Human Resources committee  I know I have to answer this quickly, so I will. Obviously last year when we were in bargaining with Bell Canada.... By the way, we're in bargaining with Bell Canada all the time. In the telecommunications sector, we represent 20,000 workers in media and telecommunications, most

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. There is a huge health and safety risk. We've known places that have experienced it. There's no doubt in my mind that the regular workforce, our members, would have an intimate knowledge of that workplace, the equipment and how to maintain it, and how to do all of tha

Human Resources committee  —you will end up with health and safety issues.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. It's a great question. As you're probably aware, currently under the legislation, there are provisions for maintenance of service agreements. We participate in these all of the time. The way that they work is that we come together with the employer, with the support o

Human Resources committee  The problem is the hiring of replacement workers, which prolongs the dispute. Then, you get into a situation where you have more lost days of work as a result of that; whereas, if you're using every incentive possible.... By the way, we have a great team of people in the federal

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. Thank you very much for that. Between 2011 and 2022 in the federal jurisdiction, in terms of the number of labour disputes we had during that period, 40% of the time employers used scabs. When they do that, they feel they don't have to sit down and work out a collect

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. Honourable members of the committee, I'm here today as president of Unifor, representing 315,000 workers across this country, including almost 70,000 in the federally regulated private sector, such as air, road, rail and marine as well as telecommunications

Canadian Heritage committee  It is really important to consider that, outside of what they're paying their CEOs, they are sending millions and millions of dollars a year in increased dividends to shareholders—all of this money. These are choices these corporations are making. There could be different choices

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Niki. That's a great question. We have a huge problem here. These companies have special privileges in our country. They are awarded special privileges. They get access to broadcast and have almost a monopoly in some areas, as in the telecommunications sector. At the

Canadian Heritage committee  —and even members of the public all have a role to play, as do political leaders. In closing, I stress that the layoffs, downsizing and closures that I've highlighted today cannot continue if we actually want to have local news in this country. Also, journalists deserve to work

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. It really is a pleasure to join all of you today. I would like to thank my fellow witnesses for their excellent opening remarks. Our union represents more than 10,000 media worker