Latest news with #workersstrike
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Best Western Windsor workers to vote on ‘final offer'
Workers strike in front of Windsor's Best Western Plus hotel on Riverside Drive West in Windsor, Ont. on June 3, 2025. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor) Striking workers at the Best Western Plus in downtown Windsor will vote Monday on the company's 'final offer.' The Ontario Labour Relations Board will conduct the vote for 37 full and part-time workers, members of Unifor Local 195. They have been on the picketline for 15 days, backing demands in a new contract. Ironwood Management Corporation requested the vote, saying the offer would provide employees the best overall compensation of any private-sector hotel in the region. According to Union President Emile Nabbout, the union does not believe the final offer is satisfactory and he doesn't believe his members will support the company. The vote will be held electronically and there's no word on when the results will be known. — Paul McDonald/AM800 News
CBC
7 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Striking workers at North York LTC home say replacement workers not providing quality service to seniors
Social Sharing As personal care workers at a North York long-term care home strike for benefits, sick days and higher wages, they say replacement workers are undermining their efforts and providing sub-par care to seniors. The 25 members of CUPE Local 5525, who support senior residents at Villa Colombo Homes for the Aged in North York, were on the picket line Friday. Workers have been on the picket line for three weeks now, following three years of collective bargaining that began when they unionized in 2022, according to CUPE's website. The primary cause of the strike, according to CUPE, are "poverty wages" and cuts to workers' benefits and sick days. Lilinaa Lena, a personal support worker at Villa Colombo, says her job requires a certificate diploma but after years of stagnation, it now pays just above minimum wage. She says even with current benefits and pay, some of her colleagues have to work two jobs. Lena says while she's out striking, replacement workers are undermining the union. "They are stealing our jobs," she said Friday. More than that, she says, they don't provide the same quality of service to the residents as she and her unionized colleagues. "They don't arrive on time, they don't give the right medication," she said. "We have a good connection with the seniors. They are the same as family. We help them." NDP MPP Alexa Gilmour, who joined workers on the picket line Friday, said wants Villa Colombo "to listen to the workers and reach a fair deal so that those seniors can receive the quality care that they deserve from the people that they trust." "Their employer has brought in scab labour, and the seniors are paying a price for that, because it lowers the quality of care," Gilmour said, adding that the Ontario NDP wants the provincial government to implement legislation against replacement workers. In a flyer distributed to clients and their families, Villa Colombo Toronto said it would not withhold services from clients while workers strike. "We would never leave our clients without care," the Villa Colombo flyer said. "That would go against everything we stand for." Employer says fair deal has been tabled In the same flyer, Villa Colombo Toronto said the union's statements aren't true, and that the employer "has tabled a generous offer" that includes "good hourly wages, ample sick days, generous dental and drug plans, long-term disability coverage, and a best-in-class pension plan." Lisa Alcia, executive director of Villa Colombo Toronto said in an email that over nearly 50 years, Villa Colombo Toronto has built respectful, trusted relationships with staff. "While we are disappointed by the current strike, we remain committed to delivering seamless care to our clients and hope to see our valued employees return to work under the fair and generous agreement we've offered — one that stands above sector standards and was validated by the Ontario Labour Relations Board," she said. The employer is offering workers a nearly nine per cent retroactive pay increase, a spokesperson for Villa Colombo Toronto said in an email. Villa Colombo Toronto describes the long-term care (LTC) site on its website as a "designated ethno-specific facility that encompasses all aspects of Italian life and culture into the care and services provided."
National Post
12-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Striking personal care workers at Villa Colombo strengthened by growing political, union and community support
Article content TORONTO — Twenty-five personal care workers who support senior residents at Villa Colombo Homes for the Aged will themselves receive support and solidarity on Friday, when they welcome a second round of special visitors to their North York picket line. Article content Joining the striking members of CUPE 5525 tomorrow will be Ontario NDP MPP Alexa Gilmour, Critic for Women's Social and Economic Opportunity; and union allies from CUPE Local 2, which represents TTC electricians, technicians, communications and signals workers. Article content Article content In Villa Colombo's supportive housing units, residents continue to express their solidarity with the dedicated workers who make it possible for seniors to live independently in the community. In growing numbers, residents are signing a petition in support of the striking workers and lodging daily complaints about the quality of care provided by the agency replacement workers hired by Villa Colomba. Article content CUPE 5525 members have built strong relationships with seniors over many years, but replacement workers have no connection to the seniors in the homes. Residents report unwelcome and risky changes to their daily routine, mistakes with medication, and anxiety produced by unfamiliar workers attempting to provide intimate personal care. Article content Poverty wages and cuts to workers' benefits and sick days are at the root of the three-week-old strike at Villa Colombo. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
CTV News
09-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Striking Best Western Plus workers to vote on company's ‘final offer'
Workers strike in front of Windsor's Best Western Plus hotel on Riverside Drive West in Windsor, Ont. on June 3, 2025. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor) Striking workers at Best Western Plus Waterfront Hotel in Windsor will vote on the company's 'final offer'. According to Ironwood Management Corporation, the Ontario Labour Relations Board through the Ministry of Labour will hold a vote with the unionized workers on Monday, June 16. Last week, the management corporation said the offer would provide employees the best overall compensation of any private-sector hotel in the region and that they asked Unifor Local 195 to allow its members to vote on the proposal, but the request was denied. Ironwood is the official management company of the Best Western Plus Windsor Waterfront on behalf of its owner FHC Hotels & Resorts. 37 full and part time workers at the hotel hit the picket line to back contract demands on Sunday, June 1. There have been no new talks between the company and union since the workers went out on strike. The union represents workers in guest services, housekeeping, and maintenance. ~ By Rob Hindi, AM800 News.
CTV News
03-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘Scab' workers brought to downtown Windsor hotel on second day of Unifor strike
Workers strike in front of Windsor's Best Western Plus hotel on Riverside Drive West in Windsor, Ont. on June 3, 2025. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor) Replacement workers went to the Best Western Plus hotel on Monday, according to company and union officials, leading to Windsor police being called to the picket line. 'They (workers) were not happy and excited to see somebody blatantly crossing the picket line,' Unifor Local 195 President Emile Nabbout told CTV News Tuesday. 'They were asking those who scab to refrain from entering the facility.' Nabbout did not have further details but said an 'altercation' occurred. Tyler McDiarmid, a spokesperson for Ironwood Management Corp., is alleging an assault occurred, but Windsor police will only say they are investigating. Ironwood operates the Best Western Plus for Farhi Holdings Corp. It's a tense start to a strike that only started on Sunday morning, to back contract demands for 40 people. Both the company and the union said wages are a key stumbling block in negotiations. 'The vast majority of hotel workers are not compensated as well as the workers at the Best Western Plus,' McDiarmid told CTV News in a statement, adding they have increased pay in the last three years despite soaring costs. That's a comment Nabbout disputes. '$18.02 is not even a living wage. You cannot even put the Kraft Dinner on the table to support your family,' Nabbout said. 'And now, the employer (has) the audacity to say this (offer) on the table, it is more than fair?' The union is also accusing the company of trying to claw back bereavement leave while the company is critical of the union for not taking their final offer to the workforce. The strike at Best Western Plus on Riverside Drive started on Sunday.
