Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tell us about your bad job: Metro Van Workers Forums in October

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TELL US ABOUT YOUR BAD JOB

Photo of a man cleaning a window

Unpaid wages and overtime, impossible schedules, unfair firings and other unfair treatment of workers are all common in British Columbia. BC has employment laws, but few workers know their rights, and getting justice from a bad boss can be very difficult.

The BC Employment Standards Coalition is working for better laws and stronger enforcement for non-union workers. We need your stories to illustrate these problems – to make the issues about real people – and to help us make the case for improvements.

We invite you to one of our public forums to share your story.  You can tell us about a current problem, or something within the past 10 years. Interviews will be done by experienced advocates. You can tell us your name and employer, or choose to be anonymous.

You can also learn about your workplace rights under the Employment Standards Act and other BC laws. If your case involves a legal violation, we will offer advice and help you to start a complaint if you want.

So please drop in to any one of the following locations. No appointment is necessary.  Plan to stay about an hour. Please share this information with co-workers, friends, family and organizations. Click here for a draft leaflet.

  • Cloverdale
    • Tuesday, October 11th, from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm
    • 5783 – 176A Street (Unifor Local 780G Hall)
  • Central Burnaby
    • Wednesday, October 12th, from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm
    • Bonsor Recreation Complex
    • South Burnaby Metro Club room
    • 6550 Bonsor Avenue, Burnaby
  • East Vancouver
    • Thursday, October 13th, from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm
    • 130 – 2920 Virtual Way (near RenfrewSkytrain Station)
    • BC Government Employees Union office, Tsawwassen Room
  • Northeast Burnaby & Coquitlam 
    • Monday, October 17th, from 3:30 pm to  9:00 pm
    • Cameron Community Centre, Cedar Room
    • 9523 Cameron Street, Burnaby (near Lougheed Mall & Skytrain)
  • Central Vancouver
    • Wednesday, October 19th, from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
    • Vancouver Public Library, Alma VanDusen Room
    • 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver (Library Square)
  • New Westminster
    • Thursday, October 20th, from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
    • 326 – 12th Street (Unifor Hall)

Contacts for further information:

  • Murray Gore 604-671-9141
  • David Fairey 604-430-6036
  • Joey Hartman 604-254-0703

Guaranteed sick days for workers in Canada

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In this week’s The Province, family physicians Dr. Danyaal Raza and Dr. Ryan Meili call for guaranteed sick leave across Canada.

Back in November, we posted about a campaign launched by our health worker colleagues in Ontario calling for paid sick leave and an end to requiring doctor’s notes. At present, the only province in Canada with guaranteed sick leave entitlement in its employment standards legislation is Prince Edward Island (one day of sick leave after five years of continuous employment with the same employer). In their op-ed, Raza and Meili suggest looking to San Francisco as a model for progressive paid sick leave policies.

You can read their op-ed here.

WCDWA March 17th Film Fundraiser on Human Trafficking

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The West Coast Domestic Workers Association (WCDWA), a member of our Coalition, is partnering with Reel Causes for an exciting film night fundraiser on March 17th: Gone. But Not Forgotten. An Artful Evening of Awareness & Action on Human Trafficking. The WCDWA will be speaking about labour trafficking on the panel following the film and is holding a silent auction at the event.

  • Photo exhibit + Displays + Meet & Greet start: 6:15 pm
    Film event + Panel discussion start: 7:00 pm
  • Venue: SFU Woodward’s 2nd Floor, 149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver
  • Tickets: $5 (with Reel Causes Premium Membership)/ $15 General – available in advance online through Universe or at the door.

Gone But Not Forgotten fundraiser.

Gone. But Not Forgotten, is a special artful evening of awareness and action on human trafficking in support of West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association and Children of the Street Society, the event’s Community Causes.

Betrayed: Portraits of Strength, a stunning and compassionate photo exhibit by Tony Hoare, starts the evening. A humanitarian photographer whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Tony has spent the last three years documenting trafficking survivors in Asia, Africa and Latin America. His exhibit introduces us to some of the people he met, accompanied by their stories told in their own words.

You’ll also catch Vancouver’s premiere of Richie Mehta’s multiple award-winning Siddharth, a rich, multi-layered drama that exquisitely captures both the realism of modern India and an impoverished family’s cross-country search for their young son who may have been trafficked. The film was inspired by Mehta’s encounter with a father in India whose son had disappeared under similar circumstances.

Critically acclaimed by reviewers, Siddharth won the Grand Prize at 2014 Heartland Film Festival for Best Narrative Feature, Tiantan Award for Best Feature Film at the 4th Beijing International Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize at the South Asian International Film Festival, and Best World Feature at the 17th Sonoma International Film Festival.

After the film, the conversation will be opened up with a Q&A and moderated panel with local anti-trafficking activists and advocates.

Ontario health workers call for paid sick leave

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ImproveSickLeaveSome of the BC Employment Standards Coalition’s health worker colleagues in Ontario have launched a new campaign for paid sick leave.

At present, millions of Ontario workers lack paid sick leave or even unpaid job-protected sick leave. This policy gap leaves workers with few options but to go to work sick, which also puts the health of their co-workers at risk. In a recent blog post, members of Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP) query whether Ontario’s sick day policies – including the requirement for medical notes – are making Ontarians sicker. HPAP member Dr. Andrew Pinto was recently interviewed about the campaign on CBC’s Metro Morning.

As part of the Fight for $15 and Fairness, health providers are calling on the province of Ontario to implement the following changes to improve people’s health and wellbeing, the health care system, and workplaces:

  1. Amend the Employment Standards Act so that all employees accrue a minimum of one (1) hour paid sick time for every 35 hours worked. For a full-time worker this would mean seven (7) paid sick days per year.
  2. Amend the Employment Standards Act to remove the exemption for businesses with fewer than 50 employees, so that all workers have access to unpaid, job-protected personal emergency leave.
  3. Amend the Employment Standards Act to prohibit employers from requiring evidence such as medical notes to entitle workers to personal emergency leave or paid sick days.

Please sign their petition here:

http://15andfairness.org/health-care-providers-support-paid-sick-leave/

Photo courtesy of Health Providers Against Poverty.

Photo courtesy of Health Providers Against Poverty.