Welcome to Your Union
A Strong Show of Solidarity by employees at Direct Coil A difficult three-month campaign for workers at Direct Coil Inc ended with a victory for the newest members of UFCW Local 175. Approximately 100 full-time employees work at the plant located in the small, close-knit community of Millhaven. The Keys at the workplace were particularly solid. They took great pride in their efforts to bring the benefits of belonging to a Union to their co-workers. Even when the employer fired one of the Keys, it didn’t stop him from continuing to help with the campaign. In fact, co-workers took up a collection out of their own pockets to help that worker when he was fired.
Another 30 CLS Catering employees vote to join These new Union members can unite with 170 CLS Catering workers who already enjoy the benefits of belonging to UFCW. “These employees felt overworked and underpaid,” said Organizer Amy Tran. “Plus, they saw that their Unionized co-workers paid far less for their health benefits as well. They wanted to secure the same kinds of rights and improvements the others had found with our Union.” Jobs for the full-time employees include flight coordinators, checkers, and account managers for CLS Catering at Pearson Airport.
Despite a number of challenges and a lot of misinformation that circulated during the campaign, the employees stood strong and won. “This group of workers is a real community that looks out for each other,” said Local 175 Organizer Ricardo Bocanegra. “Most importantly, they stayed united throughout the campaign and really demonstrated what solidarity looks like in action. It took everyone working together to achieve this victory, so I’m very proud of their achievements.” Employees listed a number of concerns that drove them to seek Union membership. The workers want to achieve fairer wages, better job security, respect and dignity at work, benefits, and improved workplace health, plus put an end to favourtism and harassment. The vote to join the Union took place on April 18.
Congratulations to Ranjit Sandhu from CLS Catering! At the Toronto Steward’s Seminar, Ranjit Sandhu from CLS Catering received a $375 honorarium for helping to organize an additional 30 workers at CLS. “Ranjit speaks so passionately about the importance of solidarity and the benefits of belonging to a Union because he’s witnessed it first hand,” said Organizer Amy Tran. Ranjit was also instrumental in organizing the first CLS Catering group in December 2011. Since then, Ranjit has trained to become a Steward and also took part on the Negotiating Committee as well.
