Representing Non-Academic Administrative, Professional and Technical Employees at McMaster University and Regional Medical Associates

April 2018 Volume 5, Issue 5

Unifor5555

Farewell to Maggie Wilson!Happy Retirement

After 25 years of dedicated service, Maggie Wilson is leaving our Local. Maggie served us back when were a fledgling MUSA. Watched us grow into a full fledge local union of the former CAW. And walked with us as CAW transitioned into Unifor.

Maggie’s retirement gathering brought many friends from past and present together. Old friends, current friends and University staff from one end of campus to the other all wished Maggie well. We trust her time away from work will be spent doing things she loves; travelling, bicycling, walking and talking.

Thank you Maggie! We will miss you!

A new offering of ‘Cardio, Balance and Strength’ exercises saw about a half dozen new retirees that hadn’t yet been to a Retired Workers Chapter offering joining the group of regulars. These new classes include approximately twenty minutes of gentle aerobics while either sitting in a chair or standing, followed by balance and strength exercises, and ending with nice relaxing stretches. This class format addresses strengthening of the heart and lungs, as well as maintaining overall strength and balance. Resistance bands were used to provide for strength training, and soft balls for strength and flexibility. The instructor for the classes is fellow Unifor 5555 retiree Janice Rischke who is a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer specializing in seniors’ fitness. While not overly strenuous, there were a few giggles as some of us (me included!) messed up on our hand-foot coordination or wobbled during the balance exercises. But we all left feeling good and feeling better about ourselves having exercised.

In Solidarity,Rosemary ViolaPresident, Retirees ChapterLocal 5555

Retired Workers Chapter News

Every year, McMaster University is proud to host a variety of safety related initiatives during NAOSH week (May 7 - May 11, 2018) including training programs, a barbecue and vendor fair.

This year we’re adding an exciting twist - a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) poster competition.

All members of the McMaster University community are invited to participate through their local JHSC. A list of the campus JHSCs with contact information can be found on the Environmental and Occupational Health Support Services (EOHSS) website. If you are not a member of a JHSC and wish to participate, please connect with your local committee co-chairs. For more information regarding the poster contest visit the NAOSH webpage. The poster submission deadline is Friday, April 27th.

JHSC Poster Competition

Family Picnic VolunteersOur Unifor 5555 Family Picnic will be here before you know it, and we could use a few more people to help out on the day of July 14th.

If you would like to spend the day in the sun and like meeting people, this is for you. Please contact the Recreation team if you can offer a couple of hours time.recreation@unifor5555.ca

At the 1984 Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress a resolution was adopted declaring April 28th as a “National Day of Mourning” to honour those workers in Canada who have been killed, injured or disabled on the job, or who suffer from occupational diseases. April 28th was chosen because on that day in 1914 Ontario proclaimed the first comprehensive Workers Compensation Act in Canada.

We will be honouring this day in the Council Chambers GH 111 on April 27thSome refreshments will be provided.

All are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there.

Golden Horseshoe Recreation CouncilQualifying Golf Tournament

Sunday, June 3rd, 2018South Brook Golf and Country Club

Located in Binbrook Ontario

Includes Green Fees, Cart, Food andBeverage, Practice Range, and Prizes!

Regional Qualifier for the Unifor Nationals

Make It Count

Unifor members have been working hard, organizing in your locals and communities to pressure the government to address inequality and improve public services. Every step forward that the Ontario government has been forced to take is because of our drive and ambition to move the needle that much more for working people. Our work is far from over, but the gains that we have made for workers are at risk of being rolled back in an instant if the Conservatives take power.

We can stop them and keep building a better province, but we can only do this if we work together.

Our union is gearing up for the election and we are ready to launch our member-to-member election campaign. It’s called Make it Count. The campaign asks every Unifor member to remember the issues that drive us, and pledge to vote and make this election count for workers.

If we’re going to be ready to make a difference in this election, the organizing has to start today. Please add your name, pledge to vote and volunteer. Your efforts can make a difference, if every one of the 162,800 Unifor members in the province takes action in this election, we can prevent the next government from leading us all down a road of right-wing, anti-worker politics.

Right now working people are benefiting from our political action, from the 623,000 minimum wage workers who just got a raise to $14 an hour and are on their way to $15 in 2019, to the survivors of domestic violence who are now able to take paid time off to get their families to safety, to stronger rights and equal pay for temporary workers. Our union helped to do this.

In this election we’re going to not only defend the gains that you have won, but we’re pushing to make Ontario even better.

Our Regional Council Delegates met in December and their voices were heard loud and clear. They demanded that Ontario’s next government must address inequality and protect good jobs. That the province needs to fix the deep-rooted health care crisis and finally introduce a universal, public child care program.

If this is the future that you want for Ontario, then it’s time to get to work.

Please join me and the entire Ontario Regional Council team in making this election count, and showing the strength of our union. Pledge to vote and volunteer by visiting uniforvotes.ca, and together we will defend the gains that we’ve won and ensure that the next government knows who they will have to answer to.

In solidarity,

Naureen Rizvi

Ontario Regional Director

Unifor 5555 will send up to a foursome, by lottery.

If you are interested, please contact registration@unifor5555.ca by noon May 16th.

Those going must be members of Unifor Local 5555 as Unifor membership ID will be required at the golf course.

Thank you!

Please contact Kim Sardella at registration@unifor5555.ca ASAP if you are interested.

Important Message on NAFTA Renegotiations

For the past eight months, Canada, Mexico and the United States have undertaken to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – a trade deal that has not served the interests of working people. I am proud of the role that our union has played in driving an agenda to fix the fundamental flaws with NAFTA.

According to various media reports, there is a possibility that a NAFTA ‘Agreement in Principle’ may be announced as early as this week. If so, this announcement would be made without any resolution to many widely-cited (and controversial) proposals which have been tabled. It is unclear what form this “agreement” will take. But it is clear that the timelines for this announcement are being driven by political forces; not with any care or concern to properly fix a trade treaty that has enabled a great deal of

economic and social inequity throughout the continent.

Unifor has played an active role in every round of NAFTA negotiations. From the onset of talks, our union has been a key stakeholder, and I have served as an informal advisor to the Canadian negotiating team. Our union has taken the opportunity to raise concerns clearly and consistently with government officials, civil society partners and through the media.

We believe that NAFTA doesn’t work unless it works for all workers.

For nearly 25 years, workers have suffered the consequences of a misalignment in the priorities of globalization, driven by one-sided trade rules. As corporations profited, working standards plummeted. In Mexico, specifically, workers are by far worse off today than they were before NAFTA was signed. To read more about the demands of Mexican workers click here.

It is Unifor’s view that Canada should feel no pressure to sign on to this proposed Agreement in Principle, which is essentially a non-agreement. In fact, we would strongly encourage that the Canadian government sign nothing at all.

This proposed deal appears to be silent on the issue of labour rights, environmental protections and other key social standards. There is no indication yet that a new

NAFTA will eliminate special status for investors to sue governments in private tribunals. Also, it is not clear if Canada’s supply management system for dairy and poultry will remain intact or if proposed new auto rules will serve to rebalance trade across the continent.

This Agreement in Principle mainly serves the political interests of the American and Mexican governments, both of whom are facing key ministerial and congressional elections this year, not the tens of millions of workers who have been disadvantaged by NAFTA.

Canada should not give in to political pressure. Nor should Canada give the U.S. and Mexico a free pass.

Canadian workers are feeling the negative effects of U.S.-led trade duties in softwood lumber and paper industries, with many mills being threatened with closure. The U.S. continues to threaten Canada will unfair steel and aluminum tariffs.

In Mexico, legislators are expected to vote this week on a series of labour law reforms that would worsen standards, entrench the role of “ghost” unions and further erode access to free, independent collective bargaining. The weakening of labour standards is Mexico is an affront to us all.

Unifor has been a fierce critic of NAFTA, and so-called “free trade” agreements like it. The fate of NAFTA rests on the ability of governments to re-imagine how trade deals are done: to raise social standards and to elevate work standards. Unifor will oppose any agreement that lacks significant ambition and meaningful change.

Unifor will continue to monitor talks, and I will continue to update members as new information surfaces. Please join me in sending a strong and united message to the federal government to say - don’t waste a generational opportunity here and rush to agree to a deal. We need to get this right.

In solidarity,

Jerry Dias, National President

• One night accommodation at participating hotels• Four two-day Fallsview Indoor Waterpark passes

• $25 Gift Card to Rainbow Room by Massimo Capra• $20 Gift Card to Fallsview Restaurant

• $10 Gift Card to Hard Rock Cafe• $10 Gift Card to Rainforest Cafe

• $10 Off Waterpark Cabana Rentals• 10% Off at Perkins Restaurant

• Four passes to Adventure Heroes Laser Ride• Four passes to Wild Safari Mini Golf

• Four passes to Traffic Slam Bumper Cars

• One night accommodation at Sheraton on the Fallsor Crowne Plaza Niagara Falls - Fallsview

• $25 Gift Card to Rainbow Room by Massimo Capra

• $20 Gift Card to Massimo's Italian Fallsview Restaurant

• $20 spa credit to Christienne Spa

• $20 Gift Card to Fallsview Restaurant

• Two Cocktails at Hard Rock Cafe or Niagara Vines Lobby Bar

• Two Wine Tasting Passes to Inniskillin Wineryand Jackson-Triggs Winery

F A L L S A V E N U E R E S O R TPREFERRED PARTNER PROGRAM

As a preferred partner you are entitled toreceive exclusive room rates valid at:

Sheraton on the Falls · Crowne Plaza FallsviewSkyline Hotel & Waterpark · Clifton Victoria Inn

BONUS: RECEIVE FOUR FALLSVIEWDINING CARDS VALUED AT $20.00 EACH AT:

Massimo's Italian Fallsview RestaurantThe Rainbow Room by Massimo Capra

Morton's Grille · Milestones on the Falls

WATERPARK PACKAGE

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allsview B U F F E T

T H E R A I N B O W R O O M

by Massimo Capra

UNIFOR

General Meetings

May 29, 2018 McMaster UniversityNoon - 1:00pmCIBC Hall

September 25, 2018 McMaster UniversityNoon - 1:00pmCIBC Hall

November 14, 2018 McMaster UniversityNoon - 2:00pmCIBC Hall

Note: Dates, times and/or locations of events are subject to change without notice. Watch your emails or this e-newsflyer for notices of events or changes. Contact info@unifor5555.ca to check on status of events and/or to rsvp your attendance.

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything”

William Shakespeare

April 25, 2018 Niagara CampusSt. CatharinesNoon - 1:00pmRoom 205

Union Update Meeting