Wednesday, August 25, 2021

UNION NEWS
'No Dash, no deal': Striking De Havilland workers rally to get aircraft made in GTA

TORONTO — Union leader Jerry Dias returned to the north Toronto aircraft manufacturing plant where he worked almost 45 years ago to press owner de Havilland into ending an ongoing labour dispute on Tuesday.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

As striking workers rallied outside the Downsview plant, Unifor's national president called on de Havilland Canada and its parent company Longview Aviation Capital Corp. to return to the bargaining table with an agreement that is fair to staff and vowed that he will keep fighting for employee rights.

"This plant is a part of who we all are because I was hired here with 1,500 other people for the Dash 7 program," said Dias, who in 1987 was president of one of the local units representing the workers he spoke to and whose father held the position before him.


"This is personal because you trusted me ... and I'll be damned if I am going to let you down today."

Dias was pledging his support to 700 workers represented by Unifor Local 673 and 112, who have been on strike since July 27 over the future location of the Dash 8 turboprop program.

De Havilland told workers earlier this year that it would no longer produce new Q400 aircraft at the Downsview facility beyond currently confirmed orders, and said two years ago that work will end at the site once lease agreements for the land expire.

The union has since been pushing de Havilland to commit to making the Dash 8 somewhere in the Greater Toronto Area when production resumes.

The company has refused to negotiate any scope clauses that would limit production to somewhere in the GTA and Dias has said he expects it to be moved to Alberta.

De Havilland did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the rally, behind which Ontario Premier Doug Ford threw his support during a visit to an Alstom facility in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Ford said he is disappointed that the Dash 8 program may leave because the provincial government has spent hundreds of millions on de Havilland and aircraft production.

"All of a sudden this big billionaire comes along and says, 'I'm taking (Dash 8 production) out of Toronto, and taking it out of Ontario, and we're shipping it to another province just because the billionaire lives in that province," said Ford in a reference to de Havilland owner Sherry Brydson, a member of the Thomson family.

"They take the money and then they leave. I think it's disgusting. We have to fight."

Earlier in the bargaining process, de Havilland said it was "eager to collaborate" with the union "as we chart a sustainable long-term future for aircraft manufacturing and the skilled employment it supports. But the ability to work together toward a long-term future relies on a concerted effort to transform the business to the circumstances we are facing.”

The aviation industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As people try to avoid contracting the virus, many are forgoing travelling. Airlines were forced to ground planes for much of last year and early this year, when COVID-19 case counts were high.

It has had a trickle-down effect on sales for aircraft manufacturers like De Havilland.

"When it comes to pinching the nerve that connects their wallet to their brain, we are not in a good situation," Dias said.

The stakes are high for the company's workers, who want to hold onto their jobs and chanted "No Dash, no deal" during the rally.

"I am struggling to look after my family without a paycheque. I don't have the benefits of a second income," said Donna Day, a single mother, who has worked at the plant for 35 years.

"To have jobs ripped out form underneath you is devastating and many of us have had to visit food banks for the first time. Many of us are depressed and struggling not knowing if we will be back at our jobs one day."

Connie Wright, who has worked at the plant for more than 36 years, is equally impassioned.

She took the stage after Day, her voice wavering as she described the plant as her "home."

"Every time I fly up the 400 (highway) and see those Dash 8's, I know a little part of me is in that aircraft," she said, noting she even wrote her name between the skins of some planes on the last of the 300 series.

"Every single aircraft that I have worked on has my blood, sweat and tears from this job...but we need Longview to get back to the table."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 24, 2021.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

DUTY TO ACCOMODATE
Disney reaches vaccination agreement with unionized employees

2021/8/23 
©Orlando Sentinel
A Disney employee draws a cold beer at Disney Springs in Orlando, Fla., on May 20, 2020. - Stephen M. Dowell/TNS

Disney reached an agreement with unions representing its workers Monday requiring all on-site employees to be fully vaccinated by late October, excluding specific exemptions.

Under an agreement signed Monday, on-site employees will have to be fully vaccinated — at least two weeks out from completing the course of their COVID-19 shot — and provide proof of their vaccination by Oct. 22.

Employees can request exemptions from receiving the vaccine for medical or religious reasons, under the terms of the agreement.

In late July, The Walt Disney Company announced it would require all non-union hourly and salaried employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The company gave on-site employees 60 days starting from July 30 to complete their round of vaccinations and asked employees working from home to provide proof of vaccination before they could return to work.

“This means to work at Walt Disney World, unless you have a medical or religious accommodation need, that you will be required to be vaccinated,” Unite Here Local 362 president Eric Clinton said. “Vaccines are the best way to protect all of us, and Disney will be requiring it of its cast members.”

Those seeking medical accommodations need to have a note from their doctor detailing the disability or medical condition, its duration and limitations and explaining how the disability or condition prevents the employee from receiving the vaccine.

Employees who ask for religious accommodations have to explain how their religious beliefs or practices specifically prevent them from getting vaccinated.

Under either situation, Disney can contact the employees’ physicians or spiritual leaders and discuss vaccination within the context of the employees’ limitations, according to the contract.

Disney will then meet with employees on a case-by-case basis to discuss their circumstances and determine if the company can accommodate their request through measures like face coverings, alternative roles or additional safety measures, it read.

If Disney and employees cannot reach accommodations in the employee’s current position, the employee will be eligible to transfer to another open qualified position. If an employee cannot be accommodated in their position, they could be terminated but would be eligible for rehire.

A spokesperson for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon.

Clinton, whose union represents workers in capacities like attractions and custodial across the resort, said the Local 362 union was satisfied with the terms of the contract, adding the majority of members are already vaccinated.

“Our major concern going into this was making sure that people who needed an accommodation would be able to get one, and get one in a timely fashion that would not have them lose employment for a long period of time, and I believe that we’ve successfully accomplished that in partnership with the company,” he said.


Met strikes union deal with musicians, set to reopen next month

Issued on: 25/08/2021 - 
Demonstrators at a May 2021 rally supporting workers in labor disputes with the Metropolitan Opera, which on August 24 announced it had reached a deal with orchestra members Angela Weiss AFP/File

New York (AFP)

After months of uncertainty members of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra on Tuesday announced they'd ratified their contract with management, setting the stage for the largest US performing arts organization to reopen next month.

"We are thrilled to be returning to regular performances very soon, and look forward to reconnecting with our audiences," said the local 802 branch president Adam Krauthamer and the Met Orchestra Committee in a joint statement.

The collective bargaining agreement follows months of often heated labor talks including pay cuts for musicians, who for nearly a year during the pandemic went unpaid.

"The members of the Met's great orchestra have been through Herculean challenges during the sixteen months of the shutdown, as we struggled to keep the company intact," said Met general manager Peter Gelb, the Met's General Manager.

"Now, we look forward to rebuilding and returning to action."

Terms of the agreement were not made public, but according to documents reported by The New York Times musicians and management struck a four-year deal including pay cuts of 3.7 percent, with vows to restore some of that pay once box office revenues hit 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

The lack of a deal had threatened the Met's 2021-22 season set to open in September, at which point its famed house will have been shuttered 18 months.

The orchestra shop is the last of three major Met unions to reach an deal, though several smaller unions have yet to find agreements.

The Times also said much of Met's savings will come from reducing the company's full-time orchestra to 83 from the previously required 90; a number of musicians retired during the pandemic, some of whom management is now allowed to not replace.

The Met aims to reopen on September 27 with "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" by Terence Blanchard, the first Black composer to stage a production at the esteemed venue.

In July Met management said all customers and staff along with orchestra and chorus members would need to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 during the 2021-22 season.

Children under the age of 12, a group currently ineligible for vaccines, will not be allowed to enter the Met even if the adults accompanying them are vaccinated.

© 2021 AFP


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