Big decisions

Yesterday GFL wrote a communication to our members titled "GFL's position on the decertification," and we were frankly surprised that they felt entitled to have an opinion at all. Workers at GFL joined Unifor to fix the workplace problems that all of you had been raising for years, all of which were ignored by this employer. Now the employer has the nerve to send out an email that clearly falls on the side of; we prefer you folks don't have a union.

We also want to address the comment that "the OLRB has reviewed this application and determined that it represents the wishes of at least 40% of the persons in the bargaining unit (it could be substantially more than that, but they don't disclose that number)."

Wrong….

They do disclose that number in fact, there was barely 40% of people that signed the petition, lets get honest here. Barely 40% does not constitute "this means a significant number of employee's do not want to continue having Unifor representing them." In addition to barely having 40% of people sign the petition from our conversations with all of you, a number of you signed that petition because you felt intimidated.

It could not be clearer to us that the small group of people who thought it was a good idea to leave Unifor are the same group of folks who will benefit the most from this kind of sentiment from the employer.

Today Unifor will open bargaining with your employer and continue to bargain Wednesday and Thursday. We have some real concerns about what you risk here if the decertification is successful. There has been some frustration; we hear that and are working on addressing the issues that have been raised, but throwing away the union is not the solution.

In your first agreement, we spent time establishing a framework; the second agreement is all about building and improving that agreement. The workers at GFL deserve to see the next collective agreement, and you deserve to know what is possible.

Today we start with these priorities

• Improving wages (you are in a position to get parody with other GFL locations)
• Strengthening vacation language and leave of absence language
• Improving on health and safety and driver training
• Ensuring that you have an improved process to grieve unfair practices
• Extra compensation when being forced to work Saturday of a "Push Week"
• Paid sick days
• Emergency Pay during times of epidemics and natural disasters
• Forced OT
• The threat of potentially merging the 2 yards and eliminating any redundancy, and losing any seniority rights

Without the union, it will be up to you to negotiate with the company alone with no representation.

Vote details

The vote will start on January 12, 2022, at 2:00 PM and end on January 13, 2022, at 2:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time).

VOTE INSTRUCTIONS

A personal identification number ("PIN") is needed to vote. Eligible voters will receive an email containing their confidential PIN and detailed instructions before the vote commences. PINs are strictly for personal use by voters and must not be shared with anyone.

If an employee believes they are eligible to vote and does not receive a PIN, or requires any assistance to vote, they may contact the Ontario Labour Relations Board Help Desk (see hours and contact information below). If no one answers, employees should leave a detailed message with their full name, contact information, and OLRB case number (1828-21-R), and a Vote Officer will respond to the message as soon as possible.

OLRB Help Desk Telephone: 416-434-6748

OLRB Help Desk Hours of Operation:

January 12, 2022 - 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM

January 13, 2022 - 12:30 PM to 1:00 PM

All times listed are Eastern Standard Time.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. I can be reached at 519-322-9564 or [email protected]