www.ufcw.ca@UFCWCanada ufcwcanadaf
Retail • Food • Hospitality • Healthcare • Security • Industrial • Office & Professional
UFCW Canada
Annual Report
2019
United Food & Commercial Workers Union
A Road Map to Decent Work
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
Paul R. Meinema
National President UFCW Canada
A RoAdmAp to decent WoRkMessage froM the NatioNal PresideNt
2019 has been a year of historic strides in fulfilling our mandate of being the union best prepared for the future by fighting the battles of today. The gig economy is reshaping the way workers earn a living, in some ways for the better, but in many more ways turning back the clock on hard-won public protections. The trade-union led social contract that ushered in basic workplace entitlements like sick days, overtime pay, public pensions and employment insurance now seem like the luxuries of a by-gone era.
Turning on an app shouldn’t mean turning off your human rights and that is exactly what gig-employers are asking workers to do while governments search for the appropriate response. To that end, the policy making process – at every level of government – would be best served with an effective consultation strategy that puts workers and their representatives at the forefront.
Unions have a central role to shaping the future of work. As the pages that follow reveal, providing solutions to the biggest problems facing workers today requires a strategy that takes inspiration from the diverse ways union members tackle social change.
Pressing decision-makers, activating community support, mobilizing on the ground and sharing the secrets of success builds the foundation of an effective labour movement that is a recognized vehicle for change.
Fighting for the jobs of tomorrow means having a clear strategy of what decent work looks like today. Asserting the inherent rights of workers to shape the industries of the future requires a monumental effort that turns the solitary whisper for change into a bellowing echo of societal transformation.
“Fighting for the jobs of tomorrow means
having a clear strategy of what decent work
looks like today.”
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
a Year iN review
UFCW Canada continued to fulfil its commitment to members by providing the highest level of service and professionalism in the pursuit of making their life easier and their work more dignified.
Across the country, UFCW Canada supported member and community efforts that have a real and lasting impact on people’s lives.
Taking on the biggest challenges of this generation by being one the first unions to formally resist the corporate restructuring of labour has been our top priority. In cities and communities across the country the gigification of labour is leaving workers behind, loosely trying to piece together a workday in order to make a steady income while behemoth tech companies pad their profits.
Getting ahead of this trend requires political, community and union activism in drawing a line and marking the end of precarious work. It’s taken years of struggle to win the hard-fought victories we are seeing today that protect migrant farm workers and it will take the same perseverance to triumph in this age of automation.
Only the biggest battles reap the sweetest rewards and turning the clock on precarious work is a fight worth waging. Members and allies can count on their union to be on the front-lines of this issue because as the future of work evolves the rights of workers require a just adaptation.
sector BreakdowN
UFCW Canada continued another year of successful growth initiatives, breaking ground in new industries, sustaining the viability of existing bargaining units and protecting the interests of members on picket-lines across the country.
2019 marked a year of tough battles and key victories across retail sectors where dramatic concessions were halted and the union advantage sustained. Members held strong on picket-lines in support of good union jobs, defying corporate greed in the process. Efforts at gutting collective agreements brought out the best in community solidarity where friends and neighbours united around protecting good jobs.
UFCW Canada bargaining committees had a busy year negotiating new contracts and advancing their economic strength in the long-run. In hundreds of bargaining units across Canada, UFCW members ensured their earnings reflected the inflationary costs of living while protecting their future with healthy pension and benefit entitlements.
Major grievance victories ensured the integrity of collective agreements were upheld with decisions that reverberated company and sector-wide.
Organizing victories in sectors like transportation, security and cannabis continued to break ground and bolster UFCW Canada’s position as the most diverse private sector union in Canada.
Uber drivers unite and take historic steps to organize app-based workers
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
GendeR, equity And diveRsity UFCW Canada continues to push equity frontiers because it’s 2019 and women along with other equity seeking members can’t wait any longer for an even playing field.UFCW Women’s Network marked their 13th Biennial Convention under the theme: “Activism makes today’s vision, tomorrow’s reality.”
Women across UFCW International gathered to share their victories and deliberate strategies for the next phase of women’s empowerment throughout North America. Multi-stakeholder campaigns like Affordable Childcare for All and the Equal Pay Coalition were showcased as effective partnerships that leverage the power of multiple advocacy fronts that move the dial on women’s empowerment.
UFCW Canada’s efforts to promote full inclusion of LGBTQI2S members marked significant milestones in 2019 with our support of the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH). Through UFCW Canada’s and CPATH’s shared advocacy the issue of transgender health disparities is getting the attention it deserves.
UFCW Canada continues to work with its members to ensure the administration of health benefits is free of discrimination with every beneficiary getting their fair entitlement regardless of their gender identification.
Members living with a disability can count on their union to continue pursuing opportunities that seek their full participation in Canadian society. Through groundbreaking efforts with industry partners, UFCW Canada has bargained significant training and development opportunities for our disabled members to live an independent life. Partnerships with advocacy groups like the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) has helped to set important benchmarks where we can measure our success as disability advocates.
2020 will mark the historic 20th anniversary of UFCW Canada’s premier Young Worker Internship Program, known endearingly as YIP. For close to twenty years, YIP has engaged countless of young members providing experiences that last a lifetime.
This past year young members convened from across the country on Ottawa for UFCW Canada Power 2019 Young Workers Conference. Bringing together youth voices provides an opportunity for young members to experience how similar their issues are despite being separated by thousands of kilometers over a vast country. Whether it be the increasing costs of tuition, the climate crisis or the rise of precarious work, young people need such opportunities to share the best strategies in addressing these generational problems.
Sisters convene for UFCW Women’s Network 13th Biennial Convention
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
ReconciliAtionTrue reconciliation can be envisioned as a road travelled – not a destination. Taking the right steps throughout the journey and living up to the original commitment is a part of honouring the process.
UFCW Canada has worked diligently to honour its commitment to reconciliation by making good on its promises to create space for First Nation, Métis and Inuit members to celebrate and share their unique gifts.
In 2019, UFCW Canada continued its tradition of gathering First Nation, Métis and Inuit members from throughout the country to share ideas, experiences and best practices that will light the path to reconciliation.
At conferences and through strategic lobbying sessions, UFCW Canada has been instrumental in pushing for the active inclusion of Indigenous voices across the country, in concert with First Nation, Métis and Inuit advocacy groups.
The needle on reconciliation is moving due to the effective work of Indigenous and allied organizations that have been shining a light on the dark realities experienced by this land’s First Peoples.
The epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the inequity in First Nation health and education funding, the on-reserve water crisis and other issues that continue to plague Indigenous communities have become a cause for national unity seeking the best solutions to end this misery.
UFCW Canada 2019 Indigenous Peoples Conference
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
UFCW members and allies show Pride on the streets of Montreal, QC
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
politicAl Action With a federal election and many important provincial votes in the works, 2019 marked a busy year for political action among UFCW Canada membership. In ridings across the country, UFCW Canada member-activists ensured pro-labour candidates were sent to legislatures with an expressed commitment to fight for what matters most to Canadian workers.
Setting the progressive agenda for the national union came by way of UFCW Canada’s 2019 Political Action Conference. Activists gathered from across the country to discuss progressive solutions to a growing economic divide facilitated by Canada’s powerful corporate lobby.
Union members developed crucial skills for the 2019 election cycle that included campaigning and lobbying on policies like universal pharmacare, raising corporate taxes and setting higher minimum wage standards to address serious affordability issues across the federation.
2019 has been a year of successful policy advocacy for UFCW Canada with sound commitments that will benefit members into the future.
Commitments on a National Food Policy and open work-permits for Temporary Foreign Workers, while progress on addressing African Swine Fever and the resumption of Canadian pork and beef exports to China are a testament that UFCW Canada’s strategic advocacy is making work safer and more sustainable for our members in the food industry.
Meanwhile, UFCW Canada is actively engaging the federal government’s Future Skills Council to ensure that the voice of our members are heard in this age of automation where changes in labour market policy threaten the very nature of how our members earn a living.
Ottawa plays host to UFCW Canada’s 2019 Political Action Conference
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
Migrant workers pack workshops to receive information on new federal government reforms won by UFCW Canada and allies
In Ontario, coordinated actions have halted Premier Doug Ford’s plan to have beer sold out of convenience stores which would threaten thousands of good paying union jobs across the province where UFCW 12R24 members provide for responsible sales.
While in BC, UFCW Local 1518 successfully petitioned the provincial labour board to hear their concerns that ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft continue to skirt employment
standards by misclassifying their employees, making it impossible for them to access statutory protections.
The record is clear – a year of tireless advocacy has positioned UFCW Canada members for prosperity in their respective industries and executing on important reforms will preserve the dignity of labour into the future.
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
tRAininG & educAtionPushing the frontiers of education delivery requires meeting the changing needs of diverse members in a constantly evolving labour market.To meet these changing needs UFCW Canada has introduced a host of new courses to its webCampus platform to develop the in-demand skills members require in the industries of the future.
Courses like Cannabis Dispensary Specialist have received significant interest as Canada became the first G7 nation to legalize recreational cannabis just one year prior. Meeting the demand for these new skills helps our members in emerging industries acquire the best practices in sectors where protocols are still being established.
Such trailblazing efforts are a testament to ways unions play a vital role in filling training gaps by being on the front-line of evolving skills trends.
Leveraging strategic employer relationships and government initiatives that ready Canadians for generational change across the national labour market, solutions that include the voices of union members are taking off.
To this end UFCW Canada has worked within a tripartite framework – that includes business and government – by specifically leveraging unions unique position as workplace conduits and training delivery specialists to implement future skills initiatives.
Such innovative solutions that bring together key stakeholders in coordinating labour market policy to mitigate the uncertainties of the looming digital disruption will be a substantial benefit to UFCW Canada members into the future.
From this vantage point UFCW Canada is planting the seeds of certified trades and apprenticeship programs hosted within our skills enhancing platform webCampus. The outlook for this new iteration continues to build on webCampus’ founding motto of being a free and accessible tool that promotes the best in skills training for our members.
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
community involvement UFCW Canada continues to live up to its commitment as an active community partner in support of life-saving initiatives that remain close to home for many of our members. 2019 marks 34 years of partnership between UFCW Canada and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC): an important collaboration in finding a cure to blood cancers.
Since the historic partnership 34 years ago, UFCW’s member-driven initiatives have raised over $43 million towards finding a cure. From annual bottle drives to scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro, the
ingenious ways members have come to support efforts to cure blood cancers have been truly inspiring.
This year special recognition goes to UFCW Local 175 member Richard White whose community-based efforts raised $15,000 for the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital’s, Project X-Ray which seeks to bring life-saving medical imaging equipment to the community of Grimsby, ON. Along with members of the Kinsmen Club of Grimsby the community pulled off the heroic fundraising haul, involving 30 teams in the effort to sustain local health services.
The value of a good education is never lost at UFCW Canada and 2019 marked another year of generous contributions to our members seeking post-secondary schooling. The financial burden of getting a quality education in Canada is unlike anything experienced by generations prior. Every year, UFCW Canada makes available more than $300,000 in scholarships to members and their families, making the path to a quality education a little easier.
UFCW Canada presents a hefty cheque in support of the lifesaving research undertaken by the LLSC
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
closinG RemARks Summing up the work of UFCW Canada doesn’t always fit the neatly constructed seams of a report, mostly because the countless hours of advocacy and activism cannot fully portray the spirit of solidarity shared between people as they support each other amidst challenging circumstances.
The shop steward who saves a members job, or the picket captain who shows up with cups full of hot coffee for another cold night on the line, or the advocate who helps a migrant worker move their meager belongings to a safehouse out of reach from an abusive employer.
The stories are too numerous to name by incident, but the guiding narrative emerges of a union pieced together by the many courageous deeds that constitute the lifeblood of our union. These selfless acts of compassion are done not for special recognition but instead serve as functions of an organization steeped in a commitment to succeed by putting others first.
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
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UFCW Canada Annual Report 2019
contAct us
The UniTed Food and CommerCial Workers Union (Ufcw caNada)
300-61 International Boulevard Toronto, Ontario, M9W 6K4
Phone: 416.675.1104
This report is also available at ufcw.ca/annualreport2019
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Retail • Food • Hospitality • Healthcare • Security • Industrial • Office & Professional
www.ufcw.ca@UFCWCanada ufcwcanadaf
