFOR MEMBERS

MONDAY - FRIDAY 6AM TO 6 PM

NOWOP EN

TOUNIFOR

MEMBERS

We are very excited about the re-opening of the State of the Art Day Care facility, formerly known as The CAW Child Care Services. We are now called “THE SCHOOL HOUSE ACADEMY”.This beautiful 19,000 sq. ft. facility is centrally located near E. C. ROWand Tecumseh Road East. It is absolutely beautiful and the groundsare fully equipped with 5 separate playgrounds. We are nurturing learningenvironments throughout the centre. Highly trained professional andexperienced staff. Our highly trained staff consist of fully qualified R.E.C.E.teachers, that also have CPR/First Aid Medical and Police Clearances.We are accepting registrations now. We welcome you ALL here to this amaz-ing facility of TLC and qualify education for your precious children, to grow ina safe environment. We offer services from ages 0-12 years old, infant, toddlerand pre-school age, before and after school care.Bussing is available to and from many elementary schools in the area by theSchool Board. Open year Round, including March Break Camp, P. D. Days,Winter Break Camp and Summer Day Camp.COME JOIN US! “CALL FOR A TOUR TODAY! 519-974-6222.

NOW ACCEPTINGREGISTRATIONS!AGES 0-12

(Off of Ken Gerard Court)

OOn behalf of Unifor’s 310,000 mem-bers, I am here to emphasize toyou the importance that we place

on implementing electoral system in timefor the next election. I want to get straightto the point of the discussion over the pastweek, because it seems to us at Unifor thatthis process is coming quickly to a momentof truth. According to remarks from thePrime Minister and also from MinisterMonsef, “broad based support” for changeis a prerequisite for changing the system.

The chief electoral officer has said weneed “the broadest possible consensus.”Let me be very direct with you: There is abroad base of support for electoral reform.You have the most recent EKOS surveyfrom only a week ago – 60% want the gov-ernment to fulfill its election pledge that wehave had the last First Past the Post Elec-tion.True: support for specific options is less

decisive – but still there is clear broadbased support. Support for PR – 46%. Sup-port for the current system 29%. Supportfor preferential ballots 26%. In other words– there is one clear alternative to the presentsystem – proportional representation.

Further – and this is our main point tothe majority of you today – the overwhelm-ing majority or consensus that some of youare looking for rests entirely in your hands.Our members and most Canadians believethat they have voted for change. They havevoted for the principle of change, expectingthat you will implement that decision withspecific reforms that are understandableand explainable to our members and ourcommunities. This committee has the ca-paci t y, t h e mand a t e a n d t h e infor-mation on voting systems that is needed tobring forward a majority position on elec-toral reform and when you do so, the vastmajority of Canadians will support you. To be clear, your majority agreement for

a new voting system will be reflected inmajority public support. If you fail to doyour job, don’t hide behind Canadians whowill, of course, be confused and disap-

JERRY DIAS, October 25, 2016

Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform

pointed. I would suggest to you that Uniformembers are reflective of Main StreetCanada. In August, our national conventionaffirmed that electoral reform is the singlemost important issue to be addressed inCanadian democracy. Our members reflect the national view

of an alternative – we unanimously en-dorsed a propor t ional representationsystem for Canada. We did not get into theweeds of the particular kind of PR system.We say that is your job. We support theprinciple of proportionality to make surethat every vote counts and to make falsemajorities impossible. We want fewer rea-sons to vote strategically and more oppor-tunity to vote for a hopeful, progressivefuture. We want more reasons for young people

and all those who have been alienated frompolitics to engage and participate in the de-mocratic process. In our view, when Cana-dians think about electoral reform theywant the system to change so that all votesdirectly impact the composition of Parlia-ment – instead of the situation in 2015where an estimated 9 million votes arewithout reflection in parliament. I want to comment also on the idea that

has been floated that smaller reforms couldbe implemented with a smaller consensus.

This is very fuzzy thinking. First, supportfor the present system is pretty much lim-ited to the core base of the previous gov-ernment. Support for “preferential ballots”– which we assume is what is meant by“smaller reforms”-- is even less. So there isnot more support for a smaller reform.Frankly, there is not a single person in Uni-for who has spoken out in favour of rankedballots as the preferred option for reform.So I urge you not to go down that rabbithole. The way to get this done is for the ma-jority of you to agree on the principles thatrepresent Canadian opinion and values, andthen to propose an electoral system thatbest implements those principles.

In our opinion the core issue is thatCanadians want a different system thateliminates false majorities. We have toomuch experience that these false majoritiesproduce extremist, ideological govern-ments that do more harm than good. Cana-dians want less partisanship in politics andmore cooperation that produces good pub-lic policy. It means that we all have to lookforward to a different kind of governmentwith the knowledge that it is far less likelythat any one party will dominate in the waythat we have become accustomed.

But we will still have stable govern-ment. In our opinion we will have more sta-ble government and the incominggovernment will not spend the first year re-pealing the extremist agenda of the previ-ous government. We will still have partieswith distinct alternative policies. We willneed more political leadership, not less.

And it is that political leadership weneed and expect now. If the majority forelectoral reform fail to take this opportu-nity, it will be a long time before these con-ditions come around again. Our union andhistory will judge harshly those responsiblefor failure. Unifor members are ready forchange now and we are expecting you tolead that change to ensure that a new pro-portional voting system is in place for thenext federal election.

The Guardian – 31

The Guardian – 32

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Merry Christmasand Happy New

Year to All!

Merry Christmasand Happy New

Year to All!