November 2018 Volume 5, Issue 16

Unifor5555ELECTIONS REMINDER

This is a reminder that nominations continue to be open for all positions in Unifor Local 5555 to all members in good standing with at least one year seniority.

A separate Nomination Form is required to be completed for each position for which you seek election. As per Article 13 (3) of the Local’s Bylaws, “... all members shall be automatically nominated for each office for which they are eligible if they accept the nomination in writing prior to the November General Membership meeting ...” (that is to say that, you essentially nominate yourself for positions for which you are interested in running and for which you are eligible). Elected members will hold the positions for an estimated three year term commencing January 2019.

Completed nomination forms are to be returned to Unifor 5555 by 4:00 pm on Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 and can be submitted in one of several ways:

• mail it in a sealed envelope addressed to the Elections Committee via campus mail to GH B111; or• drop it in the drop box outside of GH B111; or• scan the completed nomination form and email it to elections@unifor5555.ca; or• fax it to 905-385-5553.

A final call for nominations will be made at the all units general membership meeting scheduled for 12:00 noon on Wednesday, November 14th before the nominations are closed. Should the number of nominations received exceed the number of positions available for any position,

then an election for that position must be held. Details of the vote (campaign time lines, method, timing, etc.) will be announced at that time.

On the Elections Committee webpage (http://unifor5555.ca/en/about/committees/elec-tions-committee#.VV3310ZM_4c) you will find a nomination form as well as the full list of positions within the Local that are up for election. You may wish to bookmark this page to refer back to it as it will be updated regularly throughout the nomination and election process with documents including roles and responsibilities and brief descriptions of duties for some of the positions.

Election guidelines are outlined in Article 13 of the Unifor 5555 Bylaws (http://unifor5555.ca/sites/uni-for5555.ca/files/committee/file/unifor_local_5555_bylaws-ratified_31052016_ammended_29112016.pdf). Please note that no member shall, at the same time, be a candidate for, or hold, more than one of the offices of the Executive Board.

Please feel free to contact the Election Committee via email at elections@unifor5555.ca if you have any questions regarding the available positions, the nomination form, or anything else regarding these upcoming elections.

COMMUNICATIONS SURVEY UPDATE

We want to thank the over 400 members who took the time to complete the Communications Survey. We are going through the responses, and the results will be used as we look at how to improve the Lo-cal’s communications going forward. Congratulations to the 3 members who won the draw for the $25 gift certificate.

The comments that were made are useful but will take us a bit of time to review, though some of the comments have highlighted some things that we can change more quickly. As we go through them, there will likely be communications about those tweaks in the newsletter. It was clear from the responses that members are not aware of the two Facebook accounts our Local has, so we have included the links below. We will be looking at our social media communication as well, but for the time being when we have things we want to share, they can be found at::

Unifor Local 5555 Page

https://www.facebook.com/5555Unifor/

The Women’s Committee Page

https://www.facebook.com/UniforLocal5555WomensCommittee/

UNIT 5 BARGAINING UPDATE

On Thursday, November 8th, we met with the Employer for a full day of bargaining and made good progress. We feel that the conversations we are having are ensuring that we are creating fair, safe and positive working conditions for our members while the language we are developing meets the operational needs of the employer. As we have mentioned, the Bargaining Team is not able to discuss specifics of the language at this point. When we have reached a tentative agreement that the bargaining team agrees is the best possible negotiated agreement to be had, it will be brought back to the membership for ratification. At the ratification meeting, the Bargaining Team will present the language and ensure members have plenty of time to ask any questions they may have.

We meet with the Employer again on December 6th and 7th. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Survey Winner - Adam Moniz

HANDS OFF WORKERS’ RIGHTS!

The Ford Government has moved a bill that, if passed, will repeal the most worker-friendly labour law reforms that happened in Ontario in a generation.

Bill 47 shows us that he has chosen to side with his friends in business over the working people of this province. Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government says it plans to repeal chunks of the previ-ous government’s Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act amid pushback from business owners who argued many of the changes were too costly, forcing them to raise prices and cut staff.

The Ford government is attacking workers on three main fronts:

• By freezing the minimum wage at $14 and eliminating key employment standards, the government is dropping the floor for working in Ontario. For the millions of non-union workers in Ontario good employment standards ensure that employers don’t create a race to the bottom that makes working in Ontario even worse than it is now. For workers who have a collective agreement, decent employment standards are the base from which we bargain better contracts.

• By making it harder to join a union or keep the union of your choice, the Ford government is telling current workers, as well as the next generation, that they should settle for less fairness at work.

• By taking over and closing the independent Ontario College of Trades and degrading apprenticeship training, the Ford government is taking power away from the united workers’ body, threatening the future of high quality apprenticeship training, and possibly endangering skilled trades workers.

The Ford government is turning back the clock on workers’ in rights in Ontario, but we can stop them. Here they are pictured at the bottom right celebrating with applause as they vote to stop the minimum wage in Ontario from increasing to $15 per hour in January. Isn’t it disgusting that politicians making over $100,000 per year to cheer as they cut wages and other benefits for the lowest income workers.

Unifor will be responding to the Ford’s government attacks. Please stay tuned for actions, mobilizations, and things you can do to protect workers’ rights in Ontario. One simple thing that you can do is to commit to wearing red every Friday to protest the regressive actions of the Doug Ford government to tie in with Unifor’s social media campaign tied into workers’ rights.

Pictured at left are Barry Diacon, Unit 1 Chairperson and Sarah-Kai Anatanaitis, Guide and Workplace Committee member wearing their red and holding their signs telling Doug Ford to and his Progressive Conservatives to keep their hands off workers’ rights!

Summarized from https://unifor.org/en/take-action/campaigns/hands-workers-rights with some information from https://north99.org/

RETIRED WORKERS CHAPTER NEWS

We hear a lot about financial planning prior to retirement and how to learn if you can afford to retire. But what about now that we are actually there. How do we measure how well we are coping with retirement? On all levels: socially, physically, psychologically … but especially financially. Are we following the right path? Is there a right path? Can we afford any missteps?

Retirement is one of the most important transitions in life - a transition with significant financial, psychological and physical moments. Both an opportunity and a challenge, retirement opens an engaging and inspiring world of possibility to those who enter it. Yet retirement, for many of us, can feel like a mysterious territory unsupported by a single credible map. Retirement isn’t always easy, despite what some sources may have you believe. Everyone needs help in retirement, even you.

For this month’s session, held on October 30th at 10:00 am, retirees attended a presentation by Carolyn Humby, (CFP, CIM, FCSI), Investment Advisor, with First Ontario Credit

Union and her colleague, Mark Cresswell, Trust and Estate Specialist, First Ontario Investments.

During the session Carolyn and colleagues answered the following questions: at this stage in my life, where should I put my focus (paying off debts, still trying to put money aside, spending it all); is it too late to save; how can I maximize what savings I have; can I still get a loan (a car loan for example, or an emergency loan); how do I access my RRSP funds - is there a best way and what should I avoid doing; how can I avoid scams and protect myself from identity theft; best ways to supplement my income; as well other useful information.

We learned a lot of good and useful information, of note is the website created jointly by First Ontario Credit Union partnered with two other Credit Unions titled https://everythingretirement.com which holds a store of great information under such headings as: Finances, Wellness, Relationships, Lifestyle, Recreation, Work and Fun.

BEER, SPIRIT AND WINE TOUR 2018

Last Saturday the Local packed up a bus and headed to the Niagara Region for our annual Wine Tour. This year, we changed it up a bit, and headed for some delicious suds first at Bench Brewing Company. Many of us take road trips through Niagara a fair bit and yet most of us have never been to Bench Brewing Company before. It was a huge surprise for some of us that it even existed. The building is huge, lots of parking, and is located in the heart of Niagara wine country. They had a very nice selection of beer on tap. Although we only went in for beer, we did see a lot of people eating little charcuterie platters, so they definitely have food as well. Prices for the beer are very good. Nothing astronomical. The service was good – everyone was friendly and helpful, and they even have a cold beer walk-in cooler.

After Bench we trucked on to Niagara on the Lake where we spent a couple hours wandering through the shops and having some coffee. Some of us found the old candy shop, some the Christmas store and still others found chocolate! A truly fun time.

After our trek into Niagara on the Lake, our bellies were full, our legs stretched and our pockets slightly lighter. We boarded the coach again, and this time, headed to another fine establishment in the town of Virgil, just outside Niagara on the Lake: Wayne Gretzky Estate Winery and Distillery. This estate is a large - 23,000 square feet - including a winery, a distillery, tasting areas, a retail shop, hospitality spaces, and of course fermentation facilities and storage. Most who tried the spirits found them to be rather spirited, as they are not mixed when you try them, but straight up. The wines were delicious. After our tastings, and tour, we were able to shop and wander the grounds before heading back to the bus. Did you know that the large pond on site converts to a skating rink in the winter ... how nice is that? Thanks to the Recreation Committee for another great trip!”

photo credits go to Beth Couchman... images to the right courtesy Wayne Gretzky Estates

General Meetings

November 14, 2018 McMaster UniversityNoon - 2:00pmCIBC Hall

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.

New Member Orientation

November 26, 2018 Unifor 555586 Hester Street, Hamilton12 Noon to 2pm.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.