UNIT 1 COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTThe Union was advised that the Unit 1 Collective Agreement was ratified at a special Boardof Governors meeting. This means that the agreement has now been ratified by both partiesand we will be meeting with the University over the coming weeks to work out theimplementation of the new language. If anyone has any questions about the new CollectiveAgreement, please reach out to Sarah-Kai, via email sarah-kai.antanaitis@unifor5555.ca.

September 2019 Volume 6, Issue 10

Unifor5555

Sept30Wear orange to

support residential school survivors

#OrangeShirtDay

Monday, September 30 is Orange Shirt Day, an annual event to recognize the experience of residential school survivors. Unifor actively participates as part of our campaign for truth, justice, and reconciliation for Indigenous communities.

Individuals and communities across Canada continue to suffer the intergenerational effects of the violence from residential schools. Orange Shirt Day is an important opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools, and communities to come together and say “Every child matters”. Indigenous children must know they are loved and valued.

Events are organized across the country and we strongly encourage you to visit: orangeshirtday.org to find an event near you.

ORANGE SHIRT DAY

RETIRED WORKERS COUNCIL 2019 REPORT

On Tuesday September 3rd, the Council heard from Deb Tveit, Assistant to Unifor National President, Jerry Dias. She is the most senior Assistant to Jerry. She informed us that the ‘senior’ referring to seniority as well as age, and as such she was given much respect. Deb told us a story that had been passed down for generations in her First Nations family. Grandmother Turtle gathered 7 grandfathers around her.

The first grandfather was the Eagle. The Eagle represents love because of his unique relationship with the Creator. He flies higher than any other creature and so is closer to the Creator. The second grandfather was the Wolf and he is humility. As Deb explained, a Wolf is not normally considered humble but if you look at a Wolf, he will lower his eye. Native people have great respect for the Wolf because of its love for family and its protective instincts. Sabe (Sasquatch) represents honesty as the third grandfather. Honesty is speaking and acting truthfully, and thereby remaining morally upright. Deb mentioned that if you were not acting appropriately the Sabe would smack you up the side of your head to teach you a lesson.

The next grandfather is wisdom represented by the Beaver. The Beaver represents wisdom because he utilizes his gifts in ways that promote wellness to himself and his family. The Beaver gnaws on wood to wear down his teeth because if he did not use them, they would eventually grow too long and kill him. Wisdom also means knowing what your limits are with respect to your body and the life around you.

The fifth grandfather was the Bear. The Bear represents courage because of strength and natural ability to overcome challenges. A mother bear, for example, will stand against a much larger, stronger male bear or other threat (regardless of size) to protect her cubs. The sixth grandfather is truth represented by the turtle. The Turtle represents truth because it is one of the oldest animals on our planet, and is said to have witnessed Creation. The Turtle is grounded, methodical, careful, and attentive to details - important qualities for those who speak the truth. The laws of time and life are recorded on the back of the Turtle. There are 28 markings representing the 28 full moons and the 28 days

between a woman's cycle for creating and bearing life. There are also 13 moons that represent the 13 times the Earth circles the Sun.

The final grandfather is the Buffalo, who represents respect. North American Natives depended on the Buffalo for survival and used every part of the animal - hides for teepees and clothing, bones for tools and toys, meat for food, tendons and muscles for sinew and bow strings, horns for cups and spoons, and brains for hide tanning. Because of the respect for the Buffalo, they were never killed for sport or game but only to sustain life.

These teachings represent the traditional concepts of respect and sharing that form the foundation of the Aboriginal way of life. Each teaching honors one of the basic virtues essential to a full and healthy life, and is embodied by an animal to underscore how man's decisions impact the physical plane: One’s thoughts influence one’s life. Use these teachings as a foundation to promote a healthy lifestyle where we are in harmony with nature, our family, and our community. (Graphics reproduced from: http://www.abegweithealth.ca/carousel/carousel.asp. Picture courtesy of Arnie De Vaan.)

Unifor Local 5555 Wine, Brewery & Shopping Tour

Sat. October 26th - 2019 9:30am-5:30pm

We are touring a different area this year. Join us for a day of tasting, touring & shopping in Norfolk/Oxford Counties

➢Coyle’s Country Store, Tillsonburg Shopping in this very unique 25,000 sq. ft. country style store. 10:30am-11:45am https://coylescountrystore.com

➢Ramblin Road Brewery Farm (& Kettle Chip Manufacturer), LaSalette Tour, Tasting & Buffet Lunch. 12:15pm-2:30pm Lunch will consist of Pulled Pork or Corn Beef on a bun, salads , kettle chips plus one non-alcoholic beverage and one flight of beer. Additional alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase with lunch if you desire. Vegetarian option is also available for lunch. http://www.ramblinroad.ca

➢Blueberry Hill Estates Winery, St. Williams Wine & Cheese Experience includes 3 wines/ciders paired with three Canadian cheeses from the local Port Dover Cheese Shop. A wine expert will guide us through pairing and teach us why the wine and cheese complement each other. 3:00pm-4:00pm http://blueberry-hill.ca

Tickets $40 per person

Price includes: Coach bus ride, tours and tastings to winery/brewery & INCLUDES LUNCH. Participants are responsible for their own shopping purchases. This event is for 19+ only.

Bus will leave from & return to Unifor Local 5555 office, 86 Hester Street, Hamilton. Free parking available. To enter the Lottery for tickets, please email recreation@unifor5555.ca. Please indicate your desire of 1 or 2 tickets. Lottery deadline is Monday Oct. 7th. Those winning a spot in the lottery will be notified by Wed. Oct. 9th. Payment of tickets must be completed no later than Thurs. Oct. 17th.

Maximum 2 ticket purchase per member & union member MUST be present on trip. All times are approximate. Rain or Shine event!

LABOUR DAY IN PORT ELGIN

As delegates to the Retired Workers Council in Port Elgin, September 1st through the 6th, Nancy Clark and I marched in the Labour Day Parade in Port Elgin. More than 1,200 retired workers participated in the Port Elgin Parade as some retirees were bussed in from Kitchener, London, Woodstock, Oakville and Oshawa just for the parade. The parade itself

had an estimated 2,500 union members marching in the hour long parade representing 20 to 25 different unions. While the weather was essentially the same in Port Elgin as it was in Hamilton, not too hot and thankfully the bit of rain held off until after the parade, the major difference was the number of residents and owners of businesses along the route that actually came out to the end of their driveways or in front of their businesses to sit in lawn chairs to watch the parade with their families, friends and pets. Marchers and residents waved to each other and wished each other a happy labour day. In Hamilton it is not so much a community event as it is in Port Elgin. One spectator said he came out to support the labour movement “and recognize everything it’s done for the workplace in Canada and Ontario”. Another said that “we wouldn’t have the things we have today without the work of organized labour.” Unfortunately, each year sees the marchers’ ranks diminished as the rate of unionized Canadian workers is falling. And so the state of being employed, and subsequently of being retired, has suffered for it. Following the parade, the community was invited back to the Unifor Family Education Centre for a barbecue, speeches, kids’ entertainment, and door prizes! While the entire community did not join in for the barbecue, many families did. The Unifor contingent was the largest of all the unions represented but that was, of course, because the Retired Workers attending the Council were all participating in the parade. The article was written with quotes from https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/news/local-news/labour-day-parade-thrives-in-union-bastion-port-elgin and https://www.everythingzoomer.com/general/2019/08/27/union-pension-labour-day/. The photos are courtesy of Rosemary Viola, Nancy Clark, Billy O’Neill and Arnie De Vaan.

ELECTIONS, RESOLUTIONS, SPEAKERS HIGHLIGHT RW COUNCIL MEETING

The National Retired Worker’s Council met in Port Elgin from September 1 to September 6, 2019. Many of you may have seen the Facebook pictures of the Port Elgin Labour Day Parade. It is a wonderful event, and seeing the crowds (families with children and pets) waving and wishing us a Happy Labour Day was a great way to start off the week! Following the parade everyone returned to the Centre for a BBQ lunch which featured remarks from affiliate labour leaders, retired CAW National President Buzz Hargrove, Deb Tveit, Unifor Assistant to the National President and Councillor Mike Gade on behalf of the Town.

This year, it was a very busy week. It was an election year for the National Retired Workers Executive Board, and for the Resolutions, Credentials and Parade Committees as well as a Federal election coming up. It was interesting to see the number of Local Union Presidents who took the time out of their busy schedules to come to Port Elgin to support their retirees who were running in the elections and stay for the resolutions debate and listen to some of the guest speakers. Congratulations go out to our colleagues who were elected on to the Executive Board and the Committees. Regarding the Federal election, retirees heard from Frank Graves President from EKOS Research providing current polling data, and Maureen Dawson from Unifor’s Political Action Department presenting on the union’s strategy for the upcoming Federal Election. Delegates also celebrated Gary Parent from RWC Local 444, who was this year’s recipient of the 19th Outstanding Retired Worker of the Year Award.

The 31 resolutions debated were divided into sections which ranged from Government, Environment, Health, Housing, Pensions, Internal Union, Training, Suicide Prevention and an emergency resolution to help those in the areas affected by hurricane Dorian. Rosemary and I both have a complete set of the resolutions and are glad

to share them if anyone wishes to read through them.

I would like to speak to resolution number 25: Quality of Life Drugs and Devices, which states:

“Unifor National Retired Worker’s Council will: Pressure the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments to pay for prescriptions of new drugs or products for patients that require them to maintain a reasonable quality of life.”

After we had passed this resolution, Erin Little from Liv-A-Little Foundation and a resident of Port Elgin, spoke with us about her daughter Olivia. Olivia has a condition called Cystinosis, which is a condition where the amino acid cystine accumulates in her body. This condition attacks the eyes and kidneys first. Olivia requires eye drops every 6 hours to prevent her from becoming blind. Health Canada has changed the prescription supplier to a drug that will only need to be given every 12 hours. Sounds better right? Well this drug will cost the family $300,000.00 per year rather than the $5,000 per year they were currently paying. The drug that Olivia receives now is a compounded drug (the pharmacy mixes different drugs and solutions together to create the drug) and the company supplying her drugs is no longer authorized to compound drugs. The compounded drug is not a patented drug which means it does not fall under the law that prevents drug companies from gouging people on new drugs. This means that unless the family can afford the $300,000.00 per year, Olivia may go blind. To me it is unthinkable that a family would have to make such a decision.

I think this story highlights the important work that the Retired Workers Chapters do in researching and presenting resolutions for our National Union and all members to take action. We may be retired from our jobs, but not the fight!

UNIT 5 EXCLUSIVE TRAININGIf you are a Unit 5 member in Facility Services (Trades, Trucking, Ground and Custodians) we have arranged for New Unit Training for you. Our Local is bringing Unifor National training courses to our Hester Street office just for members of our new Unit. These 5 Day courses are completely covered by the Union. We cover release time, so you do not have to use any personal, work or vacation time to attend. You will be paid as you normally would be by the University, and the Union reimburses the University for those costs. All course materials are provided, as well as lunch daily. All you have to bring is yourself. The courses are 5 days, Monday to Friday 8:30-4:30.

The course content includes 1 Day Getting to know your Union, 3 Day Grievance Handling and Workplace Leadership and 1 Day Bullying in the Workplace.

If you have ever considered becoming more involved in your Union, or just want to learn more about how your Local functions and represents you in the workplace, this is an excellent opportunity for you.

The 3 sessions are running on the following dates:

October 7-11, 2019November 4-8, 2019January 20-24, 2020

Please note that if you are interested in one of these sessions, you can email educuation@unifor5555.ca and we can assist you with registration. If you want to do so online, you can, but if you have missed a registration deadline we do have spots available. Also, please note that the on-line registration system does not yet allow you do create your profile on a smart-phone. This will be fixed in the near future, but if you need to access the portal for the first time, you should do so on a computer. If you need assistance with this, reach out to Tricia in our Gilmour Hall Office and she can assist you.

LABOUR DAY PARADE

The Labour Day Parade this year was definitely one of the more interesting ones, with both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh joining us in Hamilton. It was great to see a number of new faces march with us this year, as well as old friends. We once again need to thank Unifor Local 504 for the excellent BBQ lunch we shared with them.

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.

MEETINGS and OTHER THINGS

All Units - General MeetingTuesday 24 September 201912:00 noon to 1pmCIBC Hall - McMaster Main Campus

Update MeetingWednesday 25 September 201912:30pm to 1:30pmRon Joyce Centre - Room 249

All Units - General MeetingFriday 15 November 201912:00 noon to 2pmCIBC Hall - McMaster Main Campus

Caledonia FairSeptember 27th - 30th 2019151 Caithness St. E.Buttertart Battle, Demo Derby, Midway, Pet showhttps://www.caledoniafair.ca/

Rocton World’s FairOctober 5th - 8th 2019812 Old Highway 8Crafters, Livestock Exhibits, Midwayhttps://www.rocktonworldsfair.com/

Ball’s Falls Thanksgiving FestivalOctober 11th - 14th 20193292 Sixth Avenue, LincolnOver 170 Artisans, Food Vendors, Live Musichttps://thanksgivingfestival.ca/

Midway hawkers calling “try your luck with me”Merry-go-round wheezing the same old melody

A thousand ten-cent wonders, who could ask for more?A pocketful of silver, the key to heaven’s door.

~ Neil Peart of Rush