It's time for us to take back our country.
Now that we have governments in place that we can work with, it's now our time
It's our time to make sure that the labour legislation
which was regressive is eliminated.
But we also need to make sure that we have
positive legislation for working class people.
Why shouldn't we have a national pharmacare program?
What's taking so long to renegotiate the Health Care Accord?
We should have a national child care program.
We need to have stronger programs in Canada that are geared towards eliminating violence against women.
It's time for fairness. It's time for justice.
It's time for equity.
It's time for the labour movement to resume
its rightful place in society
both domestically and abroad.
In Alberta we have a New Democrat government now
the only one in the country.
We've been doing amazing work with
the Alberta Federation of Labour and other affiliates,
really pushing to ensure that we get good public policy, good legislation
that helps our members in their day-to-day lives.
The first exciting project for Unifor that we've taken on
is the Changing Workplace Review.
This is the first time the provincial government
in over a couple of decades has really taken a look
and opened up the Employment Standards Act and the Ontario Labour Relations Act
with the purpose of modernizing them.
Taking into consideration, frankly, the precarious work that we have growing
and how challenging it is for workers in a union and without a union.
I think that we're shifting in how we see
low-wage workers more generally
across sectors, including in retail.
I think a lot of the credit for this needs to go
to workers and their allies
allies in labour unions, progressive politicians.
Particularly in the United States we've seen a real movement growing and building and encouraging signs
here in Canada too.
So when you think about how even in House of Cards,
they're talking about WalMart's poverty wages now, that the tides are turning.
Going forward I think we have a real opportunity to give this sector the attention that it needs
and to think about how retail fits into our economy and our society more broadly.
As we are all convened here today in this great hall, we're in Detroit Three bargaining.
And we know it's about the future of the industry here in Canada.
So if we don't have all the governments, the corporations, our union all pulling together
then we are going to have a problem.
Because we are not going to allow Canada's number one export industry to disappear without a fight.
The union is nothing without the membership
and Unifor has embarked on a very ambitious membership engagement process.
One of the key pieces of engagement we've done this year is the launch of the local union task force.
What was really inspiring was their desire to work closer together
to build the unions in the communities that they live in and work in.
That's the focus. Part of it going forward will be just to continue to engage and
have as many members as possible play an active role in whatever forum of the union that excites them, to be a part of it.
: I think the next three years, doing some of the work of
the local union Task Force is going to be pretty exciting.
Going forward we have to look at how we strengthen
and build the confidence of our members to be able to take on challenges,
to build alliances in communities and to fight back in new and more sophisticated ways.
So we're just getting started, really.
I’d like to see more organizing,
and I hope that we will return to a time when
unions are being joined at a greater rate,
that the people enjoy the benefits of a good union job
but also everything else that they have to add to communities.
Every one of us has a responsibility,
especially those of us who have had the privilege
of coming through the door,
who have been able to get into leadership positions,
of making sure that that door doesn't close behind us.
Our responsibility is to keep the door open and then open up some windows
and people should be coming in and they should be diverse groups of people as well.
One of the things that we did in creating Unifor
was to be very conscious of equity and to look at everything through an equity lens.
And we will continue to do that. I think that will be one of the challenges on a go-forward basis.
There's no room for complacency in a movement particularly if we're interested in being a lasting movement.
Our union's done a lot to be able to expose the truth.
When we take on issues like fighting the TPP, when NAFTA came in the 80s, we were promised that this was going to be good for the people of Canada,
that our partners in Mexico that their lives would rise up and they would be so much better off in this global economy.
The reality is that that's not true at all.
I think our union's able to give a voice, not just to workers here but to workers, hopefully, around the globe.
Solidarity at home is really critical:
how we support each other in our struggles
and against employers and government.
That is something that Unifor
and the rest of the labour movement does really well every day in this country without much fanfare
On the international level we recognize we live in a global world and we can't simply sit on the sidelines allowing ourselves not to be engaged
with workers who are struggling either to build their own country but also to resist the demands of the employers around the world.
I feel there's something in the world.
I just feel there's been a kind of an earthquake
in the world in terms of a social knowledge
or social understanding that something
that something needs to break through.
It is so clear now that these policies of deregulation and unfettered free trade,
corporate rule and the cutting back of the social security network has just hurt so many millions,
so many billions around the world that there's a moment here for something new and I want us to grab this moment to work together.
Unifor is going to be absolutely crucial to the naming of what that looks like.
The world is faced with one of the biggest climate challenges that we've ever seen in humanity
and climate change is going to affect all of our lives. It's going to affect everything we do at work and we have to recognize
that we have a central role to play as a labour movement in how we can use our voice and our political clout to fight for
climate jobs at the same time as we recognize that we have to reduce greenhouse gases and make this planet a more liveable place.
Join me in giving Canada the very best
150th birthday present we can.
That is ending racial discrimination in fiscal policy
in the federal government across every area
of First Nations children's experience.
You and your family, including your children, can become part of the movement
that finally ends Canada's apartheid policy towards First Nations children.
So we need your help and we know together we can do it. We're going to have to use all of our voices
in a chorus that says that Canada is better than racially discriminating against kids and we will no longer have it be part of our future.
The future is very bright. We've been very bold. We've been on the offensive.
We've made real changes in terms of the politics in this country, the political leadership of this country.
I'm very proud of our accomplishments and look forward to the next three years.
We need unions that are going to be creative. We need unions that are going to be exciting.
We need unions that are grounded in their communities. We need unions that are prepared to take on
tough issues internally like, "how can we be a more diverse and engaging movement?"
I think Unifor has been, is and will be all of those things.
You never take your foot off the gas pedal.
I've got an incredible amount of energy and so does the team and all the staff and our local unions.
We're encouraged; we're enthused. We saw what we can accomplish when we stick together as an organization.
So the next three years will be no different.
The next three years is about continuing to push the political agenda,
about pushing the collective bargaining agenda but it's about building Unifor.
It's about continuing to build our organization, bringing in new members, encouraging non-union members to join our organization.
It really is about continuing progressive politics, continuing to portray a progressive organization that is going to be at the forefront of change.
So the next three years are going to be as crazy as the last three.