What kind of world are we leaving for our children?
UNIFOR is supposed to stand for "A Union For Everyone." Maybe it's time to change the name to UNIFORCO, "A Union For Chosen Ones" listing those that Jerry Dias and the National Executive Board have chosen.
In order to understand why we feel this way we must first understand how we got here. On August 23rd, 2021 the 28 member National Executive Board UNANIMOUSLY endorsed mandatory vaccination for all Unifor events: Not one dissenting voice. If you ever wanted to know what the top leadership thought of you, there you have it. This forced its own union members to receive a forced medical treatment if they wanted to retain their jobs. Of course it was not stated that way, but the statement from the NEB was clear: without a proof of vaccination, Unifor members could not attend any events or even go into their offices. The statement provided accommodation for a legitimate medical or human rights reasons, and herein is where the problem lies.
The only medical reason you need to decline a vaccination is that you have done the cost benefit analysis and decided that it is not for you. As a matter of fact, despite what all the cowardly government agencies and lawyers say, to ask you for your medical information is against the law. The only cover they have is the Emergency Act. Is this how we are to live now? Every time we have an emergency someone decides whether or not you will be forced to take a medical treatment? Furthermore, the only human rights reason you need is that you are human and you don't want this medical procedure or you don't want to share your medical information, despite what cowards at the Ontario Human Rights Commission say. These are not considered valid reasons by the kings and queens of the NEB.
What our National Union did to us by mandating the vaccination for all of their staff was essentially green lighting every employer that employs a Unifor member to go ahead and institute a mandatory vaccination policy without fear of being opposed by our union. At this point. it was clear where our National Union stood on forced medical interventions. For decades we have fought the companies that we have worked for to keep our own private medical information private. Now we have our own union demanding that we give them that information under threat of dismissal. We have our own union demanding that its employees get vaccinated. We have our own union demanding its employees receive a medical treatment in their bodies whether they want it or not.
On September 10th, 2021 the President of the National Union was quoted in the Toronto Star supporting vaccine mandates. On September 17, 2021 Unifor rolled out its Comprehensive COVID-19 Prevention Policy giving its staff until September 30, 2021 to provide proof of vaccination. Those who refused to share their medical information with Dr. Jerry Dias were immediately terminated.
Now we are looking down the barrel of a gun. The Detroit 3 have instituted their own vaccination policies as have other smaller units where Unifor members work. Please understand your local union leadership are not the problem, the National Union is the problem. This is not an issue of vaccinated versus unvaccinated. This issue is about one thing and one thing only. It is about freedom. The freedom of an individual to choose whether they will receive a medical treatment or not, and whether an individual will declare his medical status of his own free will or not. Jerry Dias and the National Executive Board are feeding into the division of our society. It's sickening and it must stop now!
Dr. Dias demanded everyone on staff bow and receive a medical treatment whether they wanted it or not under the clearly stated threat that they could find another job if they didn't like it. Really? Unifor has become no better than the companies we have fought against for decades. They have stated that we have a right not to be vaccinated, but allowing our employers to terminate us if we choose not to, or we choose not to declare our medical information, is disingenuous.
We'll talk about Disingenuous Dias in the next post.
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