Helping our members achieve fairness at work and in their communities is at the heart of what we do at Local 1000A and 2014 was no different.
This year, we celebrated our 70th anniversary and continued our proud tradition of standing up for our members and their families.
At the bargaining table, we fought for and achieved improvements for our members. We negotiated 10 contracts covering more than 1,000 members. These include first agreements for Chubb Security and Compass Group at the Toronto Pearson International Airport Air Canada Lounges. Additionally, members at four separate locations of LensCrafters at Markville, Fairview, Upper Canada and Yorkdale Malls achieved first agreements. We also bargained renewal agreements for Janes Family Foods, Nexcycle Plastics, Premier Tech, HMS Host, Louis Dreyfus, Wilson’s and Parker’s Your Independent Grocers.
For those of you who work at Loblaws Great Food and Superstore, preparations for solidarity bargaining are well underway with UFCW Locals 175 & 633 and Local 247 in British Columbia (pg. 5). The importance of your participation in this process cannot be underestimated.
To assist you in your workplace, Local 1000A continues to offer spring and fall training to our stewards. This year, we provided about 3,000 hours worth of training for our stewards.
It’s my belief that self-reflection, new knowledge, ideas, tools and skills are essential to growing, developing and improving ourselves and thereby, our great union.
With that in mind, your union staff and officers actively took part in training this year on inclusion, diversity, equity, human rights, labour law, LGBTQ rights, Health and Safety and WSIB, political action and much more. We also participated in training on fighting back against anti-worker laws.
Our union, like any organization or in fact any person, is a work in a progress. We are always evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of our membership. We are proud of our many accomplishments and our continuing successes but know there is always room to grow, learn and improve so we can serve our members better. After all, the ultimate goal is to ensure our members have the best possible representation in their stewards, staff and officers and to build a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all members.
This year, we also held employers accountable and protected our members’ rights by filing more than 600 grievances. That’s not including the countless number of workplace issues that our stewards and union reps fought for, and for which we were able to reach a resolve without a grievance being filed.
Our Workers’ Safety and Insurance Board and Health and Safety Department also had an exceptionally successful 2014. We won more than 30 WSIB cases which meant our members could finally receive the benefits unjustly denied to them by WSIB. In 2014, our victories ensured more than $300,000 went in to our members’ pockets. We are currently fighting for justice for our members with 140 case appeals in progress.
Ensuring workers win rights at work is a critical priority for our local union. We helped workers achieve union representation at LensCrafters Scarborough Town Centre, LensCrafters Pickering Town Centre, Senett Control Company and the Ottawa Food Bank. We welcome them to the Local 1000A family. The one sure way to stop employers from putting downward pressure on our compensation and working conditions is to help more workers and workplaces become unionized.
As in previous years, our members rallied together to fund life-saving research through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. This year, we raised approximately $37,000 and next year, we expect to raise even more. Since 1985, UFCW Canada has raised more than $31 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada.
These are just some of the many things happening with your union. Along with your Connections magazine, I encourage you to go to your union website, ufcw1000a.ca to find out more about what is going on in your union and to also update your contact information. That way, we can send important information that is relevant to you.
On behalf of Local 1000A staff and officers, I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday season and I wish you the very best for the New Year.
