What’s going on is something the federal government better start paying attention to.
There’s going to be some change!
We wanted a strong, militant, Canadian union.
that would stand up for working people.
I was looking for increased strength,
an ability to really be on the offensive.
I accept because this is an act of hope and solidarity that we can build a better world for every Canadian.
That was a really exciting time to see whether
two very proud unions could come together.
I accept.
The founding convention was very exciting.
It was full of energy.
It was full of hope.
I'll never forget it, frankly. I'll never forget it.
It was a great fusion
of this strong, sophisticated smart organization
that really had an understanding that
if you’re going to represent workers, there are many
different elements that you have to bring together.
The building of such a powerful trade union movement,
that can not only alter the house of labour,
but that can alter the house of Canada.
We all had to hunker down under the Harper years.
They were after workers,
they were after social justice groups.
We took a look and we saw that
the labour movement was under attack
and working class politics had shifted to the right and there had to be a dramatic change.
The first three years have been really about building.
We worked for a year on the structures. We talked about the constitution.
We put into place all the pieces of the puzzle.
I’ve loved working with the regional councils,
our new rank and file structures.
We did basically 50 town halls throughout the country.
This conversation with our members really showed that our activists want to do more.
The one thing that we knew, it wasn't going to be just a merger,
where we just came together and became bigger.
We had to revitalize, reinvent ourselves,
do something completely different, create a new organization.
Defeating Tim Hudak and his regressive agenda was
probably one of the most important things
that we’ve done in Ontario.
Hudak was talking about implementing right-to-work legislation, stripping union rights.
And we knew that if he was successful, it would have had a detrimental impact,
not only to the entire labour movement, but to Canadians.
We had Bill 1 which was a horrendous piece of legislation that attempted to take Unifor members
and place them in another union to weaken our bargaining power.
In the end, we won! It was a huge victory.
My God, I’ve spent my entire life waiting to find people who will defy perverse and ugly legislation,
and it’s happening in Unifor!
I know as Unifor was being formed, one of the
serious questions in the mind of the leadership was about organizing.
Like the Casino Rama victory – one of the largest organizing victories in Ontario in this century.
Well, the first major set of negotiations we had under Unifor was with Resolute.
And when the dust settled, it was a message to corporate Canada that Unifor is a stronger union
than any of our predecessing organizations, and we’re here to stay and we’re here to fight.
Another huge victory for us, was what we did in Metro bargaining.
Unifor played a very significant role in making some really noteworthy improvements
for part-time workers in particular.
Congratulations! We are ratified!
I’m impressed with Unifor’s commitment to some of the more challenging sectors to organize –
so whether we’re talking about retail or freelance workers.
Take a look at the freelance union, coming together as a collective force – so they can unite as a group and have power.
We’ve had three years of fighting.
Within the companies at the bargaining table, we’ve had three years of asserting our agenda.
We went to the CLC convention supporting Hassan Yussuff.
We have got to fight back against the forces across this country – both government and employers –
who are determined they're going to push us back in the gains we’ve made in making this country a better place.
We deserve more of our governments than a cold and ruthless hacking away at the
very fabric of our communities and the very things that speak to who we are as a people and as a society.
I challenge you to send Stephen Harper a message on election day –
to say NO! to these cuts we have all across the country.
The day after Stephen Harper was no longer the prime minister, just felt really good!
It felt really good to have a prime minister you could be proud of - that acknowledged climate change, that acknowledged labour and unions,
that acknowledged women, that acknowledged so many things that are critical.
It’s been very important for us to have a partner like Unifor on issues of health care, trade, public water and all the justice and equality issues.
It’s been really an important new creation in our country.
I just find the folks at Unifor to be almost a kindred spirit
in terms of the understanding that social justice
and the values the country is hinged on:
things like fairness and equity and respect for multiculturalism.
Those don’t just happen. Sometimes we have to struggle together to make them happen.
We received a phone call
that there were fires in Fort McMurray.
We had to evacuate our members. Homes burned to the ground.
From the very first day when I was leaving the city I received a call from Jerry Dias.
Two questions that he asked: "Are you okay?" and " What can we do to help?"
Then that huge donation that went into the Red Cross put money in the hands not just of our members – it was in every resident from Fort McMurray.
It was an immediate influx of cash for people who were out of their homes that maybe needed that money to to be able to rent a hotel, or buy a meal.
And I could see pride in our activists – they were able to tell other members: this is what it means to belong to Unifor.
If you take a look at where we’re at today – I think it’s been a heck of a three years.
Congratulations to Unifor for what you’ve done in the last 3 years, because it has been incredible.
There has been a real sense of shifting what we think is possible.
I didn’t believe we would be here 3 years ago, to be perfectly candid with you.
But we are, and that’s as a result of 310, 000 members understanding, that with one voice, we can do anything.